This Tuesday we had our last regular lesson for this semester. We often do something a little unusual for those occasions, and this time we had a little contest. It consisted of several different parts; most canter strides between two points, most steps backing up, most lateral steps between two points, smallest circle at a trot, most trotting strides between two points and fewest trotting strides between two points.
We had all been assigned horses we hadn’t ridden for a while, so I was on Fleur. It was rather fun, actually, and it sure made me do very careful corners to get the most strides in when that mattered. ;) Fleur, having a very short stride, did well at those, and I also did pretty well backing her up. Lateral was okay, the circle was passable, but the final bit of trotting (fewest strides between two points) resulted in cantering since she was really charged up by then. I think I may have come in second or third (one of the other girls did amazingly well, and looked so focused it was kind of funny), but we ended up being very late so I had to leave before the results were handed out.
Yesterday, I finished up the semester with a private lesson. I didn’t ride for our unusual instructor, though, because she called in sick this morning. Instead, I rode for the head instructor. I haven’t ridden for her for some years, so it made me a bit nervous. Murphy, of course, was quite happy and eager to get started during the warm-up. He really loves being alone in the arena. However, once she showed up, it got a little trickier. I wasn’t quite sure what to ask her to focus on (I had planned to ask my regular instructor to work on whatever she felt I had had most issues with during the semester), but decided to ask for more work on my position.
Boy, did I get that. She worked me very hard about my hand position (particularly on the right, I tend to tilt my hand so the palm is more downwards, which comes from my elbow getting too straight, and I often open up my hands too much when I want to be soft), and she was pretty tough on my legs too. She did spot some good things that the regular instructor hasn’t nagged me about lately (a fresh eye is always good), but I did struggle a bit with the amount of instructions. I get a little tense and a wee bit stressed when constantly being reminded about something, so at first I started getting stiff and contorted. Eventually, however, I was able to take in the corrections more calmly, and there was a marked difference towards the end as I finally started to keep my elbow bent more naturally. But I may still have to try riding with a whip held across each hand and secured by my thumbs to keep from dropping one hand or pushing too much against the horse’s neck.
Because we focused so much on me, I did not get quite the result I would have wanted from Murphy, though she was very pleased with his trot towards the end. And he certainly got a work-out; when I gave him long reins as we finished up (after 50 minutes instead of 30, yikes), he just stopped right off. So, I got off and lead him for a bit before taking him up and putting a blanket on him. He was very soft and sweet. Good lesson, all in all, except for the incredibly soreness when I came home. I think I rode without stirrups for about 40 minutes, and I am bruised and chafed.