Back in the Saddle

Hi guys,

It's been a while since I last posted and I have a valid reason for that - I haven't been horse riding in about a month. It's been quite annoying to have missed so many sessions, especially as there are things I need to get off my instructor and of course I've missed being at the yard, but it hasn't been possible to get to my pony club sessions. Why, I hear you ask? University. That's right folks, it's that scary time of year when I must write my personal statement, pick a university and course, and make sure I have enough work experience to give me that extra edge. But perhaps all that can come in a later post!

Yesterday morning, I actually managed to have a riding lesson. Pony club had been cancelled due to a lack of people going (just a one off thing) so instead I went to my former usual riding spot of 11am on a Saturday. It wasn't my normal riding instructor taking the hour group lesson (she's on holiday and I'm a bit envious to say the least), but rather someone I had never had before. Now I don't know whether it's just because it was quite warm, or because I didn't know three of the other people in the group, or if it was just an off day, but the vibe was different. I've had better lessons to say the least. What we were doing was fine, pretty good considering that I haven't been riding in a while, but there was just a lack of engagement. But, like I say, that might not have been down to the instructor. She didn't know a few of us as well, so there wasn't a relationship as such. I don't know. I'm rambling now so I'll just get onto what we were doing haha.

I was riding my absolute favourite horse at the stables, and this definitely put me a good mood as I haven't ridden him in yonks. He was being a bit of pickle when we got to the school, as he decided he didn't want to face the wall, but rather a close by horse - meaning I had to keep a close eye on what he was doing in case he decided to kick or bite the horses either side of him. He's usually pretty good, but he was just a bit fidgety. We had been waiting longer than anyone else and he just wanted to get going! Anyway, once we were all ready, Bails and I lead the ride. We did some trot work, then we changed the order of the ride. In truth, I didn't really like this because we reversed the order. The bigger horses ended up at the back, and they were struggling to be so slow. Keeping the correct distance apart was impossible due to one horse that kept napping/wasn't sure if it needed the loo and then there was the matter of not being able to circle due to the ponies at the front eventually ending up at the back. So that part was a bit disappointing. On the plus side, we got to do some no stirrup work.

Normally, I quite like doing no stirrup work because my balance is typically quite bad, and it really opens up my pelvis and gets me sitting way deeper in the saddle. I genuinely think that after doing the no stirrup work I could have happily put the stirrups down at least one, probably two, holes. I didn't for the simple reason that I wanted to ensure my heels stayed down. The downside to the no stirrup work was that Bails wasn't feeling so kind as to give me a slow trot to sit to. He was either walking or doing his working/medium trot. There was no in between, the monkey. His bouncy trot meant that my position was absolute rubbish. I forgave him though because later on in the lesson he collected his canter quite nicely and didn't cause the horse in front to start a race.

Another good thing about the instructor was that she picked up on some riding position faults. Now, I cannot say with certainty that the faults are ones that I've had for a while, that I have because I haven't ridden in a while or because of the horse I was riding (does anyone else have any position related problems with certain horses?), but my lower legs were creeping forward and I was sitting too far back in the saddle. I was a bit worried that the saddle was too far back at the start of the lesson, so maybe I was compensating because I could feel Bails' ribs. I don't know. At least it's something I can work on for the next time I ride (and goodness knows when that will be!) so I was quite happy to have these issues pointed out. By the end of the lesson the instructor established that it's basically just my position in trot that's problematic. Canter is fine - is that a reason to just miss a gait? :P

Well that's all for today. Quite a long post, but hey, I'll probably fall of the radar for a while. I hope you're having a lovely day, wherever you are!

Until next time, friends :)