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prowler1971Yesterday was another exciting evening at Bobby's Ranch. Okay, it's becoming a little routine now but I still have lots of fun. We were a small class today as Stephen and Chris couldn't make it so it was me, Frank and Kim. I rode Brawny again which was nice. I have better control over him than I did before.
The downside, my knees were bothering me again, even with the braces. Might be a combination of the stirrups being to short, and the horse being to wide. Which is a shame because I like Brawny. But a wider horse may be causing me problems. I'm having trouble getting the "kick" motion down on Brawny but it's getting better.
Anyway, we cantered. Holy crap was that scary. It's not like we're cantering in a ring. We're doing it on the trail, where there are rocks and sticks and stuff. And I wasn't exactly staying in the saddle. We cantered a few times and I am less nervous about it now than I was on the first one. THe bigger issue was that Brawny kept drifting to the right of the trail... towards trees. So I kept leaning to the left while trying to get him to move out from the edge. He's such a follower. But he does move well. I need to learn to keep my seat, especially if I'm going to be doing this with a big stick in my hand. Anyway, it was fun, it was exciting, and I'm looking forward to next week.
I think at some point, I need to go for another private lesson in the ring. One where I am not following other horses and I can be sure I'm controlling the horse. Brawny is such a follower that I never get to giving him the leg command to trot or canter. I can slow him down and get him to turn, most of the time, but I'm not sure on it. So I figure with all outside influences out of the way, riding any horse and being able to control it will be a "Good Thing(tm)".
The downside, my knees were bothering me again, even with the braces. Might be a combination of the stirrups being to short, and the horse being to wide. Which is a shame because I like Brawny. But a wider horse may be causing me problems. I'm having trouble getting the "kick" motion down on Brawny but it's getting better.
Anyway, we cantered. Holy crap was that scary. It's not like we're cantering in a ring. We're doing it on the trail, where there are rocks and sticks and stuff. And I wasn't exactly staying in the saddle. We cantered a few times and I am less nervous about it now than I was on the first one. THe bigger issue was that Brawny kept drifting to the right of the trail... towards trees. So I kept leaning to the left while trying to get him to move out from the edge. He's such a follower. But he does move well. I need to learn to keep my seat, especially if I'm going to be doing this with a big stick in my hand. Anyway, it was fun, it was exciting, and I'm looking forward to next week.
I think at some point, I need to go for another private lesson in the ring. One where I am not following other horses and I can be sure I'm controlling the horse. Brawny is such a follower that I never get to giving him the leg command to trot or canter. I can slow him down and get him to turn, most of the time, but I'm not sure on it. So I figure with all outside influences out of the way, riding any horse and being able to control it will be a "Good Thing(tm)".
