Lesson Report - let the heart meet the mouth!

[SaddlePsych'D]

I've not done one of these for ages and used to quite like sharing some progress in my lessons. It's taken a little longer than I hoped but have found an RS/RI combo that I think is going to work well and so I feel I can get back into regular lessons and hopefully in time move things up a level with my riding. Hooray!

New RS = new horses! I've yet to find a favourite, mostly because I usually like them all. Today I had a more forward going horse and this is not usually in my comfort zone as I am used to and find my confidence in horses that are more woah than go. I say forward going, I mean relative to me. To others it's just 'responds promptly to leg aid' which what we're supposed to be doing anyway! We kept in walk and trot today at my request, practicing turns, straightness, circles and rhythm. I posted about contact recently and I think this had improved (need to check the video for any flapply reins!) I need to get a bit better with half halts and feeling more confident to put my legs on for steering than to worry about getting too much forwards (again relative to me, watching the videos back does in fact confirm we were not travelling at 1 million mph )

We did have a little 'heart in mouth' moment where my soul left my body along with a couple of swears but we recovered (no arena surface eaten today) and carried on which I was quite proud of as I had been a bit nervous anyway.

 

[millitiger]

Oops, however SUPER shoulders back in the moment and credit to you for not stacking it!

 

[eahotson]

That is one very nasty stumble!

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Oops, however SUPER shoulders back in the moment and credit to you for not stacking it!

Thank you. I've been watching back to see what I did as I would like to remember to do it again should a similar situation arise! We were only trotting a circle so I'm not sure how it ended up looking and feeling quite that dramatic. Our circle had gone a bit awry so maybe if I had ridden it a bit better we could have avoided the stumble.

 

[Barton Bounty]

Well sat! ?

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

All that's missing is the taxi hail!

Well sat!

 

[eahotson]

Is the horse sound?

 

[J&S]

That is well sat! Maybe the surface needs harrowing or rolling, or maybe this horse has a habit of stumbling or maybe not quite going forward enough, needs holding together a bit more? A lady I used to ride with had a beautiful Anglo Arab that would fall down all over the forest if you didn't really ride on with a contact. Was later diagnosed with navicular disease.

 

[teapot]

Oh well sat!

Hope hoss is ok too as that's not just a stumble, that's a proper gonna moment.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Oh well sat!

Hope hoss is ok too as that's not just a stumble, that's a proper gonna moment.

He was absolutely fine, we took a moment to gather ourselves, I gave him a pat to say not to worry/reassure us both, and we went on to do some more nice work stumble free for the rest of the lesson.



He isn't mine so I'm not comfortable speculating around soundness, I don't think that would be fair on the RS based off one video frame and I'm not about to post the video for picking apart on a public forum. I am sure if there is any concern or on-going issue the RI will follow this up. It was my first time riding this horse so I was really just learning about him/how he goes and I do think my riding seems a likely main contributing factor.

 

[teapot]

He was absolutely fine, we took a moment to gather ourselves, I gave him a pat to say not to worry/reassure us both, and we went on to do some more nice work stumble free for the rest of the lesson.

He isn't mine so I'm not comfortable speculating around soundness, I don't think that would be fair on the RS based off one video frame and I'm not about to post the video for picking apart on a public forum. I am sure if there is any concern or on-going issue the RI will follow this up. It was my first time riding this horse so I was really just learning about him/how he goes and I do think my riding seems a likely main contributing factor.

Oh completely agree and might not be soundness!

Just when we had the odd incident like that in previous jobs, we did actually look at why for everyone's sake. Not everyone has the ability or quick thinking to sit like you did!

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Oh completely agree and might not be soundness!

Just when we had the odd incident like that in previous jobs, we did actually look at why for everyone's sake. Not everyone has the ability or quick thinking to sit like you did!

I think he is new there so I might have been one of the first clients on him and they're getting to know how he goes with different learner riders.

 

[SEL]

Well sat!

I've been properly splatted when a horse lost its footing in an arena and I've seen it with other combinations a fair few times. No soundness issues although I think lack of maintenance of arena surfaces can be a lit of the problem - although sometimes it's just bad luck.

 

[maya2008]

It’s not a usual thing for horses to stumble in a normal, well maintained arena, that’s why people have commented on it.

Well sat though!