Do You Ride Horses?

[classi]

I am floating. I feel like I'm in a dream.

I had the absolute best lesson of my entire life today. The best lesson ever. I want to cry I'm so happy.

I'll tell you all about it tomorrow... but I don't even have words for how happy I am.

[~stories untold.]

I hacked on of the boys at the stable.He did very nice flying lead changes and he is up for sale... my parents might buy him for me and my sister to share, but I don't know. I may also get this really pretty mare and if we buy her she can be privately mine. I rode the mare yesterday and she was great!I may be able to ride her tomorrow!

[Hooligan.]

@Tina:
Hopefully the first time he was broke he had a solid foundation put on him. If he did he shouldn't be too hard to rebreak. Either way, I suggest starting with a nice foundation and building up. This means a lot of groundwork before even thinking about riding him. To start out with, I am assuming he is halter broke. Take him to the roundpen and start out with the basics: moving his feet forward, backward, left and right. You need to be able to flex him each way as well. I suggest using a rope halter and leadrope. After you can flex him and move his feet forward backward left and right, start teaching him to move to some pressure. I wouldn't really worry about getting him to move off pressure for sidepassing or anything like that yet. Just get him to break at the poll so you can make sure you can stop him. I also suggest starting him out in a snaffle bit. Just do a lot of work with flexing, giving to pressure, and moving his feet, and don't let him get away with anything naughty. Remember that the first couple of times you ask him to do something, reward the slightest try. After he can start doing something pretty good, you can ask him to give a little more. A lot of horsetraining is trial and error. You have to find what works for your horse. You just take the basic principles of moving left, right, forward and backward and gaining control of his body. Also, desensitize and sensitize he horse to everything you think you might encounter. Make sure to flip the rope around his legs, over his back, under his belly, around his neck, all of that until he stands still and shows a sign of relaxation when you do it. But if he acts up don't stop, keep flipping the rope at him even if he starts jumping around until he stops and stands. Also, remember to reward him with the object you are working him with. If you are using a flag on a stick, rub him with the flag when he does what you want. Really if you have any questions go ahead and ask, there isn't a whole lot I can tell you not knowing your skill level. I really don't feel like explaining my entire method without knowing if you already know it all or not. So, yeah if you have any questions, go ahead and ask. If you reply by Friday and I remember I may be able to take a video and upload it o youtube so you can get a visual. I ride western and break horses for western by the way, so I don't know too much about converting a horse.

[Sadie~Bronson~252]

@ Blue- Riding without reins feels so WEIRD! I remember this one time when I rode double this little kid, and he wanted to "Drive the horse", so I gave him the reins, and it felt like... I dunno. Like I was barely even touching the horse anymore. It was really strange. But it's really good for balance. And I'm glad you and Robert are getting along so well! He sounds like an awesome horse.

And I don't have any 'awkward trainer quotes' =( Probably because I haven't had a proper lesson in 6 years.


@ Rain- Best lesson EVER? I really want to hear about this =D

-------------------------------

Confirmed for heading out to the rescue on Sunday! I'm so excited to see a horse again you have no idea. It'd be perfect if Rez was still there, but I'm glad he was adopted out to a good home. Definitely going to groom as many of the horses as I can, and maybe I'll even ride if they convince me to. I'm not planning on riding, but... I don't know.

[Bluebird22]

Dolphin: Your too sweet! Thanks so much <3 Bob is so much fun to ride. He is just the amount of difficulty I'm looking for. Not a lazy old school pony, but not a high strung horse either. He gives my the challenges I wouldn't have faced at my old barn. I really loving him more then I thought I wold. <3

Smokey: Oh I know! I had /just/ gotten there, and the saddle was out, so of course I thought it was hers! -_- you said it, were all horse people for gosh sakes!

Rain: yes, please do tell!

Sadie: I know doesn't it!I think it even a little more difficult then no stirrups! riding reinless really helps your seat and balance. He is such a fun horse to ride. All of his little quirks are great and so much fin <3 Thanks for your input on my tumblr question. I have picked the blue over the green.

[classi]

Here goes!

