Do You Ride Horses? V.4

[Horse-girl123]

@Scarlet First thing I noticed was your saddle was kind of coming off of the horse's back. It looks like it just needs some padding in the back so I'd try maybe a second pad or a thicker pad underneath to keep it from coming off of Ginger's back when she's cantering. I think one thing that will improve your seat is by relaxing your back, I have the same problem. You have too much of an arch in your back, so try relaxing your lower back, keep your shoulders back and a little curve but don't force it so much and you'll be able to have a little more solid seat. It can be a hard habit to break but keep being filmed while you ride that way you can see what's working and what isn't, hope this helps!

@ Monchele I love your leg *so* much, your seat and leg have improved so much! In general you have improved so much since we've last talked! So glad you're still with Thinker, both of you look wonderful and he's really starting to use himself so correctly!

Well, most of you new people have no idea who I am, so I'll introduce myself.
I'm Horse-girl123, some just call me HG for short.
Up until last month I was leasing a large pony named Gem. Gem was an.... interesting pony to say the least, and a brat, but my brat She has taken me from an ok rider to becoming an advanced rider. Normally green horses and beginner riders don't work out, but I had 5 years of experience, but only on pushbuttons due to the way my old farm was run. We went from not even being able to trot a course at 18" to starting the show season a 2'6 and 2'9 hunters. We then switched and competed in 2', 2'6 and 3' showjumping and have jumped up to 4'.
Sadly, last month I lost my beloved pony due to the farm owner... being a jerk, to put it nicely. So currently I'm not really riding, partially due to the weather and partially due to not having a farm to ride at.
My goal for this year is to lease a horse and compete on the rated circuit and show at Devon, WIHS and PANHS just like I had planned for Gem and I, but obviously on another horse. I'll post a picture of her later, some of the older members of the thread remember her.

[spiderfish]

@ monchele

Sorry, didn't see your first post.

Yeah I know what bareback is.
From what I've gathered, a bareback pad is just the pad, but a bareback saddle has stirrups. And I need one with stirrups, coz I can't ride without for long.

I'm in England, and can't buy from overseas. Hell, I cant even buy from Scotland. But anyway, thanks

@ Luzien
I don't have any pics of him right now. But it's just...well a giraffe pattern shaved into his fur. I'm sorry I cant think of any other way of putting it XD

The only ones Ive found on ebay are new, and from overseas. And are like £70+, Im just not willing to pay that much, especially when I have to get myself new riding boots, mucker boots, possibly a hat, and Ry a new saddle cloth, headcollar, and haynets.

I've done abit of leatherwork, as for sewing, I'll have to recruit my auntie XD

I will be sure to post if I do DIY one

[June Bug]

@Sin
Congrats! That's amazing news! He's so cute and I'm sure you'll be a great mommy for him~
As for age/breed, I have no idea. xD He does look pretty young, around 5 maybe? I'm pretty terrible with breeds I'm not really familiar with so I've got no clue, haha.

@Luzien
Don't worry, you could never make me mad. x]
Yup, still planning to buy him, though because my sister is now in the process of buying her first house, my dad's postponed the date again. As of now, it looks like we'll be buying him sometime around either my birthday (April 1st) or right after the current school semester (so I have enough time to settle into ownership without the stress of classes).
He recovered amazingly well actually and was back up and running Saturday morning, so that tells me he'll probably be alright for a couple more months. As long as I can get him out of the school before summer (camp is a killer for the popular horses), I think he'll be fine. Unfortunately, the owner doesn't really do much in terms of running the place, it's the daytime manager that tends to overwork him and I'm not surprised she does. She hates him. If he weren't so popular, she would have had him sent back to auction months ago. :/

Luckily, he has not been in the school long, not even a year yet, and he's been getting a lot of rest lately because of how bad the weather's been. The vet I'm calling out to check him is the vet that most of the boarders there use and he knows Grande well. I don't expect that he'll find any problems especially with his record of being able to bounce back from things that would put the other horses out for a week or more.

