The thing about shoes is...
We had another lesson with Julian today- I don't think I've ever seen sleepsy_mouse look so tall and elegant and I've never been able to find the centre of the horse's movement like I did today. Really interesting, really enjoyable and a definite feeling that we are making progress. By the end of today's lesson we were doing a few bits of sitting trot, something I've never really learned to do, and just for a little time I was able to find the balanced point of the pace and really move with the horse instead of bumping along on her back. That was pretty amazing.
It's also very entertaining hearing Julian talk about things as well- he's a fundamentally modest person and absolutely would not deliberately name-drop but the circles he has moved in means that he talks about people who one has heard of, so he'll mention in passing a fall out with Sylvia Loch or the way Nuno Oliveira used to stand and you realise the kind of level and depth of experience he has. I suspect that if there was a british equivalent of the Cadre Noir or the Spanish Riding School, he would be one of it's most senior members.
I feel like I have learned so much over the last couple of lessons. How easily I will be able to carry it across to riding Zorro I honestly couldn't yet say, but I think the overall standard of my riding will be raised immeasurably over this winter.
It's also very entertaining hearing Julian talk about things as well- he's a fundamentally modest person and absolutely would not deliberately name-drop but the circles he has moved in means that he talks about people who one has heard of, so he'll mention in passing a fall out with Sylvia Loch or the way Nuno Oliveira used to stand and you realise the kind of level and depth of experience he has. I suspect that if there was a british equivalent of the Cadre Noir or the Spanish Riding School, he would be one of it's most senior members.
I feel like I have learned so much over the last couple of lessons. How easily I will be able to carry it across to riding Zorro I honestly couldn't yet say, but I think the overall standard of my riding will be raised immeasurably over this winter.