So Long So Long
It has been a while since I've posted. Things have been hectic and I haven't gotten out to ride as much as I would've liked. I will fill in the blanks as best I can.
The Friday after the lesson that I talked about last I was able to watch Laurie's dressage lesson given by a lady named Carey. It was fantastic! All she did was walk! Carey seemed to have a very good eye for detail and was very sympathetic to both horse and rider. Laurie had a great time and I was totally jealous!! What? An instructor that doesn't throw rocks at your mount trying to get it to canter? One who pays attention to your position and listens to your discriptions of your perceived problems and figures out how to fix it? I decided I had to have a lesson from Carey who would actually travel to my barn and give me a lesson on Breezy.
So, I cancelled my Monday lesson with Donna citing monetary problems, which for all intents and purposes was true... I can't have a lesson with both Donna and Carey! ...and I scheduled one with Carey for the following Friday. Of course I got hit with karma when my lesson rained out (wouldn't have rained out at Donna's awesome facility) but it was quickly rescheduled for Sunday which was totally awesome. She returns phone calls and emails promptly!
So now, the lesson...
Right after work I drove straight to the barn. Halfway through cleaning Breezy Carey pulled up. We exchanged greetings and she admired Breezy, she said that she is quite decently conformed and that she has a beautiful tail for an Appy (very true). She also noticed that B was a bit under weight and asked me about it. I mentioned the vet had been out and said her teeth were fine, that she was recently wormed, and that she ate a ton. So she asked B to open her mouth and she put her hand right on up there! She said that she felt some sharp edges and that she thought B could probably use some dental work despite what the vet said. To be continued..
Once I got B all tacked up, I got on and started walking around. Instead of walking up and down the dirt road like I normally do to warm up I went directly into the ring. Carey stood in the shade and watched me walk in both directions and then asked me to trot in both directions. She noticed that B was a bit shorter strided with her right hind when we were traveling to the right. When we were traveling to the left she asked me if when I posted did I feel like I was landing more heavily on my right side. Which I definately did. She also noticed that despite traveling to the left, most of my weight was still in my right leg.
To work on my leg she put me in a 20 meter circle walking to the left around her. She asked me to take my left leg out of the stirrup and just let it hang down naturally. After a while she had me pointing my toe toward B's nose with my heel pointing away from the horse. This put my inner upper thigh in contact with the saddle. So I walked pointing with my toe for a few strides then relaxing for a few strides. Then she added another exercise. She said to pretend I had eyes between my boobs and to try to "look" at her in the middle of the circle for a few strides then relax for a few strides. I had to do this without looking with my head before the rest of my body, very hard considering all the looking beaten in to me in the hunters.
Next she had me pointing with my toe and "looking" at her with my new eyes at the same time. Not easy. Kind of like patting your head and rubbing your belly at the same time. This whole exercise was meant to: one, create muscle memory, my toes will eventually point at B's nose all the time and I should be able to eventually twist at the hips without moving my head first and ; two, lengthen my left leg.
We then changed direction and worked on the same thing going to the right. I found that pointing my right toe was easier to do but that my ankle was stiffer than my left ankle. I also found that twisting to the right was pretty darned difficult. Also, I could not feel my right butt bone at all! Wee! The root of alot of my position problems! I have weak muscles on the left side of my back and stronger tighter muscles on the right side of my back that causes my spine to form the shape of a bow. Twisting to the right was (is) more difficult because it requires my left back muscles (obliques?) to work. Now if I can build up more strength in the left side and make my right side more flexible I may just be able to sit up straight in the saddle! Also it would be good if my left leg could take over some of the work that my right leg assumes belongs to it.
We stopped the lesson as soon as I was able to feel both seat bones.
During the lesson Regina drove up and pulled Jewel out of the pasture. After the lesson I introduced the two of them and they chatted while I cleaned B up. After a little while I gave Carey a check and scheduled another lesson for Friday at 12pm. Yay!
Floating continued...
When Carey left I mentioned to Regina what Carey said about B's teeth and who she recommended to get out there to do them and hopefully we can get them done sometime this summer.