The beginning was pretty good. I don't really like his canter with the neck stretcher, as it's sort of hard to half-seat, but half-seating was great. I sat it for a little bit but he was pretty fresh and bumpy today. After lots of walking, trotting, and cantering, I dismounted and took off my neck stretcher. She sent me over a small 2ft vertical one or two times. Then, she raised it to 2'3, alternating directions each time. I didn't get as good distances as normal at first, but then I got better and better ones. Then... she raised it to 2'6! I got a little anxious and rushed him to it the first time, but the next time I waited and collected his canter, and we got a nice distance.
Then, she raised it to 2'9! The same thing happened as 2'6. But, today, I was completely confident. I was exited. I was happy. I didn't once think "I can't do this."
But, that's not the most exiting. After that, she raised it to 3'.
3 feet.
I. Jumped. 3. Feet.
I am so absolutely happy. I wasn't unconfident at all! It was so fun. It feels absolutely amazing. I kept on telling myself that I had to go fast towards it, and as a result I kept on getting deep distances. I got one long distance to it... goodness, I was airborne! xD I made sure to give him lots of rein so I thankfully didn't jab him in the mouth. But, the last time I did it... I waited, I collected him, and we found the perfect distance and just sailed over it. I can't believe it. I didn't get left behind or anything. I know my EQ wasn't perfect - I'm sure my leg slipped back some and my heel came up... but I'm going to be lenient on myself because, goodness, it was three feet! I know that I was looking ahead, I gave a good release, I didn't jump ahead, and I wasn't laying down on the neck, though. So that makes me happy.
I just can't believe that I actually jumped three feet. Riley worked so hard... he hasn't jumped that high in a long time! I spent around twenty minutes just walking him around and cooling him out, and of course he received so many treats!
I'm just so happy. Jumping that high feel so different. It feels, honestly, like flying. It feels like it's in slow motion. It's just... amazing.
Yes, it was 3ft. It might've even been 3'3. But you know what? It doesn't matter. Riding isn't about jumping big - it's about riding effectively. Jumping big is fun, but riding well can be even more fun and is much more practical. Not so say that I never want to jump 3 again. xD
I am so happy!

[excalibur.]

I rode my four year old Cob out on the stubble field today, oh god, my worst nightmare. Bucking, rearing, flying leaps and throwing his head about. He threw his head so high, his poll whacked my nose, ah! The good thing was, about an hour later, I got him going elegantly. Then, I got on bareback and galloped him around. After I rode him, I got on my Welsh Cob, 12-years-old and he was amazing like always. He jumped 3'4 with me bareback and he just has so much scope in him, it's so unbelievable.
I took him out on the field with no saddle, no reins nothing to hold onto but his mane and voila, he was the most well behaved horse ever. I will never find a pony like that again!

[Dolphinlover~]

@Hano: Oh I totally agree about being effective. That's why my eq isn't as great as it normally in the show video because I was much more focused on putting in a good ride - which I did, versus being a pretty picture and riding like crap. And obviously no ones ever going to be a perfect rider so it doesn't matter that your auto isn't perfect and that your eq or my eq isn't perfect either (:

I would love to hear your critique, it's just that I know what I am doing wrong so that's why I may have sounded a bit touchy when I got a critique because I know my eq won't be perfect, and I was pretty happy so to not really hear anything nice about my eq was a bit crushing honestly. But sure, you can feel free to critique me if you would like to. Like I said earlier though, it was way more important to me to ride Shadwell well and have him collected and just ride well rather than have amazing eq all of the time. Don't worry, you won't make me mad, its just that with a critique your supposed to say good and bad things so I was a bit disappointed with only hearing negatives about my eq. Anywho, feel free to critique me, I appreciate advice.

And I kind of ranted because I just wanted everyone to understand that even though Shadwell looked like a pretty easy ride during the video, he's a really tough horse to ride. I mean his owners had to hire someone to ride him over a course because their daughter couldn't handle him...so I just wanted to say that he's extremely challenging to just to be able to ride him is a feat, so to be able to ride him over a course is huge for really anyone. That's what my trainers said, so sorry if I sounded frustrated, it's just hard to explain and show what a challenge he is and how hard it is to have great eq on him when I'm trying to make sure that I actually ride him well and don't jaut let him drag me around the ring (; I hope you understand what I'm trying to get at lol.

@Blue: You are very welcome! Yeah it's really great when you have a horse that's a challenge for you. It makes you a better rider, even though sometimes it can be very tough. I'm glad that you and Bob are doing so well.

