Arizahn
Well-Known Member
Very happy today!Took the advice given on here and pushed myself a little today. At first I was too scared to even want to get on, then OH and instructor helped me calm down. Got on and OH walked us up to the arena (had already lunged Hippo).
Stayed on for an entire half an hour! Squares, circles and serpentines...still just at walk, but Hippo was actually paying attention and letting me choose our speed! No spooking either, which was nice.
In the end I actually wanted to go a little longer! I stuck to the half hour though, since I wanted to end on that good feeling. So next week, I will try for 45 minutes, and after that back up to a full hour! Then we can work back up to trotting.
I talked to my instructor about how Hippo gets when in season, and we are going to stick to just lunging her at those times, at least until my seat is good enough to ride out an unexpected canter. She has lovely movement but I'm still prone to tipping forward, especially at corners. Pretty sure Hippo has been very well schooled at some point. Hopefully we will both remember what we used to know
So yeah, really nice day! So grateful to everyone at the yard, my OH, instructor, Hippo, and also all you folk on here too! I have homework - practising circles and serpentines when riding and also posture exercises.
Hippo was also much better at being bridled today - opened her mouth for the bit and was half-hearted about raising her head out of reach. She even let me scratch her ears...she has never let us touch her ears before now! We were fitting her new bridle too, so it was on, off, on, off, etc. She now has a flash noseband which she is fine about.
Off to book the farrier for her next trim and check when her jabs are due! Jaffa cakes to you all!
