Hi everyone,
Sorry I haven't been around lately! I've missed my last few lessons for various reasons so I haven't needed to post. As many of you may remember I was having confidence issues because of a bad jumping experience. Well, today I didn't jump but I did get a lot of my riding confidence back. I had a new instructor today, as her schedule works better with me than my other trianer for the lease. She will be teaching my private lessons from now on, and my other teacher will be teaching my group lesson. In any case, we went in the small arena today (and by small I mean SMALL), and we worked on cantering. I was so excited because I recieved several compliments about my riding and relationship with Mister. She said I had a good lower leg position, good seat, good hands, and that he listens to me. She also said I have a dressagey seat. Well, first we warmed up as usual. Today I practiced getting my stirrups back (at the walk) without looking down or stopping. Then, I practiced 2 point with and without stirrups. We did a bit of trot work, then moved on to cantering. We had a few issues with him paying attention; Mister saw a person in the distance and started to get nervous, but everything turned out alright. When I got nervous, she made my lesson into a game. I had trouble keeping the canter, so I started out keeping it for 5 strides. Then she introduced the game. I had to try to beat myself and canter more and more each time. Ultimately I got up to 10 which is a great improvement for me. She also helped me by telling me to count the strides out loud (forcing me to breathe). After going both directions for a while, I cooled him down by walking figure 8s then practicing my walk/halt transitions. Overall I had a great lesson, and the game idea helped me greatly. I think Mister trusts me; my mom hurt my feelings a little by strictly telling me how I "need to be the boss" but I think to her being the boss is by being very assertive and at times harsh. He wouldn't move (on the ground when I was leading him to the water bucket), so I asked her to pop him in the butt. When she shouted his name and popped him again I got frustrated and told her to quit it, which is when she told me to be the boss. When he refused to move again I tried a different approach; circling him to get him moving then continuing to where I wanted him to go. I have a trust relationship with him and I'm proud of it because he likes me better than most people. I feel like the circling thing made him respect me more yet did not have the harsh approach of slapping him again and again.
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4 comments:
Yay! Welcome back!
I'm glad you had a good lesson! It sounds like you are doing well. You got some really nice compliments from your instructor, too! YAY!
It is SO good to hear you have a good relationship with Mister. It is good that he likes you and listens to you. That means a lot, and will help so much in every aspect of your relationship.
It sounds like you are a pretty sensitive person who is attuned to your horse...trust your instincts. You do not have to be loud and assertive to be the leader or boss. As you found out with the circling, there is more than one way to get something done. The trust will go both ways between you and Mister, and will build as you develop a bond with each other! Good stuff!
Breathing is always good when riding! Do some reading on deep belly breathing, it'll help you relax even further.
Another thing that works is singing. You can't sing without breathing...and it will relax you, give it a try sometime. But no-stirrup work is also excellent for developing a good seat, so that's great.
Sounds like you have a GREAT instructor. Just keep at it, parents mean well but don't always know how to say the right thing. Just keep doing what you are doing.
It really does sound like your new instructor is going to help you a lot. Its tough to find such a good teacher...
I agree that you don't have to be rough to make your horse behave. Sometimes all it takes is showing your horse you can control him by moving his feet, like you did with the circling. Just make sure you're consistent with your expectations and ya'll should do fine.
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