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Thursday, November 18, 2010

Progress!

After two horrid and barn-less days, I skipped out of work this morning because I HAD to ride. (Ugh. Life sucks a lot sometimes.) Anyways. Izzy was a superstar. As always.

I lunged her first to see what she would be like. As usual, she wasn't super forward and didn't think she needed to respond to my voice commands for upward transitions. Grr. I told her to trot, and when she didn't, I jumped at her and yelled. She took off bucking, but also got the message. Much better pony after that.

I was actually nervous about getting on, partly because I haven't ridden for (gasp!) 2 days and partly because of other sucky stuff (that I will talk about in a future post when it is figured out) that is going on in my life. Fortunately, Izzy is now a pro and totally took care of me. She was quiet, relatively attentive, and so, I don't know, comfortable.

I could really feel a difference in my riding even with just two days of walking bareback. My thighs were loose and relaxed instead of clamped down. My aids were more clear and soft and I actually felt quiet secure. I was acle to distribute my weight through my body instead of just bracing against my irons.

We didn't do anything hard. We just w/t/c both ways and did some figure eights and then reinforced the halt/back without any hand that we'd worked on bareback. The most exciting part for me was that because I was actually able to relax my body, I had a great time and wasn't totally out of breath at the end like I've been lately. YAY!!

I needed that ride.

5 comments:

  1. Good deal - you guys have come a long way together!

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  2. This might be something that I should try...winter is coming and bareback sounds much preferable to a saddle that sits in an un-heated indoor arena!!!!!

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  3. Way to go! It's amazing how quickly a couple of bareback rides can pay off. Keep up the great work.

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  4. Horses are such great healers. And, if the rest of your life is going askew, I am sure Izzy knows and is taking care of you. Never underestimate her awareness.

    She is your angel.

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  5. Isn 't is so interesting that when you baby a horse it seems to have no respect for you and then when you take a firm hand, suddenly they seem to like you a lot more? This is diametrically opposed to the way I am myself, so I am always forgetting it when working with my mare. I hope all the yucky stuff goes away soon.

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