Nah, my school is generally really good, I just tend to be really, really protective. xD They have also been much better about his work load since I complained. He's been getting about 8-9 hours total each week, which is still a bit more than I'd like, but is much better than the 12 or so he was getting before. The girl who wants to event him is (thankfully) the only person who would have him jump any higher than 2 feet and it's not even certain she'll be using him. He gets a good amount of grain (four quarts a day, two for each feeding), but I do think he needs more hay in the winter. In summer, he keeps really well on grazing alone, but since there's no grass at all right now and all horses (regardless of size) get the same amount of hay, he's slowly dropping weight. I sneak him extra whenever I can, but trying to smuggle hay is difficult, even with my oversize jacket, haha.
I'm fairly certain the manager who hates him is the reason he was used after his escape. She didn't tell anyone about it until after I'd ridden him, which was after he was jumped.

I'm definitely going to have them do a full-body exam (and have them check his vision, I'm worried he has issues with his right side as he doesn't seem comfortable with people doing things to him from that side. Though, I'm hoping that's just a preference thing and not a vision issue), but because I'm paying for the exam myself, I think I'm going to ask him if he thinks I should have bloodwork and x-rays done as well. I don't know him personally, but my friend who's had him as her vet for 10+years assures me that he's very honest so he won't push me to have the more extensive tests done if he doesn't honestly believe there's reason to do so.
I have a feeling I'm making it sound worse than it is. xD I get stressed about my boy~

@monchelle
Dat ankle~ As someone with really stiff ankles (like really stiff, even with attempting stretches through 15 years of riding, anything below parallel is an accomplishment. :C ) I'm jelly. Do you ride huntseat?
I think people tend to put too much emphasis on headset and not enough on true rounding and correct impulsion. He is looking really good, not nearly as hollow as I remember him looking in some of your older posts. He looks really chill too, like he's not being stressed out by what you're asking of him, which is really good too. It's always a shame to see otherwise well-put-together horses get flustered by being asked to do more than they're comfortable with.
Good luck with showing! I'm sure you guys will do great~

@bascules
So jelly~ That place sounds amazing! Do they have a lot of pasture land as well? My stable about the same size (but with only one indoor ring and of the three outdoor rings, only one is larger than a dressage ring), but we don't really have adequate pastures (the lot's only 25 acres and the space is not utilized very well). It's something that drives me nuts about my place.

___________________________________________________________
Like I told Luzien, Grande was, amazingly, perfectly fine on Saturday. He went from being obviously sore to no pain at all in barely 24 hours! From the way they were talking about him, I was expecting him to be out for the weekend at least!
And I'm really happy with my ride on Sunday. 8] Between half the classes nowadays being canceled, and a lot of people not showing up for the classes we have had, he's had a lot more rest than normal and I got a taste of what he'll be like on the sort of workload he'll have once I own him. He. Was. Perfect. <3 He had none of his usual lazy tendencies, didn't try to avoid any of the work, and was so ready to go that all I had to do was allow and he'd transition beautifully <3 He normally struggles with the first couple canter transitions and falls out of stride easily, but he picked them up (both leads) off simply moving my outside leg back and didn't break stride or resist when I attempted to pass others (he has a very fast canter and normally uses my asking him to pass as an excuse to break). I was even able to get him collect a bit at the canter!
I had a good laugh, despite being quick at the canter, he's normally not got a whole lot of 'go'. However, that day, he was snorting and going on like a fire-breathing dragon. xD
We did lateral work after that, specifically working on the half-pass. He was the only one in the group who would actually do it and would do it off a lighter aid. (we spent a lot of time doing the reward/coolout loose-rein walk while everyone else worked on convincing their horses to do a step or two) I love my boy and his talent for laterals <3
And then, of course, he made me very happy by being a brat for the girl who took him from me for her lesson after mine. She's asked me about leasing him from me when I buy, but I'm not going to let her. She likes riding him, but she isn't interested in anything that doesn't involve her being on him. She never cools him out after a ride and often leaves him tacked when he either has no other lesson after her or won't have one for four+hours. I was glad to see he's obviously got a preference when it comes to riders. :'D

