Looks like being late with these is becoming a habit. Then again, this week wasn’t overly exciting either. Our poor instructor was no longer ill, but now she was injured instead. Her (very large) horse ended up spooking as she took him in from the field, and landed on her foot. So, we had a replacement this week too (and may have one next week too, which means I won’t manage another private lesson before the semester ends, darnit). She allowed us to pick horses ourselves (we usually get them selected for us), and I ended up second-to-last. Fortunately, Sammy was left, and though I was a bit miffed about missing out on both Murphy and Nelson, I really like Sammy too and haven’t had a chance to ride him for ages. And now that he’s the oldest horse in the stables and nearing 20, I do feel I have to take the chances I get to ride him, since he surely must be nearing his retirement (though, so far he’s doing pretty well, being a sturdy Irish horse).
Looks like being late with these is becoming a habit. Then again, this week wasn’t overly exciting either. Our poor instructor was no longer ill, but now she was injured instead. Her (very large) horse ended up spooking as she took him in from the field, and landed on her foot. So, we had a replacement this week too. She allowed us to pick horses ourselves (we usually get them selected for us), and I ended up second-to-last. Fortunately, Sammy was left, and though I was a bit miffed about missing out on both Murphy and Nelson, I really like Sammy too and haven’t had a chance to ride him for ages. And now that he’s the oldest horse in the stables and nearing 20, I do feel I have to take the chances I get to ride him, since he surely must be nearing his retirement (though, so far he’s doing pretty well, being a sturdy Irish horse).
The lesson was based around an exercise where we divide ourselves over three intersecting circles that we ride at walk, trot and (sometimes) canter (though we didn’t this time around). Its a pretty good exercise for not getting too caught up in fiddling with your hands or concentrating overly much on the nitty gritty of your own riding since you have to keep an eye out for everyone else to be able to smoothly handle the intersections. And sometimes that can sort out problems that come from trying too hard and getting locked into a specific pattern of doing things.
Unfortunately, it is not a great exercise for someone like Sammy when you don’t have your regular instructor. He’s been at the riding school for 13-14 years now, and he knows some of these exercises very well. This one he apparently sees as a typical end-of-semester thing, especially for lower level groups. So, he likes to switch on the auto pilot and just move around there. Getting him out of that, especially without the support of a more proactive and demanding instructor, can be pretty tough. I suppose I managed passably, but I have had him work much better for me before. Still, I was glad I got Sammy for this lesson, since I could feel I needed to ride a larger horse again, to avoid getting entirely unused to it. So, in that sense a simple lesson was okay.
It also allowed me to focus on some of the position issues I had spotted when watching the photos and video that Elio took of my last private lesson (going to get some of that up one of these days, btw). So, I tried very hard to get my shoulders back and my chest out, to avoid the slightly hunched look I had been sporting throughout that lesson. It worked okay, but I was reminded of the problem that I encountered last time I tried this. It may be an issue that is worse for me on larger horses (since I seemed to do fairly well on Nelson), but I find it almost impossible to have my shoulders back and my chest forward at the same time as I have my seatbones correctly placed and the right amount of butt placed in the saddle. If I prioritize the shoulders and chest, I tend to either tip forward in the saddle (which makes for uncomfortable chafing) or lean backwards too much. And if i prioritize my contact with the saddle, I get hunched shoulders.
What’s a girl to do, other than get a new body? ;P It may be that better balance could keep me balanced just right even with my shoulders back, but it really feels like it comes down to the fact that I have a pretty pronounced lower back curve combined with short arms, short and sturdy legs and a not-small butt. Not precisely an ideal body for a rider, though I do okay on short, sturdy horses.