[Toppyrocks]

@Rain- Congrats on the awesome lesson! That sounds like a ton of fun I'm glad you made such an awesome breakthrough, it's a real confidence booster when that happens, isn't it? And I know what you mean about being a bit unsure- not really scared or anxious, just a bit jittery- even when you know you can do things. And then you do do it, and it's just the best!

I think I heard somewhere or read someplace a while ago that so long as you can ride little 18" jumps properly and effectively, you are capable of riding much, much bigger than that. Maybe not prettily, but without dying, anyways. Cause really, it's all the same skills, isn't it? You just have to adjust a tad here and there and get over the mental barrier that we all seem to build at one time or another.

@Marius Pontmercy- I can sympathize about this difficult rides very well. It's really good that you worked through it and then had a nice ride on your other horse, though!

@Tina- is there any other trainer or person that you trust that you can talk to about your horse and see what they have to say? I'm sure there are other ways to do that- and he should remember some of his training, anyways. Maybe you can just start by tacking him up, and if that goes well, lunging him in tack? Before you- or anyone- gets on him, it might help if he's completely 100% comfortable all tacked up and happy moving around and listening in tack. Smokey seems to have a much better answer than me, though.

[classi]

@ Toppy; Thank you! It is. I felt happy the entire day today. That's exactly how I felt! I wasn't scared or anything, just a bit jittery (all I did was re-quote you, lol) but I knew I could do it. And it felt like flying...
^ Mhm! I think that if I can jump 2' without hands and I can do flatwork with him and do courses of 2'3 okay, then I can jump 3' every once in a while. You said it really well, Toppy.

@ Dolphin; Seriously? I've been trying to stay cool but I really just lost it. You just completely rained on my parade. I was ecstatic for you when you jumped 3 feet for the first time, and then you weren't even sure it was three feet, and all you can say to me is that 'that's cool' but I should make sure I'm not putting my horse in danger, and that I should make sure I'm confident and just putting me down?
Put yourself in my shoes. I haven't had a great lesson in ages. I don't get to ride a nice Grand Prix horse. I don't have an instructor who constantly comments on my lovely position or people around me who tell me repeatedly that I'm an amazing rider. I don't get to attend a ton of A shows. I never feel secure about my riding, my equitation, or anything. And for once, once I feel confident, once I feel happy with my riding and you CRITICIZE me? You tell me that I should 'make sure Riley can jump that high'? You question if I was confident?
That really hurt, Dolphin. That really hurt. I was under the impression that we were friends. When you jumped 3 feet for the first time, I was truly happy for you. I didn't criticize you. I kept my entire post focused on YOU. I thought that maybe when I jumped 3 feet one day you would do the same for me.
But apparently not.

I know how I feel. I know when I'm confident. My instructor is a stickler for safety. For heavens sake, if a horse hasn't been ridden for a day or two we're not allowed to jump until they have a nice long hack the day before. If they've been off for a week we have to have around three or four hacks. Even then we keep the jumps low.
You got all offended when I commented on how I didn't completely agree with your instructor on the feet thing, and yet you have the guts to question the safety of MY HORSE.

No, flat lessons and jumping lower isn't 'just as thrilling'. Nothing has the same thrill as 3', and I'm not afraid to admit that. That doesn't meant that I'll never enjoy jumping 2'3 again. I still love riding and jumping any height. Funny that you're saying that though, who jumps 3'6 regularly, and you're warning me about jumping too big? It doesn't matter that I've only been riding for 3 years. You make it sound like I have no idea what I'm doing, that I would put Riley in danger, or even myself in danger. My instructor is a certified coach who knows what she's doing. If she thought I could jump 3', then I can jump 3'. And guess what? I did. And I jumped it pretty darn well if I say so myself.

So maybe you could just think about how you sounded, and go back and read how I responded to YOU when you jumped 3'. How much I support, and still support YOU. Just because I don't reply with five paragraphs in response to your hacks doesn't means that I don't care about your riding.

Just think about it, Dolphin, and think before you type. Because you really just hurt me. And I'm not going to let you ruin my parade... I'm going to keep going, even though you're raining on me.

And please don't reply with, 'well, I'm sorry that I hurt your feelings but I'm being honest'. If you're going to kill me through words than just message me. But even though I'm angry, I tried my hardest to be polite.

Edit: Scuze my language. xD