Also, his new cooler came in the mail today~! :D It's a tiny bit on the big side, but the next size smaller would have been too small. It's the red one of these, though it actually looks a little different than the picture suggests. The whither-guard is black and it does have a black belly-strap and two (criss-cross) leg straps, so I'm confident he won't be able to shake it loose easily. He's not a destroyer-of-blankets either and the blanket he wears (which is way too big) never slips despite being pretty beat-up by it's previous wearer. I'll be personally cooling him out every time he wears it anyway. It's also super cute on him <3 I'll have to get a picture of him in it while it's still clean. xD
Btw, machine washable! I LOVE that feature. It's such a pain to try to clean covers that aren't.

[wibeke]

I'm going to go back and reply to everyone tomorrow, my laptop is about to die and I'm going to bed.

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June Bug: I'm late to the conformation thing, but I think that the reason that his trot is smooth despite his pasterns is because he has a really nice, sloping shoulder. Horses with straight shoulders have really choppy, bumpy trots (Major's shoulder is really straight and it's like riding a jack hammer >.>), while horses with sloping shoulders are much smoother. It also lets them have more motion so they can have a bigger stride. So that probably makes up for any choppiness his pasterns would cause.
Nothing in that picture makes him look like a complete trainwreck, and he looks good in every other picture you've posted. Little conformation flaws aren't a big deal at all, especially if he's generally sound and moves well. Unless you're planning on doing grand prix dressage or jumping 5 feet or something, you don't need a 100% perfect horse. (perfect horses pretty much don't exist, anyways)

Grande sounds like Sully! He turns into a lazy grumpy jerk from being ridden and over worked by crappy lesson kids (at least two of the instructors insist on using him for pony rides and even his "good" riders yank on his mouth and kick >.>), but whenever there's a slow week at the barn, he's fantastic. Some horses just don;t really work out as lesson horses, both Sully and Grande seem like they'd be much happier with just one person/a smaller group of people.
Also, I can totally relate to being happy when your horse acts up for people you don't like. It used to happen with Major all the time. He was always perfect for me, and this girl (who was really full of herself but could barely ride) would get on afterwards and he'd refuse to walk even though we were just galloping a few minutes before. You can't help but feel a little proud of them. xD

And that cooler looks really nice, too! Red seems like the perfect color for him.


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My lesson was cancelled on Monday because my trainer had to do her taxes, but I had my first lease ride on Friday and Sully was perfect. All the other horses are going crazy because of the snow (even Harry the bomb proof pony threw off a little girl last week), but Sully is like a completely different horse. He's really forward and excited, but listens perfectly to all of my cues and isn't spooky at all.
I rode during a beginner lesson and the ring was cut in half because she was working on circling, so I rode on the other end. We just did a lot of trot work for around 20 minutes because the circle was too small for Sully to canter (he needs to stretch out his canter a bit before being asked to circle without breaking), so instead we worked on getting him collected. He was bending really nicely and really pushing with his hind end- it felt great! It was really cute, he puffed himself up and pranced around like a big fancy stallion. Silly boy.
After the ring was freed up we cantered a bit and he was just as good. I could tell he really wanted to go faster, but he listened really well and didn't go any faster than I asked. I love his canter, he feels so powerful but really smooth and comfortable, too.
As soon as the lesson ended I dropped my stirrups and let him go as fast as he wanted for a bit. He went galloping around like an idiot, but still bended through all the corners (he used to cut them constantly last year, so that was a nice improvement) and slowed right down as soon as I asked him to.
For the rest of our ride I just did a bit of trotting with stirrups while another woman gave a pony ride to her niece on her clydesdale (it was adorable, omg). One of the stablehands was watching and he told my mom that I was riding really well and that it's good that I dropped my stirrups without my trainer having to tell me. He said a lot of people who lease the school horses just climb on, flop around, and learn absolutely nothing. That completely made my day, especially since I was pretty sure he hated me for some reason, haha.
We ended up riding for almost an hour, not including cooling out, but he wasn't tired at all. He wasn't used at all that day or the day before, so combined with the cold he had a lot of pent up energy. I asked the barn owner how long I should ride, and she said she trusts me to ride as long as I want because I know him well enough to know when he's had enough.
He was surprisingly cuddly after our ride, too. No biting or pawing or nipping, he just wanted me to pet him and pay attention to him. He's starting to figure out that he gets a lot more attention when he's not being a brat (which almost never happens), and he's realizing that I won't take crap from him. We have a kind of weird bond, but it works, haha.

