I haven't posted in a while as the death of Bolero took the shine off things for a bit, and my riding's not been great either. I can't even remember my last lesson report, so apologies if I repeat stuff.
Bailey: was given Bailey as he's normally the dope on a rope but has been kicking, bucking and generally misbehaving. He knows when he has a novice on board and when it's an experienced rider, and adjusts his laziness/speed appropriately. He's finally learning to take a bigger hand out of the poorer riders though, which is understandable but not what the RS want as he's such a great starter. (He's about 14.3, so can teach adults and kids to ride).
I wondered at first if he was sore. He was better on one rein than another, but this disappeared after 10mins so was presumably part of warming up. He was trying to play me more than usual, as he knows from my posture, leg and backing up with crop that I'm an experienced rider. He was odd with it though: not dying out lazily, but literally falling straight from trot to walk. The only time I know a horse to do this if it's defacating. Every time I looked back, his tail was down. I worked through it, still unsure as I was concerned it was discomfort, not bad behaviour. Having stopped it though with only basic coaxing, and assurances the vet and saddler checked him recently, I went on.
Once I was happy to ride him, I was firmer and he behaved like a dream. Needed a lot of leg, but listened. We actually did some nice flatwork, and he collected well in canter. I thoroughly enjoyed it and my RS said she'd love to give him to me as a project for a while, as I don't let him away with his tricks. If I still lived nearby this could have happened, but only getting down once or twice a week means I only got to ride him about 3 times. Still, it does him good to have an adult that can ride on board, rather than someone he can kid around with who doesn't have the knowledge, confidence or desire to correct.
I didn't ride for a few weeks due to Hurricane Bawbag closing the bridge, followed by an ear infection that made my head feel like it was being cruelly opened via a vice in my ear canal. I then rode the week after on Guinness, who'd been back in work for a week or so after the sore on his wither recovered.
I found the lesson odd. After warming up and 5mins of trot my back was so sore, I struggled. Guinness knew and played up. The odd thing was, he was very off the leg in walk, just a squeeze and I was able to get collected and extended strides depending on what I asked for. He resisted trot though, and we never did more than one full circuit of canter before he broke down. His behaviour correlated perfectly with my back: he played up more as I was in increasing pain, and as my posture increasingly went forward as being straight backed was the most painful. I was thus sitting like a more novice rider, and that's how he acted: evasively. Asking for a clear, balanced canter lead when tipping forward in pain just doesn't happen.
I hadn't ridden in weeks so felt deflated. I decided to give up the lesson and basically just did my own thing (and my RI gave me more time to do so, which was generous). I was able to get beautiful walks, so worked on transitions: halt, walk, trot (anything but canter). Having got those sharpened up, I felt better. The canter with a bad back was definitely the hardest, but I was still capable of short bursts of trot. He never knew what was coming so listened. It felt good to finish doing something well, but I was gutted that we'd cantered like it was my first time. I was also embarassed as the girls I give mini-lessons to as a thank you for helping out on the yard were watching me ride for the first time ever. RI kept sending them off to groom ponies, brush up etc but they didn't take the hint and kept coming back! I hope they see me again and I'm back to my best.
It's not been about a month thanks to Xmas and New Year. Being at The Outlaws really helped with my back, as I had much less housework to do (only dishes, kitchen surface cleaning and tidying rather than home where I must do EVERYTHING). Tom also made sure I did as little as possible as he said I do so much at home it was only fair. So, I hope to get on a horse this weekend and to not be so awful! I know I always go through bursts of great riding, then a lesson or two when my heels creep up, or my position goes back a step. It's part of riding, part of being human and part of having a bad back! I hope it's a good one to help my riding mojo though - I could do with a win!
I'm also finding myself adoring flatwork, and getting very excited at the mention of dressage. I never thought I'd say that! I was actively disappointed when I was told I'd be jumping on Guinness (and was glad that we didn't in the end, though he did at times try to tank off towards the fences set up as he was keen to jump. I just tried to use his energy to get a nice canter instead)! I mean, I've not grown afraid of it - it 's not like I've fallen or had a bad experience lately. I just don't get the same joy as I used to, but maybe that's part of being stuck indoors for winter and will change. I still want to break my duck of 1m. I'm only 5cm away after all! At this point though, I'd be quite happy not to see another jump for months. Not sure how that goes down a jumping yard!
I keep finding myself tempted by the city school too, with the thoughts of hacking a little XC course on site in the summer. The lessons work on a strict level of riding basis, and each skill level has set lesson slots per week. One week it's flatwork, the next week it's jumping. It all sounds rather good, and I am becoming more disenchanted with the journey in this cold weather, as not only am I cold on the yard but the bus is cold too, so it's literally hours before I'm warm again! One day I will be brave enough to go and have a look around like they said I could...
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