Equestrian Team Winter '12 Day 1

Yesterday was my first lesson out with the team for 2012!! I didn't really know what to expect, especially as I'm not driving the vans anymore and have a real lesson group, as opposed to last quarter where it was usually just me and another girl. I appreciated that, having more time on me, but I really love carpooling with more than one person. And anyways, Stacy has proved herself amazing once again by at least seeming like she was giving me the same amount of attention as usual. I was super flattered when she kept telling me how wonderful I was riding, but I'll get to that.

We show up and I see that I'm riding a mare, Cassie, this huge monstrous horse who I've never ridden before. Stacy said that she was a new horse and that they've been working with her for a while, but she's been out of work for a while as she's pretty old. We tack up and mount, and she seems pretty responsive. I think I may have left my stirrups one hole too long because it was hard for me to post...but I guess that's more of a muscle and balance problem that I need to work on.

Anyways, I was proud of myself because I was able to correctly identify when I was on the wrong diagonal all on my own and switch, and I started going back to feeling the leads and realizing then when I pick up to post, I get the wrong diagonal and have to switch. I need to find a new trick for that, because I was listening to everyone else's advice to sit 3 then post, but that clearly isn't working...maybe I just can't count.

Trotting around is great, but I felt myself leaning forward too much. I think it had to do with stretching for the stirrup rather than focusing on balance, which lead to me putting a ton of weight in my toes and falling more forward! But I was safe at the trot.

I'm the first to admit that Cassie got away from me in the canter and I was not pleased with myself about it. I firmly believed that my reins were short enough, and even when I was trying to get her to slow back into a trot, it wasn't seeming to work and I could hear Stacy getting somewhat panicked as I started to lean forward more and stand on my toes instead of leaning back and digging in my heels along with the reins to get Cassie to listen to me. But she stopped, and we continued on our merry way.

Going over the cavaletti poles? Sucked. I felt like I wasn't holding a two-point, but apparently it didn't look back because Stacy didn't say anything.

Then the jump. This tiny, tiny jump, maybe a foot tall. Stacy says she didn't think that she would jump it, probably just trot over it. We're approaching it and I'm more concerned with not falling off and holding position when BAM! Cassie goes flying over this thing like it was 3 feet and I'm lucky enough that I was so concerned with grip and position that I only slightly fell onto her neck as opposed to rolling off onto the ground. We do this one more time, on replay, and then Stacy says that Cassie is getting too excited, so to just to the cavaletti poles. There she keeps telling me to put my heels down, but I'm always finding myself balancing on my toes. Ugh. I need to work on that.

In the end, it was a good first lesson back. I finally sucked it up and told Stacy that as for jumping, I'd feel way more comfortable if I were on smaller horses or even ponies until I get better at it because they're more the size of my horses. And as for Stacy not coming out to ride over break, her voicemail broke, and I didn't call the office, but she's definitely interested to come out when it gets warmer =] I can't wait to show her the horses I train. It's a completely different world.

Last bit of news. My dear Tommy moved away with his owner =[ We worked well together and I'll miss him. I'll always remember him as the first horse I ever fell off of. Good memory, no?