Oh and I found this picture of him from over the summer. It's not great (little brat was trying to drag me over to the grass behind him), but I thought it showed his conformation somewhat well and I'm not sure if anyone actually knows what he looks like.

If anyone knows anything about conformation wants to have a go at him, go ahead, All I can see is that his back looks kind of long? I'm curious about what everyone else has to say about him. I know he's not a total mess, but I'm curious about what flaws he has because I'm too biased to find them.
(he kind of big because I'm standing far away, he's exactly 15 hands)

[Rebel Love Song]

@spiderfish, heads up, a bareback pad with stirrups is still a bareback pad, the stirrups don't make it a saddle. And i DO NOT recommend a bareback pad with stirrups! My trainer let me use hers because i wanted to try one before i bought one, and this one cost about $80 and it's a terrible idea! When you put your feet in, it just makes the pad slip around and makes the whole bareback idea more dangerous than if i just rode without the pad, no matter how tight we got the girth. Try this one, http://www.chicksaddlery.com/page/CDS/PROD/1035/SBP682 i have it and it works great. And i know nothing about you, i don't know how experienced you are, but if you want to be a better rider, try getting used to riding bareback with nothing but a bridle (on a safe horse, of course) It will help your balance incredibly if you don't rely on your stirrups

[spiderfish]

@spiderfish, heads up, a bareback pad with stirrups is still a bareback pad, the stirrups don't make it a saddle. And i DO NOT recommend a bareback pad with stirrups! My trainer let me use hers because i wanted to try one before i bought one, and this one cost about $80 and it's a terrible idea! When you put your feet in, it just makes the pad slip around and makes the whole bareback idea more dangerous than if i just rode without the pad, no matter how tight we got the girth. Try this one, http://www.chicksaddlery.com/page/CDS/PROD/1035/SBP682 i have it and it works great. And i know nothing about you, i don't know how experienced you are, but if you want to be a better rider, try getting used to riding bareback with nothing but a bridle (on a safe horse, of course) It will help your balance incredibly if you don't rely on your stirrups

I know its not a saddle, but that's what they're advertised as. If I search for 'bareback pad' I get bareback pads. If I search for 'bareback saddle' then I get a pad with stirrups.

I don't need to stirrups because of stability, I need them because of knee problems. If I ride for awhile without stirrups, it fells like my knees are gonna fall out of the sockets, they'll ache like hell, they'll probably give out when I get off, and I'll be lucky to be able to walk without a limp.
I can ride perfectly well without stirrups or a saddle, my knee's just cant take it for too long.

Plus, Ryan has a martingale, so I need something to attatch it to, as I dunno what he'd be like without it.

[obscure.]

my last horse riding lesson went pretty well and i can't wait for saturday so
i can practice what i've learned. i took on board the advice you all gave me
about correcting my posture and i was able to trot consistently ouo
i was on an adorable little pony called lily, she was the pony i rode on my
very first lesson so i was glad to have her again. this time, she responded
to all my cues perfectly! [the first time i rode her, she was a bit hesitant to
respond to me and i struggled to get her to walk, etc. but that was all my
fault because it was my first lesson and i didn't know what i was doing.
xD] she did really well, she walked around all the blocks perfectly on the
turning left/right task and she halted, walked and trotted immediately when
i asked her to.

next lesson, i won't need anybody to hold the horse's reins for me, because
the instructor thinks i will be able to control him myself. however, i'll still
need 1 - 1 supervision in case i do something wrong and the horse bolts,
which hopefully won't be the case. xD

i'm hoping to get moved up to the next class soon, because the instructor
said that once we can do the very basics like walking, trotting, turning left
and right we'll probably get moved up. i hope that will be soon because
right now i'm in a class with much younger riders and i'd like to be
alongside more people my age, but i understand that i need to practice
and be confident in the basics first. i can't wait to see how next lesson
goes! hopefully if i can control the horse independently, i'll have a chance
of progressing onto something different.

