progress in riding
Posted by fenny at 01:14 PM on June 8, 2004.
It's been a busy month. My young horse is in training with Amy. I'm in training with Amy. I'm riding her horse Belle, and I'm riding my other horse too. The last week for one reason or another we've been doing walking lessons. I've been finding them very satisfying, which I didn't used to when I was taking lessons before. I guess my internal speedometer has slowed down. I'm now just as happy to get a good swinging walk from a horse as I used to be to get a good forward trot.
Sunday we did walk pirouettes, which was exhausting but fun. Yesterday we did walking turn on the haunches, not quite as exhausting and very fun. Amy finally diagnosed my leg yield problem, which is that I let my outside aids lapse. I need to keep my leg on the horse on *both* sides and to keep some tension on the outside rein so the horse doesn't kind of squirt out the side. (How's that for a visual?)
I rode in spurs for the first time ever yesterday, and it made a big difference. Much much easier to get ornery horse moving.
In non-horse-related events, I've been spending all my time with Buddy. He started classes last week, which means I've actually spent a couple of evenings alone, for the first time since about April. Most days he stops by for at least a little while. It's conceivable that this could cause me to feel crowded, having lived alone the last couple of years. But it hasn't. We feel right together. It's hard for me to believe we've only been together a few weeks.
I've met his mom and one sib. He's meeting my folks next week. My pets love him. His dog appears to be okay with me, which is saying a lot for a Chow. When was the last time one of my boyfriends actually got along with all of mine, and I got along with all of his?
Sunday we did walk pirouettes, which was exhausting but fun. Yesterday we did walking turn on the haunches, not quite as exhausting and very fun. Amy finally diagnosed my leg yield problem, which is that I let my outside aids lapse. I need to keep my leg on the horse on *both* sides and to keep some tension on the outside rein so the horse doesn't kind of squirt out the side. (How's that for a visual?)
I rode in spurs for the first time ever yesterday, and it made a big difference. Much much easier to get ornery horse moving.
In non-horse-related events, I've been spending all my time with Buddy. He started classes last week, which means I've actually spent a couple of evenings alone, for the first time since about April. Most days he stops by for at least a little while. It's conceivable that this could cause me to feel crowded, having lived alone the last couple of years. But it hasn't. We feel right together. It's hard for me to believe we've only been together a few weeks.
I've met his mom and one sib. He's meeting my folks next week. My pets love him. His dog appears to be okay with me, which is saying a lot for a Chow. When was the last time one of my boyfriends actually got along with all of mine, and I got along with all of his?