Weekend Riding Update....
Mar. 30th, 2004 01:08 pmWent and rode twice over the weekend. The horse we're using for cantering hasn't been used for lessons in some time. She's a bit round and a bit out of shape, so she sweats a lot. This means no matter how tight the girth is, the saddle is going to slip. I'm okay with this and I know how to adjust.
We cantered a bit on Saturday. Went well except I tend to bring my hands up. I need to stop doing that. Just relax. Sometimes I can do it. Sometimes I get TOO relaxed.
Sunday, I felt I was doing great. Then I started to slip, began to slow the horse, instructor slowed the horse, went to grab his head and by the time I knew what was going on, I was on the ground. Yep, I fell off. Wasn't thrown, the saddle slipped to the right side of the horse. I was on the ground and my feet were still in the stirups. (I had forgot my boots and was wearing work boots. Bad idea.) Luckily, the horse wasn't going anywhere. I got right back on and cantered some more.
As I mentioned previously, we're training a backup horse in case something goes wrong with one of the horses. So I've been helping get this horse used to the sound of armor. I'm still not ready to get on the beast while wearing armor. (Or, at least it's not ready for me to do it I think.) But we've made huge progress. Being part of this training process has been very enlightening.
Also, I was walking one of the farm's younger horses and something spooked it. I got control of the horse easily. Friend of mine complimented me on how I didn't panic in the least when it happened, I just reacted. This has been an amazing experience for me.
We cantered a bit on Saturday. Went well except I tend to bring my hands up. I need to stop doing that. Just relax. Sometimes I can do it. Sometimes I get TOO relaxed.
Sunday, I felt I was doing great. Then I started to slip, began to slow the horse, instructor slowed the horse, went to grab his head and by the time I knew what was going on, I was on the ground. Yep, I fell off. Wasn't thrown, the saddle slipped to the right side of the horse. I was on the ground and my feet were still in the stirups. (I had forgot my boots and was wearing work boots. Bad idea.) Luckily, the horse wasn't going anywhere. I got right back on and cantered some more.
As I mentioned previously, we're training a backup horse in case something goes wrong with one of the horses. So I've been helping get this horse used to the sound of armor. I'm still not ready to get on the beast while wearing armor. (Or, at least it's not ready for me to do it I think.) But we've made huge progress. Being part of this training process has been very enlightening.
Also, I was walking one of the farm's younger horses and something spooked it. I got control of the horse easily. Friend of mine complimented me on how I didn't panic in the least when it happened, I just reacted. This has been an amazing experience for me.