Oh gods, my legs...
Oh grumble. I had a whole post written up and then my browser ate it! So let’s try this again, this time in a text editor so it hopefully won’t get randomly lost for no apparent reason.
Riding yesterday was JUMPING! I LOVE JUMPING SO MUCH! More than I know how to express! Penny told me before my lesson that she was going to have me jump and gave me a choice between two horses. I went with Allura because I am more familiar with her. And after a short warm up, Penny pointed me at a jump and told me to go over it on my next lap. Which was both really nervous-making and exciting!
It actually took two laps before I started going over, but that was because once there was someone in the way. And then it did not take much time at all for all the nervousness to fall away and it just be PURE FUN!
Well, challenging fun. Jumping is definitely difficult. It requires a great deal of strength and balance, and I still have more to develop for this. Repeatedly pushing oneself up out of the saddle so that you are out of the horse’s way is extremely draining. More than you might think. So I would do seven or eight jumps in a go, and then take a few minutes to rest. Eventually I will be able to go longer, when I get more strength.
On a few of the jumps, I actually felt like I did it mostly right! With good balance, good position, all the stuff. Most of the time, though, I was too far forward, or my hands were off, or my legs wobbly, and once in a while I was too far back. Penny says it’s ok, though. So long as I’m getting over and I’m doing my best, it’s ok. Better form will happen with time, as I keep jumping. AND I WILL KEEP JUMPING.
For the most part, I super like Allura. She has a lot of energy, while also being stable as a rock. She doesn’t spook, and when she’s pointed at a jump, she ALWAYS goes over. Super good for people like me still trying to figure all this out. Her main detriment is that she’s quite rough going left. She can be difficult to point at the jumps going left, and has a distinct tendency to slide off to the right. I still managed her, though! Yay! And I mostly went right, because that was easier.
This time around we were just trotting the jumps. Once in a while she broke into a canter anyway because that is easier for her, and when she did I generally just went with it for a bit before bringing her back down to a trot.
Seriously. Must. Do. More.
Nee is continuing to ride Stitch, doing a lot of stirrup-less riding, and getting up to two laps at a time at the canter! He does not know how to sit at the canter yet (not super necessary for jumping anyway, but a good thing to know how to do, at least a little), but Stitch is like a rocking horse. He is a good one to learn a seated canter on. The main thing is that you REALLY gotta keep your hips and back loose, which is particularly challenging for Nee.
So. Yes. Riding great!
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Now if only I could get my new brainyphone to access data services. Apparently something needs to be configured and I DO NOT UNDERSTAND AGGGGH! Nee is going to play with it in a bit, and I may take it in to where I got it to ask them to get it working.
Riding yesterday was JUMPING! I LOVE JUMPING SO MUCH! More than I know how to express! Penny told me before my lesson that she was going to have me jump and gave me a choice between two horses. I went with Allura because I am more familiar with her. And after a short warm up, Penny pointed me at a jump and told me to go over it on my next lap. Which was both really nervous-making and exciting!
It actually took two laps before I started going over, but that was because once there was someone in the way. And then it did not take much time at all for all the nervousness to fall away and it just be PURE FUN!
Well, challenging fun. Jumping is definitely difficult. It requires a great deal of strength and balance, and I still have more to develop for this. Repeatedly pushing oneself up out of the saddle so that you are out of the horse’s way is extremely draining. More than you might think. So I would do seven or eight jumps in a go, and then take a few minutes to rest. Eventually I will be able to go longer, when I get more strength.
On a few of the jumps, I actually felt like I did it mostly right! With good balance, good position, all the stuff. Most of the time, though, I was too far forward, or my hands were off, or my legs wobbly, and once in a while I was too far back. Penny says it’s ok, though. So long as I’m getting over and I’m doing my best, it’s ok. Better form will happen with time, as I keep jumping. AND I WILL KEEP JUMPING.
For the most part, I super like Allura. She has a lot of energy, while also being stable as a rock. She doesn’t spook, and when she’s pointed at a jump, she ALWAYS goes over. Super good for people like me still trying to figure all this out. Her main detriment is that she’s quite rough going left. She can be difficult to point at the jumps going left, and has a distinct tendency to slide off to the right. I still managed her, though! Yay! And I mostly went right, because that was easier.
This time around we were just trotting the jumps. Once in a while she broke into a canter anyway because that is easier for her, and when she did I generally just went with it for a bit before bringing her back down to a trot.
Seriously. Must. Do. More.
Nee is continuing to ride Stitch, doing a lot of stirrup-less riding, and getting up to two laps at a time at the canter! He does not know how to sit at the canter yet (not super necessary for jumping anyway, but a good thing to know how to do, at least a little), but Stitch is like a rocking horse. He is a good one to learn a seated canter on. The main thing is that you REALLY gotta keep your hips and back loose, which is particularly challenging for Nee.
So. Yes. Riding great!
-
Now if only I could get my new brainyphone to access data services. Apparently something needs to be configured and I DO NOT UNDERSTAND AGGGGH! Nee is going to play with it in a bit, and I may take it in to where I got it to ask them to get it working.