Feeling proud
So, a little background before I tell you why cantering in my lessons these past two weeks made me so purely happy. Because just said like that, it sounds pretty ordinary, like "Whee, zomg u guys, I CANTEREDED today." But it means a lot to me.
I've been riding for eleven years now. For eight of those years - age 11 to 19 - I rode the same mustang pony, who I could do anything with, from a dressage free-walk to barrel-racing to trail-riding. I could take him from a full gallop to a halt within a few steps, and vice versa. Then I went to college, and started taking lessons on all these different horses, and riding all these horses at a volunteer barn. And, to my extreme embarrassment, I got scared. Not, weirdly, at the volunteer barn, where no one was watching me ride and I could choose which horse I wanted and do whatever I wanted. Those horses I could canter.
But in my lessons? Different story. First thing is, my trainer's horses are big guys, and I'm a little girl. I mean, I'm strong and everything, but I feel like I'm just perched there because my legs are so short. Since I ride the Intro dressage test, there's been no need for me to practice cantering, so I've had plenty of time to FREAK THE HELL OUT about it. What if the horses were too much for me? What if I lost control? What if I got hurt, or got too spooked to ride? What if I'm just not good enough? All this bothered me a lot, because remember what I said about my mustang? I'd had no fear, and suddenly I was just terrified.
So two weeks ago, Julie (the trainer) put me on the Hanoverian schoolmaster that she got from one of the area colleges so we would have experience with upper-level horses (he's also the basis of our yet-to-be-realized "show string"). He's a big guy, somewhere around 17.2 hands, maybe a little less.
And near the end of the lesson, she asked me to canter him. I was scared, because he's big and strong and perfectly trained, but I didn't want to sound afraid in front of my lesson buddies. So I asked him...
...and as he transitioned up into it, I forgot my fear and remembered how much I love to canter. Suddenly I was gleeful, laughing, urging him forward and riding him as actively as I could. And the next week, when Julie set me to cantering the moody TB who bucks if you cue him wrong, I plunged right into it without fear and sent him cantering on a twenty-meter circle, grinning like a fool.
I feel so much lighter, guys. I feel like I can handle anything now, any horse Julie hands me, any horse I get at a show. And last weekend I had a great ride at Bethany, and placed third in my division, so I just feel so much better about myself and my riding abilities.
Have any of you gone through something like this?
I've been riding for eleven years now. For eight of those years - age 11 to 19 - I rode the same mustang pony, who I could do anything with, from a dressage free-walk to barrel-racing to trail-riding. I could take him from a full gallop to a halt within a few steps, and vice versa. Then I went to college, and started taking lessons on all these different horses, and riding all these horses at a volunteer barn. And, to my extreme embarrassment, I got scared. Not, weirdly, at the volunteer barn, where no one was watching me ride and I could choose which horse I wanted and do whatever I wanted. Those horses I could canter.
But in my lessons? Different story. First thing is, my trainer's horses are big guys, and I'm a little girl. I mean, I'm strong and everything, but I feel like I'm just perched there because my legs are so short. Since I ride the Intro dressage test, there's been no need for me to practice cantering, so I've had plenty of time to FREAK THE HELL OUT about it. What if the horses were too much for me? What if I lost control? What if I got hurt, or got too spooked to ride? What if I'm just not good enough? All this bothered me a lot, because remember what I said about my mustang? I'd had no fear, and suddenly I was just terrified.
So two weeks ago, Julie (the trainer) put me on the Hanoverian schoolmaster that she got from one of the area colleges so we would have experience with upper-level horses (he's also the basis of our yet-to-be-realized "show string"). He's a big guy, somewhere around 17.2 hands, maybe a little less.
And near the end of the lesson, she asked me to canter him. I was scared, because he's big and strong and perfectly trained, but I didn't want to sound afraid in front of my lesson buddies. So I asked him...
...and as he transitioned up into it, I forgot my fear and remembered how much I love to canter. Suddenly I was gleeful, laughing, urging him forward and riding him as actively as I could. And the next week, when Julie set me to cantering the moody TB who bucks if you cue him wrong, I plunged right into it without fear and sent him cantering on a twenty-meter circle, grinning like a fool.
I feel so much lighter, guys. I feel like I can handle anything now, any horse Julie hands me, any horse I get at a show. And last weekend I had a great ride at Bethany, and placed third in my division, so I just feel so much better about myself and my riding abilities.
Have any of you gone through something like this?