Hi everyone,
First off, I'm new to the blog so hello to everyone! I post on NCHN with the same username (borntoridex3). I'd like to introduce the horse I've been riding, named Mister. He's a 15 year old, 16 hand chestnut Appendix Quarter Horse gelding.
We had a very stressful lesson on Tuesday. I'm still a beginner rider so at the moment I am focusing on learning to canter properly and jump small crossrails at the trot. I worked *very* hard at my lesson... The pain in my legs is proof. :)
It was a semi private lesson with a younger girl who is in the class level below me. Mister was feeling very stubborn, and refused to canter long despite my several attempts. We took turns cantering, and I got him to canter longer each turn.
Then, it was on to jumping. He decided to refuse to jump over several jumps. A lot of this was my fault; I was not being as agressive as I needed to be, as he is a stubborn horse. He would quit trotting and completely stop. However, one time he decided that he was going to GO. He caught me completely off guard as he took a powerful canter stride and huge jump. I flew forward and my butt ended up in front of my saddle while my feet were still in the stirrups. I quickly decided that I couldn't balance enough to pull myself up, so I dropped my stirrups and hopped off.
I was extremely proud of the fact that I got back on and tried a few more jumps. Those that know me well know that I have severe anxiety problems, especially having to do with horses because of past experiences. I was so happy that I could get back on and continue without being so scared. He also plowed completely through a jump; I couldn't maintain control and took him in diagonally. Our lesson ended well, as he finally jumped a line without stopping and without me messing up.
I know I might sound like a hazard, but that was truly the worst lesson I have ever had. Usually I am much more competent. We were both just having an off day, it seems. I will be sure to post about my lesson next week.
I have decided that I might lease Mister; I was thinking about buying a horse but decided that it would probably be best to lease and try it out before committing. I would love to have a horse of my own but I don't want to do something that's unfair to both myself in the horse if I decide that owning a horse isn't for me.
Anyways, thanks for reading. :)
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8 comments:
Don't fret- everyone has days like these. Hopefully your next lesson will go better!
I think a lease is a great idea! I had a lot of fun leasing in high school. :)
Thanks Mary! It was actually a good learning experience for me, and I can't wait for my next lesson! I was glad that I got back on... That's something that before now I never would have done and it gives me a HUGE sense of accomplishment. I'm not quite sure what happened; he might have spooked, I'm not sure. But he was NOT supposed to be cantering, only trotting. And just to make it clear to everyone 'cause it seems a little hazy in my post, these are just little crossrails done at the trot, not real jumps. I realized it could be an issue of concern if someone thought that I was jumping at the canter, since I just learned to canter and all :D. And again, that's not directed at you Mary, just to clear up my previous post.
Thanks Kate! I'm looking more and more forward to it. I think we're going to try a half lease; I get 2 supervised lessons, and 2 unsupervised rides.
Hey Morgan, welcome to the blog :) It's great that you knew enough and were confident enough to bail after that jump. Usually you get hurt the worst when you try desperately to stay on and fail. :)
Welcome to the blog!!
Leasing a horse is great. Its a good way to learn and to get a feel for what you do and dont want in a horse that you will buy.
Thanks for the welcomes everyone! Haha, andrea, yeah I made a few attempts at hoisting myself up, but I quickly realized that that wasn't going to work.
YAY! Welcome Morgan! Glad tou're on here!
Everyone has bad days...people and horses. It sounds like you handled everything really well. Good for you! Leasing is a good idea. You are very together and intelligent, and seem to put a lot of thought into everything! Just don't get discouraged and give up "too soon." It sounds like you are sometimes hard on yourself, and have the makings of a good rider. You aren't a perfectionist, are you? :P "It takes one to know one!"
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