AMAZING lesson!

To make a long story short, my trainer and another trainer at the barn where I board screwed over the BO. They stole a lot of her clientele and basically deserted the barn. I am now taking lessons with the BO who had decided to take a break from giving lessons, thus she hired the other two instructors. My first lesson with her was Thursday and it was fantastic! She is great at explaining the how and why certain things work when riding and others do not. We also broke through one of Abby's major issues: halting when asked. Downward transitions are no problem, but when asking for a halt, she will often just slowly wander to where she wants to be (usually at x) before coming to a complete halt. We drilled the complete stop with no side stepping, swaying, etc. Finally she stopped where asked, when asked. This was something I have not been able to work through with other trainers when it was a simple fix (tell, don't ask...use seat and rest of body to ask, not just hands). Finally she was stopping from a canter, which was something we had not been able to do without quiet a bit of trotting in between.

She also said that I have great equitation and excellent contact. She loves Abby and says she has excellent movement for hunter classes. We made a ton of improvement with just a few tweaks in our first lesson, so I'm very excited to start seriously training with her. We will definitely be ready to start showing at least flat classes this summer and perhaps low O/F classes as well!

Sometimes she makes me proud

After a terrible ride the week before, I didn't have high expectations for this weekend. I decided to focus on simple things and little accomplishments so that I didn't get a blow up like last week. She was fantastic! She was being kind of a butt at the beginning (refusing to stand still while I adjusted my stirrups) but after that it didn't take her long to start listening to my leg, rounding, and moving on the bit. We even got some really nice self carriage! Granted it was only for a few strides, but it's a start.

I'm starting lessons again not this week, but the week after. Hopefully 2 times per week: once on a lesson horse (to focus on me) and once on Abby (to work through any problems we're having. I will also be riding Abby 1-2 more times during the week to keep her limber and to work on "homework" from the lessons. I hope that we'll be able to show by next year. We're making progress bit by bit, but it still seems like we're such a long way away.

Roadblocks

Roadblocks and plateaus are a normal part of riding, but I feel like I've gotten more than my fair share. I've now been riding for seven years, yet am still so behind those who have been riding less than even half that time. I've owned Abby for three years, and it feels we're still no closer to doing what we both truly enjoy doing...jumping. From injuries to foot problems to schedules, things never fall into place. Every time we start getting on the right track, we get derailed.

This time it's because of school and my car. Abby was worked for my first week of classes by my trainer to ensure that she continued to improve. Great for her, not so great for me. That means it's been three weeks since I've ridden. The two weeks prior I had been working her on the lunge line in side reins to stretch her out and build her topline.

Since I finally got a chance to ride today, I took full opportunity of it. If course (just my horrible luck) it was humid, hot, and miserable...the exact opposite of the weather the rest of the week. I only got to ride for 20 minutes before I started to overheat. And of course three weeks off has made me somehow lose all of the muscle I had gained this summer. My legs would not cooperate, I couldn't balance properly, and I had lost all connection I had had earlier this summer. Abby would not get onto the bit, and I couldn't properly support her with my inside leg. I HATE that this keeps happening! Is it realistic that my body REQUIRES that I ride at least 3X a week to keep that muscle memory? I would love to, but that's not going to happen until I retire of my horse lives in my backyard. I am so tired of this. I'm feeling really discouraged that ALL of my progress gets erased so quickly and I'm having to do the exact same things over and over and over again.

Missin' the Princess

Well folks, it's been two weeks since I've ridden. Last week Abby was ridden by my trainer twice and worked in side reins once. At the moment, I have no car and am stuck on campus with no way home. I will get my car back on Friday and will hopefully have something to blog about. I did get to visit last weekend when I was home for work. I ended up having to work a total of 15 hours over two days and didn't have time to ride, but the girl is looking good! Her topline is really coming along and her neck and hind end are muscling up. She's starting to look like a proper showhorse!

Of course all of this is much to her dismay. The princess thinks that being 16 should warrant retirement.

Introductory Posting

Three and a half years ago, a princess came into my life. I was 16 years old and less prepared than I thought for the 13 year old, 16 hh, bay Quarter horse mare that served as a birthday present after four years of lessons. She was far from what I had been looking for: a gelding, western trained (preferably for barrels) and stocky. Despite her QH bloodlines she looked like an Appendix. Perhaps once she had seen a western saddle but her career was in Hunters. Her mareish attitude ensured no one forgot her gender.

Many mistakes, setbacks, and victories later here we are. I couldn't be happier with our relationship and although we still have many things to work on, I'm impressed with the strength of our bond. Abby is truly a one person horse, and I'm proud to say that I'm that person. I hope to utilize this blog to plot our progress and setbacks. Hopefully this can serve as a tool to help both of us grow.