[stirrupirons]

@Spiderfish: I do agree with what Rebel said. My friend has a bareback pad with stirrups and her pad actually slipped off while she was riding. The stirrups of a bareback pad aren't really meant to put too much pressure in, they're just there for support.
However, I did a Google search for bareback saddle and I found this beauty. http://www.statelinetack.com/item/down- ... Ogod72sALw It's got a lot more support than a bareback pad with stirrups and looks a lot safer. And it has really positive reviews! The only con is that it's almost $400 and I'm pretty sure it's in the US.

@wibeke: Sounds like an awesome ride! :) Sully is so cute!
I really like his conformation. He looks like he's built uphill, and I like the way his neck connects to his chest. He does have a long back, but if you want to do hunters or jumpers with him, that's a plus :) I can't really see too much of his back legs because of the angle and the way he's standing, but he looks very well built. :)

@June: Thanks :D I have really stiff ankles, too! My trainer E really emphasizes loose, floppy ankles that push down with every stride, so I've been continuously working on that every single ride. Do you stretch your ankles while you ride? I never did that before I started riding with E and my ankles used to kill after a ride. As soon as I get on I just roll my ankles all around for a good lap around the ring and then I point my toe up as much as possible w/out stirrups, hold that for a little, then point my toe down w/out stirrups for a while. I think pointing the toe down when stretching helps the most!
And no, I don't! xD I've always ridden with a classical dressage seat.
Thank you c: I am so happy with his progress right now. We're finally getting a really good fresh start. I just need to work on building his topline :)
Glad you had a great ride! And I'm glad Grande was a butt for the girl who rode after you xD It's a great feeling, as awful as it sounds. c: Whenever Thinker is a butt for the older guy who rides him (that has no idea what he's doing and kicks him and cusses at him might I add) I get so happy. :D
And that cooler is so nice! My friend just got one, too, because she got a new mare. I think she got either purple or blue, I forget exactly, but it's one of those colors c: They're so nice! And so soft omg I want one to use as a blanket for me xD

@Horse-girl: Thank you so much :D It means a lot!
So sorry to hear about what happened between you and your barn. That's really not fair of them to do. :( Doing something like that to a faithful student shows what kind of people they are. :/ I hope you start riding soon and have a lease horse.

@Scarlet: The first thing that I noticed was that you arch your back a lot and lean really far forward. When sitting the canter, it's best to have a neutral position. Your head, hips, and heel should line up in a straight line. It's OK to be a little forward, but when it's almost indistinguishable from half seat, it's too forward. I also noticed you were coming out of the saddle almost as if you were in two point or half seat.
I recommend starting to work on keeping your lower back straight at the trot, and make sure you sit on your sitbones. Sit up straight, keep your shoulders over your hips in a neutral position (not forward, not backward) almost like a dressage position. Engage your core when you ride and visualize your bellybutton being tucked to your spine. Make sure you anchor yourself in both your seat and your heels. Then, move to the canter. Sit on the saddle and move your hips with the horse. If your upper body goes back and forth at first, that's okay. Just make sure you are truly sitting the canter :)
I think the problem is that you're thinking too much about sitting up really tall and it tenses you up and causes you to arch your back. Start to relax your entire body :)
I also noticed that your arms were tucked really far in, they were far in front of your hip (that's ok, I'm guilty of that too), and your hands were almost being pressed together. Start off in your warm up by stretching your shoulders by doing windmills and shoulder rolls. Half seat almost causes you to tense up, so I recommend just taking a deep breath, sit deep, and move with your horse.

