Monday 16 February 2015

Lessons

My girls are two very different horses but they have one big problem in common...MOI!
I got pretty much the same comments for both;
- they both favour looking outside vs bending correctly towards the inside.
Kika is squirmy as mentioned before, she is slightly easier to manoeuvre as she's more sensitive then Nancy. But this also makes her slightly more difficult as she reacts first and thinks about what she's being asked later - whereas Nancy thinks about things first and takes a little more time (and coercion aka leg) to do what is being asked of her.

Post-work mirror selfie

- i need to raise my inside hand slightly & lower my outside hand ... it is particularly bad when my right hand is on the inside. Not surprising really as this has long been my weaker side, so it makes sense that it needs more work.
I also need to watch my wrists as i have a nasty habit of letting them droop and/or become puppy paws - i must pay more attention to them!

Sadly I didn't manage a mirror selfie with N
in her new to us petrol saddle pad...
maybe tomorrow

- i need to turn my toes out slightly to help my leg position. Oddly my left leg is typically worse that my right leg on this occasion...although now that I think about it, it is usually more my inside leg than outside leg and probably because I am a demon for using my heel to nag their sides rather than my calf which has the negative effect of curling my leg up into more of a foetal position than it should be in. Honestly how i don't fall off for being so unbalanced is ridiculous as my outside leg stays long and that heel stays down - go figure!
I think this may also have something to do with both girls habit of gawping outside and not bending towards the inside (see first indent above) my mind knows i have to keep my inside leg on to present some resistance to stop the squirming in (Kika) / fishtailing (Nancy).



- S (trainer) gave me good feedback to ride Nancy with my hands further apart to help her understand what i am asking of her and between them and my legs give little option but to follow the funnel i am providing to keep her straight/coax some more inside bend.

- Both girls need to work more on transitions w/t & t/c with plenty changes of rein, bend, serpentines and circles of all sizes.


- Kika needs to work on her halt, i am to do nothing with my hands till she gives or alternatively play a little with the bit of she is being particularly awkward.

My chunky monkey ♡ 
Both girls were very good, I rode Kika first because i thought the arena would be quieter earlier in the day - boy was i wrong. There were three others in the arena with us, K kept it together really well despite the close quarters and encounters.  She was much better and less squirmy than the last two days. I guess practice does make perfect and a bit of consistent saddle time makes all the difference. I hope to return to both saddles tomorrow evening after work.
Fingers crossed i can make a clean break from work and clock up more saddle time ☺

16 comments:

  1. excellent lessons!! it kinda amazes me how crooked and contorted we can make ourselves as riders (without even realizing it!), and then how 'easy' the horses make it when we straighten ourselves out haha.

    anyway i like your takeaways here, as my mare has a nasty habit of 'looking out' too (again likely to be related to my own position lol)... also - bot girls look fab in blue!!

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    1. I contort myself something awful, the problem is realising we are crooked...not obvious without eyes in the ground. Or at least not to me as my brain is warped and tells me I am as straight as an arrow lolz!

      I am biased but i think i am lucky in that I think the girls look great in every colour...except pink, I don't like pink or orange really *blush*

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  2. Sounds like a great couple of lessons with some good homework.

    I'm so impressed you are able to actually *ride* both of your girls as much as you do, I have a hard time keeping both of mine brushed some days it seems!

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    1. I have been failing miserably at riding them both this winter, I got lucky this weekend and hope to make my lucky run stick by working less hours and getting to the yard and in the saddle more often.
      Balance is such a hard thing to achieve between work & horses, sometimes something just had to give. If it wasn't for turnout i think my horses would have given up on me by now

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  3. Yay! Sounds like you got a lot out of S. Sometimes that outside opinion, eyes on the ground helps break us out of our own ruts we didn't even know we had.

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    1. She has a great approach and really works with the rider. Coaching what is in front of her as opposed to going in with a set lesson plan. When dealing with horses flexibility is always key imo

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  4. I'm so glad you were able to get in lessons in on the girls and that they were good. You always seem to remember so much about your lessons. I have a tendency to get distracted and forget a lot of....Ooh, is that cake! Cake sounds good!...What was I saying? (sadly, this is often how my brain works)

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    1. It is easier to remember stuff when being told pretty much the same thing for both horses. Recurring theme with the issues = me ;-)
      I make a conscious effort to remember tips so that I can keep track of what i am supposed to be learning as lessons are so few & far between cos monies & time are problematic for me at the moment lolz

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  5. Sounds like some good steps forward, I hope your awesome saddle time streak can continue! Someone told me once when I was beating myself up about not riding a horse enough that horses don't sit in their fields looking at the calendar dates of shows, or clinics, or when they should master the canter by. They eat, they drink, they (hopefully) enjoy some attention from us. It seems like a simple idea, but it really helped me take a deep breath, allowed me to relax when life gets in the way. More importantly though, your matching blue outfits are totally fabulous!!!!

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    1. Oh I know they don't give two shh whether I rude or not. My lack of saddle time woes are 100% selfish. I'm pretty sure the girls only like seeing me at lunchtime as that means I am turning them out for the afternoon.
      Thanks for your super kind comments, now if i could make my riding as nice as my clothes *blush*
      I am working under the theory - look better / ride better

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  6. Ah excellent lessons! Keeping legs long is something I totally struggle with. Leg shorteners unite! ;) Sounds like your trainer was hitting on a few broad points to help you out, I bet if you can improve those your next lesson will be really interesting in how she approaches each girl individually!

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    1. Fingers crossed i can work on these tips & schedule lessons more regularly

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  7. Sounds like a really good lesson, with some awesome feedback :)

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    1. Here's hoping I can remember the tips and apply them next time i am in the saddle

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  8. I do the same thing with my wrists, but we're opposite on legs. I need to turn my toe in more and I need to learn to do it from the hip instead of the knee because that is painful on the knees! Keep up the great work!! I hope your riding time has stayed consistent! Work makes it so hard sometimes.

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    1. Consistency has been pretty ropey so far this year - i really need to get my act together

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