All in all totally awesome. I am sore today, all the way down my left side : )
The Friday after the lesson that I talked about last I was able to watch Laurie's dressage lesson given by a lady named Carey. It was fantastic! All she did was walk! Carey seemed to have a very good eye for detail and was very sympathetic to both horse and rider. Laurie had a great time and I was totally jealous!! What? An instructor that doesn't throw rocks at your mount trying to get it to canter? One who pays attention to your position and listens to your discriptions of your perceived problems and figures out how to fix it? I decided I had to have a lesson from Carey who would actually travel to my barn and give me a lesson on Breezy.
So, I cancelled my Monday lesson with Donna citing monetary problems, which for all intents and purposes was true... I can't have a lesson with both Donna and Carey! ...and I scheduled one with Carey for the following Friday. Of course I got hit with karma when my lesson rained out (wouldn't have rained out at Donna's awesome facility) but it was quickly rescheduled for Sunday which was totally awesome. She returns phone calls and emails promptly!
So now, the lesson...
Right after work I drove straight to the barn. Halfway through cleaning Breezy Carey pulled up. We exchanged greetings and she admired Breezy, she said that she is quite decently conformed and that she has a beautiful tail for an Appy (very true). She also noticed that B was a bit under weight and asked me about it. I mentioned the vet had been out and said her teeth were fine, that she was recently wormed, and that she ate a ton. So she asked B to open her mouth and she put her hand right on up there! She said that she felt some sharp edges and that she thought B could probably use some dental work despite what the vet said. To be continued..
Once I got B all tacked up, I got on and started walking around. Instead of walking up and down the dirt road like I normally do to warm up I went directly into the ring. Carey stood in the shade and watched me walk in both directions and then asked me to trot in both directions. She noticed that B was a bit shorter strided with her right hind when we were traveling to the right. When we were traveling to the left she asked me if when I posted did I feel like I was landing more heavily on my right side. Which I definately did. She also noticed that despite traveling to the left, most of my weight was still in my right leg.
To work on my leg she put me in a 20 meter circle walking to the left around her. She asked me to take my left leg out of the stirrup and just let it hang down naturally. After a while she had me pointing my toe toward B's nose with my heel pointing away from the horse. This put my inner upper thigh in contact with the saddle. So I walked pointing with my toe for a few strides then relaxing for a few strides. Then she added another exercise. She said to pretend I had eyes between my boobs and to try to "look" at her in the middle of the circle for a few strides then relax for a few strides. I had to do this without looking with my head before the rest of my body, very hard considering all the looking beaten in to me in the hunters.
Next she had me pointing with my toe and "looking" at her with my new eyes at the same time. Not easy. Kind of like patting your head and rubbing your belly at the same time. This whole exercise was meant to: one, create muscle memory, my toes will eventually point at B's nose all the time and I should be able to eventually twist at the hips without moving my head first and ; two, lengthen my left leg.
We then changed direction and worked on the same thing going to the right. I found that pointing my right toe was easier to do but that my ankle was stiffer than my left ankle. I also found that twisting to the right was pretty darned difficult. Also, I could not feel my right butt bone at all! Wee! The root of alot of my position problems! I have weak muscles on the left side of my back and stronger tighter muscles on the right side of my back that causes my spine to form the shape of a bow. Twisting to the right was (is) more difficult because it requires my left back muscles (obliques?) to work. Now if I can build up more strength in the left side and make my right side more flexible I may just be able to sit up straight in the saddle! Also it would be good if my left leg could take over some of the work that my right leg assumes belongs to it.
We stopped the lesson as soon as I was able to feel both seat bones.
During the lesson Regina drove up and pulled Jewel out of the pasture. After the lesson I introduced the two of them and they chatted while I cleaned B up. After a little while I gave Carey a check and scheduled another lesson for Friday at 12pm. Yay!
Floating continued...
When Carey left I mentioned to Regina what Carey said about B's teeth and who she recommended to get out there to do them and hopefully we can get them done sometime this summer.
All in all totally awesome. I am sore today, all the way down my left side : )
posted by shortround at 1:22 PM
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