--

No riding this week yet! :( I got pulled over and got a ticket yesterday for speeding, so my dad grounded me and wouldn't let me go to my lesson. My trainer isn't going to be at the barn today so I'm going tomorrow and hopefully Saturday after my lesson at work. Monday I'm going to Dover Saddlery!!!!! <3 It's my birthday on Monday, so my parents are taking me :) I definitely need another pair of breeches since my tan ones suck tbh, so I might get a new pair of tan ones or maybe even lighter grey. Riding Sport makes really nice breeches so I think I'm going to try their Competitor II breeches in store and decide which color I should get xD I also really need some new grooming things, a new show shirt, and more shirts for spring and summer. Riding Sport makes EIS shirt knock offs that I am considering getting xD

[.Scarlet.]

@monchele and horse girl- thanks for the advice! I'm going riding tonight too. Mind you, that was many months ago and we've been trying different things. I know it's my back and it causes me to bounce. The video I linked though monchele was my first attempt at half seat. I've had some bad experiences cantering and I think that's why I tense up so much. When they get fast around the turns too. Ginger is easier for me to work with than Phinneus. He becomes dead to my leg aids and then just decides to break at one turn every time. But i haven't ridden him in ages. And what do you mean my arms were too tucked in? If you mean by not bending my arms, I'm very guilty of the frankenstein arms. I've been working on it though. Most of the summer I worked on my seat and legs because my legs were the worst and I rode havanna who was a very smooth arabian cross and didn't take much to get her going. But it's a work in progress and I'd say for 4 years of riding, I've definitely excelled. Especially because the majority of the horses I've been riding aren't very push button. Phin is for the most part, but you can't put anyone on Ginger. That's for sure. Also, happy early birthday! Have fun with your riding lessons!!


@horsegirl- well, we actually always put two pads on. I don't think im putting a third.. It's a school saddle. There's not much I can do in that area :s

Cannot wait to go riding tonight. I'll update everyone then. Oh, I also have a video of Phin and I somewhere that was one of my more frustrating nights with him, but I'd like to show you all. Thanks everyone! :3

[:Toucan:]

@Horse-girl

Sorry about Gem..maybe you'll get to visit her?? Or are you not allowed to go to the old barn at all ? Well, hopefully you can find another horse to lease and start riding again.

@June Bug

Grande sounds like he was a dream! And it bothers me so much when people don't tack up and untack/take care of the horse they ride...I feel like that's the best way to actually get to know the horse and learn about them. Also I can't wait to see pics of Grande in his cooler

@Wibeke

sorry...I'm not good with conformation...but I am glad the leasing is going well so far!

@Obscure

First starting to ride is so exciting!! I hope your next lesson goes well...I first took lessons when I was on the older side so I know what you mean about being with younger riders... but you'll progress soon!!

@monchele

Yikes, ticket!! I hope it wasn't too bad!! But happy almost birthday

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woo have I had a hectic couple of days!! But anyway my schooling show on Sunday went great! I was in the w/t/c division instead of crossrails because I hadn't done a show in a while(and i was really nervous the last shows) and I ended up being champion of the division (even though there was only two young riders in the first class, and then one in the other two, ....i felt like it was kind of unfair to them ). But still, I was proud of myself because I have come so far from the last shows I did where I was nervous and got last place for everything. Not that the places matter to me much, but it was cool to win something. Also, I rode Remi Jr. in the show and he was fantastic...as always! Although that good feeling was ruined because Monday was one of the worst days of my life.....but I'm recovering... I can't wait for my next lesson!

Also, new discussion question: I was just thinking back to when I first rode when responding to Obscure, and was wondering how all your guys's first lessons were and how you got into riding? For me, I did a summer camp that my barn offers, and I was with all younger kids (I think I was 13 or almost 13?), which wasn't a problem because I usually get along well with people younger then me(Towards the end of the day the camp kids and I would pretend we were horses and put each other on the cross ties and jump over the jumps in the arena . In hindsight, i may have been a little too old for that). Anyway,i'm really glad I did the camp before lessons because I was riding five days a week and also learning all about the care of horses when we weren't riding... it really gave me a solid foundation for the lessons!! Although when I finally had my first lesson in the fall I was so not used to not having a bunch of other kids to ride with me!! So, anyway, how did you guys start out?