Thelwell_Girl
Well-Known Member
Well... This week I've ridden four times! This may seem teeny to you horse-owners and loaners out there, but for little ol' me, its been VERY good excercise 
Wednesday was a mixed day.
In the morning I had a jump lesson with Bonnie, and L was teaching me. All in all we did ok, however I was really struggling to get a good secure fold over the jumps. I felt frustrated to say the least, but it did improve over the lesson. Towards the end, I cantered into a good-sized cross pole, became unbalanced, went forward and came off
Landed on my feet, onto my knees, then onto bum/back/head. I sat on the sand a bit dazed as Bonnie stood there despairing at her hopeless rider and my instructor came to rescue me
Ah well... Only one more fall away from being a real rider! 
Wednesday afternoon brought a half-hour private lesson as a thankyou for helping out on pony days over the past few weeks. I was so grateful to the YM! Saw I was on Dawi, the big blonde Section D
eek
and was going to be taught by the new instructor S. That was one amazing lesson! S was lovely, really encouraging, and by just telling me a few little things I was doing wrong, (leg too far forward) once I'd sorted it out Dawi went wonderfully! We had some lovely canters, even managing to steer quite well
Also lots of transitions, which really helped get him listening and thinking about what he was doing. Overall, I did feel apprehensive at first but I really learnt a lot, and even S said she didnt normally like teaching with him, but he was ace this time! 
Today has also been a mixed day, ending with me feeling happy but also quite sorry for myself

The morning's lesson, saw that I was riding Pally! A very pretty Palomino mare, I hadn't ridden her before and had heard she was speedy, I did feel nervous! However I soon saw how FAB she was! Our usual instructor was away and only had one other person in the group, so rode for 45mins with L teaching us. I found her to be very comfy and responsive, and had my first canters in jumping position!
However... My back started to play up for some reason. (I have a feeling I may have twinged my back yesterday, lifting hay bales at work. This, combined with my fall on wednesday = ouch!).
I felt it in canter at first, and it soon became that as I was rising, when I sat down, I really jolted my back and it was making me a bit breathless. I slowed down, shortened my stirrups and tried to ride more in jumping position. By the end, my back was really hurting, so after the lesson ended, waved my parents off and went to get a drink and sit down.
This afternoon, we had a helpers lesson, and as I was riding Albert I was pretty excited! My back was still hurting, so didnt go bareback as I'd planned
I was in such pain, trot wasn't comfy, canter was bad too. I had a couple of canters on Albert (nice speedy ones
), steering was a bit off
Then swapped onto my beloved Bonnie! Managed one canter on her, then had to stick to trot and walk, my back wasn't happy at all. *sigh*
I feel so mixed up about today! I had such a good time on Pally, my parents were really impressed with how I'd improved, but my back ruined it. Was so excited about the helpers lesson, and maybe going bareback, but my back ruined it. I feel like I let down the horses, and myself. Albert, Pally and Bonnie are all such ACE horses, who really try hard when you work with them, but I felt like this useless lump. Steering went right out the window, diagonals wrong... I've worked so hard since february, and feel like I've taken a huge step back
Add in to all of this, I've been told I'm not going to be allowed to do the XC in the august pony week
They said the fences are too big for me, and they want me to be safe, but cant they just build a mini jump? A line of plastic boxes in the field, even? I'll do the dressage and a bit of the SJ, but I just felt so useless, I'll be standing around while the others go off and have fun in the field...
On a different note, at the end of the pony week, the staff will be doing a one day event type thingy, with us lot judging and grooming for them. One of the instructors came up to me this morning and asked me to be her groom! I'm really touched she asked me, gotta get practising my plaiting now!
~
Will someone tell me I'm being silly? I feel a bit down and sorry for myself

~
Pics to follow!
Wednesday was a mixed day.
In the morning I had a jump lesson with Bonnie, and L was teaching me. All in all we did ok, however I was really struggling to get a good secure fold over the jumps. I felt frustrated to say the least, but it did improve over the lesson. Towards the end, I cantered into a good-sized cross pole, became unbalanced, went forward and came off
Wednesday afternoon brought a half-hour private lesson as a thankyou for helping out on pony days over the past few weeks. I was so grateful to the YM! Saw I was on Dawi, the big blonde Section D
Today has also been a mixed day, ending with me feeling happy but also quite sorry for myself
The morning's lesson, saw that I was riding Pally! A very pretty Palomino mare, I hadn't ridden her before and had heard she was speedy, I did feel nervous! However I soon saw how FAB she was! Our usual instructor was away and only had one other person in the group, so rode for 45mins with L teaching us. I found her to be very comfy and responsive, and had my first canters in jumping position!
However... My back started to play up for some reason. (I have a feeling I may have twinged my back yesterday, lifting hay bales at work. This, combined with my fall on wednesday = ouch!).
I felt it in canter at first, and it soon became that as I was rising, when I sat down, I really jolted my back and it was making me a bit breathless. I slowed down, shortened my stirrups and tried to ride more in jumping position. By the end, my back was really hurting, so after the lesson ended, waved my parents off and went to get a drink and sit down.
This afternoon, we had a helpers lesson, and as I was riding Albert I was pretty excited! My back was still hurting, so didnt go bareback as I'd planned
I was in such pain, trot wasn't comfy, canter was bad too. I had a couple of canters on Albert (nice speedy ones
I feel so mixed up about today! I had such a good time on Pally, my parents were really impressed with how I'd improved, but my back ruined it. Was so excited about the helpers lesson, and maybe going bareback, but my back ruined it. I feel like I let down the horses, and myself. Albert, Pally and Bonnie are all such ACE horses, who really try hard when you work with them, but I felt like this useless lump. Steering went right out the window, diagonals wrong... I've worked so hard since february, and feel like I've taken a huge step back
Add in to all of this, I've been told I'm not going to be allowed to do the XC in the august pony week
On a different note, at the end of the pony week, the staff will be doing a one day event type thingy, with us lot judging and grooming for them. One of the instructors came up to me this morning and asked me to be her groom! I'm really touched she asked me, gotta get practising my plaiting now!
~
Will someone tell me I'm being silly? I feel a bit down and sorry for myself
~
Pics to follow!