Flying On My Own
/
. . . The break from the constant pressure of riding under instruction has made me more self-reliant, more focused, and ultimately more confident.
Read More
When I Ride My Horse vs. When My Instructor Rides My Horse
/
On the way into the arena, my horse manages to grab a nibble of the rose bush, almost every single time. My trainer marches my horse right past the rose bush. . . . While I am still meandering around the arena in a stretching trot frame, my trainer is doing leg yields, serpentines, spiral circles, shoulder-in’s, and other bending exercises
Read MoreMonday Morning Ride & Friday Reflection
/
. . . I decided to be like a frog; I literally took my outside thigh away from the saddle in a highly exaggerated release of leg, and at the same time, I pressed my lower leg firmly against my horse’s side and – WOW! . . . I practically fell off my horse as I hugged him from the saddle, laughing and crying at the same time.
Read MoreChanges: Flying and Growth
/
. . .The feeling of an effortless flying change is one of those almost indescribable moments in time. . . .Today, I gave my horse a liniment bath and walked him back out to his pasture, quietly savoring one more step on my journey. I now know that today is still a beginning. I have more flying changes to ride tomorrow.
Read MorePretend You are an Oreo Cookie
/
. . . My final picture was of myself as a huge Oreo cookie bouncing along on the back of my horse. I’m not sure what Verne saw when he watched me attempt zig-zag half pass as an Oreo cookie, but hopefully it was a rider with a crisp outside and a soft inside.
Read MoreMental Epiphany Turns Physical
/
Today my mental epiphanies began to translate into physical epiphanies.
This morning I drove to the barn determined to ride with a positive attitude and an open mind. I wanted my open mind to examine my body and my horse’s responses when riding; I decided to listen to myself and my horse.
Read MorePracticing Fourth Level Test 2
/. . . unless I have some sort of physical epiphany, I’m simply riding “ok” trot and canter half-pass zig-zags, shoulder-ins, and walk pirouettes. My changes are a train wreck and my canter quarter pirouettes are clearly still work in progress.
Read MoreIntroduction to My 2015 Show Season
/
Universo and I like the minor changes in Fourth level, Test 1; the flying changes from counter canter at M and H feel more fluid and easier to accomplish than riding through the corner to change at C, adding the 3 changes of lead across the diagonal increased the level of difficulty, and moving the walk pirouettes off the rail to the line between M and H actually made it easier for me and Universo to execute them correctly (you may remember my post last year about working on walk pirouettes in preparation for showing).
Read MoreThe Ability to Carry
/Today, I rode my horse and actually felt him load his hind end. There was no mistaking it when it happened. Whatever I had felt before was only an illusion of what my horse actually felt like when he began to carry himself.
Read MoreDiscombobulate
/. . . I am a bunch of random moving parts, each with their own set of instructions and none of them working together in cooperation. That is what discombobulated feels like when riding.
Read MoreLearning to Halt-Halt: Part II
/Then there was that one magical moment in my lesson: My stomach muscles held and my seat deepened as my legs continued to drive into my resisting rein aid, the minute I felt the hesitation of my horse, I released my holding seat, and used a driving leg into a yielding rein - and, the result was incredible! I felt my whole horse’s body change as the hindquarters lowered creating more engagement and lighter steps.
Read More