Where to start? This has been a very eventful week. It got very cold, very quickly, which can mean all sorts of fun with the ponies!
By cold, I mean below 60deg, I can hear you all laughing from here!
Monday's ride was very good. Ringo seemed looser and less fussy throughout the whole lesson. Lessons are still less than half an hour (am I the only one who sees the humor in the fact that my fitness level is higher than an ex race-horse?!) Balance issues still, (the gorse, not me) and resisting contact, but really a decent ride for three days off.
Tuesday we got the rodeo show. Bucks, spin outs, weird lead changes and taking off. But it really didn't phase me, I just kinda sat there and said, "no, butthead, we're going to do this my way. Sorry, not sorry!" And then he listened. Brendan mentioned something Mike Barisone had told him, which made me laugh but sadly the metaphor escapes me. It involved giving a monkey a razor blade. I think the point is that a horse is going to take advantage of anything you give it...? Maybe? Anyhow, it was a butting-heads day.
Then after the lesson I made the mistake of mentioning to my girlfriend that some guy had called me "Pancake-Butt" (because I am on the skinny side) and now the barn manager Brian calls me "Flapjacks." Wonderful.
Wednesday Brian rode Ringo and I found it interesting to be able to observe the horse from the ground. Brian is just starting out and has only been on a horse a handful of times. They worked on walk/trot, keeping and feeling posting diagonals, etc. Ringo was very sore-sorry boy! That was my doing. He was hollow and had uneven strides, and basically just kept quitting on Brian. Which was a bit amusing, it had to be said. And a bird pooped on my head, which Brendan found to be very amusing. Karma!
Today was the best Ringo has been. We did a much longer trot warmup, Brendan told me he really likes my method of warming up with so many bending/turning sets, so he let me do all that and then we jumped to the canter. Now, I must note that I've been on Ringo a total of maybe 7 times, and the horse has steadily progressed. He hasn't once decided that he forgot the lesson from the last day, and instead, today he actually gave me moments of roundness! Very brief moments, but little seconds of doing over his back and giving to my hand. Progress!! I made sure to reward him every time. I focused so much today on keeping my right shoulder back, and keeping my elbow. And then I just pushed him really forward and met him in the contact, and he started to give without flinging his head. I'm excited about that. So, the canter was far easier to pick up and maintain to both directions; it's the trot transition at the left lead that gets me into trouble. Because my left leg is weak, Ringo cuts straight into the middle of the circle when we transition down. So Brendan has me steer as wide as I can to counter this. Over all though, the horse is looser, more supple, starting to bend, starting to come through his back, and maintaining straightness better, which I'd say are some quick and correct steps toward the basics! I told Brendan I think right now we are just teaching the horse how to walk/trot/canter in balance, and he agreed, saying we can't really try any "dressage stuff" until we get him solid here. But let me just ask, what is dressage, if not all the basics working together?!
This'll be the first week where I've had four rides. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!
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