VioletStripe
Well-Known Member
Sorry, but feeling quite pleased tonight! 
So today I went to my regular PC rally, as usual. Rode a horse called Spot, ridden him a few times before but I've always felt like a midget on him! He's about 16hh, maybe a weeeeny bit bigger.. and then little 5'4 me sat on top So, let my stirrups down a little bit and warmed up. Different instructor today, so was 
Anyway, we started by trotting and deciding on a good working trot and then telling the instructor when we thought we'd found a nice stride for our horse. Luckily I managed to do this quite well, though it's hard because Spot's a young, gangly thing who makes funny bends and likes to hop about a bit
Then moved onto serpentines, working on collecting and then opening up the trot while on one. Then leg yield down the long side, working in trot doing one stride to the side, then one stride straight, then one stride to the side etc. Found this a bit tricky because again Spot can get very unbalanced Still, ended up okay
Then, canter. Usually, don't have a problem. On Spot? "Hey VS, let's GO!!" So, worked on gathering in a stride and getting a nice clean transition and working on canter on a circle. May seem simple but Spot couldn't get his head round it until about 6 tries at it 
At first he muddled his feet while going into canter so was advised to give a little tap with the whip to get it straight away so he can't get on the wrong leg. Result? BUCK. GALLOP!! He had smooth transitions from then on anyway! So then walk to canter. I want an active walk, so, tap with the whip because he's ignoring my leg aids. BUCK. GALLOP! I got it though, didn't I? No trot in between Then a couple more tries, both successful and buckingless! Then a nice cool down, pat and long rein, streeeeeetch.
Anyway, sorry for hogging this space, but was feeling quite chuffed. May not seem like much, but Spot's only a young thing and I thought I'd done nicely and learnt a lot today, so go me! I have a feeling my new johds with a violet stripe down the side of them might be lucky though, so we'll see how it goes if I wear my boring navy ones Anyway, thanks for reading through this ramble. Cheesecake to all xx
So today I went to my regular PC rally, as usual. Rode a horse called Spot, ridden him a few times before but I've always felt like a midget on him! He's about 16hh, maybe a weeeeny bit bigger.. and then little 5'4 me sat on top
So, let my stirrups down a little bit and warmed up. Different instructor today, so was Anyway, we started by trotting and deciding on a good working trot and then telling the instructor when we thought we'd found a nice stride for our horse. Luckily I managed to do this quite well, though it's hard because Spot's a young, gangly thing who makes funny bends and likes to hop about a bit
Then moved onto serpentines, working on collecting and then opening up the trot while on one. Then leg yield down the long side, working in trot doing one stride to the side, then one stride straight, then one stride to the side etc. Found this a bit tricky because again Spot can get very unbalanced Still, ended up okay Then, canter. Usually, don't have a problem. On Spot? "Hey VS, let's GO!!
" So, worked on gathering in a stride and getting a nice clean transition and working on canter on a circle. May seem simple but Spot couldn't get his head round it until about 6 tries at it At first he muddled his feet while going into canter so was advised to give a little tap with the whip to get it straight away so he can't get on the wrong leg. Result? BUCK. GALLOP!! He had smooth transitions from then on anyway! So then walk to canter. I want an active walk, so, tap with the whip because he's ignoring my leg aids. BUCK. GALLOP! I got it though, didn't I? No trot in between Then a couple more tries, both successful and buckingless! Then a nice cool down, pat and long rein, streeeeeetch.Anyway, sorry for hogging this space, but was feeling quite chuffed. May not seem like much, but Spot's only a young thing and I thought I'd done nicely and learnt a lot today, so go me!
I have a feeling my new johds with a violet stripe down the side of them might be lucky though, so we'll see how it goes if I wear my boring navy ones Anyway, thanks for reading through this ramble. Cheesecake to all xx
