I decided to start doing lesson recaps as a way of keeping track of my progress & also because many of my Twitter followers expressed an interest. I will try to incorporate pictures and videos to the best of my ability to supplement my words regarding my lessons. Because my schedule is so limited, I am usually only able to ride on Saturdays and Sundays. If I am lucky, I also get to ride one day during the week – though that is very rare. Also, for this particular post, a special thank you to my boyfriend who videoed almost my entire lesson for me and also for some of the funny commentary that can be heard throughout. He and my trainer know each other from college coincidentally, so they are old friends and get joy out of making fun of me.

Here is my very first lesson recap:

Saturday, July 25, 2015: This was a flat day where we worked on straightness, transitions, no stirrups, and one-handed riding. My trainer is really emphasizing my posture, which has gotten tons better since I have begun riding with her. I have a tendency to hunch over and scrunch up especially during upwards and downwards transitions. First we just did simple riding on the flat that included walking, trotting, and cantering. We did circles, changes of directions, and lengthening and shortening of strides.

We also did some serpentines and worked on straightness on the straightaways as well as getting good corners. Monte is green, so he is not always the best at being straight, and he needs a lot of help from the rider’s leg (ie. pulling on the reins does NOT help here – not that it ever should, but you get what I mean).

Then we moved onto canter work. Right now I am really focusing on not scrunching up during the upward and downward transitions. I’m also working on staying centered in the saddle as I have a tendency to lean, especially on circles. When going around, my trainer tells me to put more weight into my outside heel (whichever one that happens to be) so that I stay centered in the saddle. I’m also working on not having what my trainer refers to as an “electric ass.” I tend to light my horses up with my seat which causes them to get excited and rushy (the exact opposite of what I want, especially in the hunter and equitation classes I will be/am doing at shows).

Another thing I am proud of about my position at the canter is that I don’t have terrible rocking horse arms. If you look at old videos of me, which are available on my Instagram, my arms were terrible at the canter and moved entirely too much. Though they still move a bit too much for my liking, I have gotten a lot quieter, and I keep improving with that.

Like I said, we are doing a lot of work on my posture. My trainer really emphasizes having “presence” in the show ring, especially during the hack classes. As a result, she makes me ride with one hand in both directions during one of my lessons. I make a fist and press it against the small of my back. This forces me to open my chest, sit tall, and keep my shoulders back. I am training my body and posture to be proper. I only do this for a short period at the trot and canter, but it has made a world of difference so far with my posture. Additionally, it really teaches me to ride with my legs which is something we all need to learn to do. I know we all had that panic when we were asked to ride one-handed and to make a circle. And then, we realized it was actually possible! My trainer often asks me to circle while I am riding one-handed, and I am able to do it, even though sometimes I wonder if I will be able to do so. It really shows me that I am riding from my legs, not my hands, which is extremely important and a valuable aid to have.

Finally, we always do no stirrup work to help improve my seat and my leg position. It’s painful. It sucks. I feel the burn. But it’s absolutely necessary, and to be honest, even though I act like I hate it, I secretly love it. I know that I am doing a great service to my riding, and I need to actively make more of an effort to ride without stirrups so I can continue to strengthen my legs, seat, and core. I’m also working on learning to sit trot without my stirrups. This helps me use my core by flexing my abs and being “loose” in the tack. This doesn’t mean flopping all over. Rather, it means allowing myself to go “with” the motion. I don’t need to put a huge effort into sitting the trot. I can just allow it to happen. In this video, you can hear my trainer talking about having presence in the show ring.

Sunday, July 26, 2015: I had a great lesson on Saturday, but Sunday is the day I am most proud of. Unfortunately, my boyfriend had a soccer game at the same time as my lesson, so he could not come video, but we did some jumping work. After warming up on the flat doing the same exercises, circles, serpentines, lengthening and shortening, we began with some no stirrup work at the canter. It helped me lengthen my leg, stay centered in the saddle, and remain “loose” and “fluid” in the tack. Monte was a rockstar for this, and it was our first time cantering together while I had no stirrups.

Finally, we got to jumping. Now just for reader information, I am not jumping very high because I am just getting back to it (who am I kidding? The most I was jumping before Luther’s multiple injuries was 2’6″ occasionally). We are mostly doing work over small cavaletti – maybe about 2′ – but I don’t care – as long as I am making progress and learning. Plus, it is not about jump height no matter how much people make it out to be. I would rather see someone do a 2′ or 2’6″ course perfectly than screw up a 3’6″ course or look like they really don’t belong in the 3’6″ ring. Plus, the lower the jump, the more room for mistakes.

We started with just one cavaletti. Since I tend to get nervous and rushy in my head, my trainer reminds me to count the striding as I approach the jump. The great thing about Monte is that he stays completely steady to the jump. He will take off from any distance and is a completely honest horse for only being 6. After I took the first jump, we added a second element, which I got perfect right off the bat. Finally, we added a third element – a rollback. This one was a bit more difficult for me, and I had a few screw-ups the first couple of times. The first time, I turned a bit too early, so I wasn’t straight to the jump. I also leaned up Monte’s neck when we took off, so we got a bad chippy distance because my leaning prevented him from being able to take off properly. The second time, I did the same thing, except less bad. Because I improved at the third element, my trainer added a fourth cavaletti, which I also screwed up the first time. Now mind you, this was my first time jumping a mini-course in a year, so I was a bit rusty. However, we took the mini-course again. This time, the first and second elements were perfect, as was the fourth element, but I still needed to work on that rollback turn. My trainer asked me to do the second element to the rollback by itself. That time, I committed to a distance to the rollback element, and even though it was extremely gappy, Monte took it, and my trainer was happy that I made a decision, stuck with it, and didn’t lean on his neck during the take-off.

Overall, I was very proud of myself for putting a mini-course together; doing it without anxiety; and getting most of my distances. I am starting to develop an eye, and even better, I am starting to get more comfortable with asking for what I am seeing, and Monte is happy to oblige. The great thing about him is that even if I make a mistake, he doesn’t hold it against me. He will go back around to the jump again and act as if it’s completely brand new and something we haven’t done before which is fantastic for me. I can’t believe I own a 6 year old horse that is such a good jumping teacher.

I’m not going to lie. When the jumping part of the lesson comes up, I still get a little bit nervous, but I am starting to get more comfortable with the idea. I think this is because I am becoming more confident in my jumping skills as well as my eye for distances. Plus, counting strides down to a jump really helps. It takes my mind off of the jump and puts it on something else – having a good, rhythmic canter – something that is essential for a good jump. My trainer always says if you have a good canter and get your horse to the middle of the jump, you will always jump well.

I am hoping to be able to do some small jumping divisions at horse shows by the end of the summer or early fall with Monte. I think we are making great progress, and I promise to get a jumping video of us very soon!