End Chapter 1
Oct. 24th, 2006 12:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
diaryofariderSo Phoebus gave me a rather Phoebusesque farewell, basically a "Don't let the door hit you..."
I had taken the day off work on Friday, went out and rode, then cleaned him up a bit- the temperature felt close to 60 and it was sunny and warm with a mild breeze. During our ride he was a little stiff and resistant at first, but once I got him going well I decided to stop after about 10 minutes so as not to tire him out for the clinic. I wiped down my bridle and took my boots home. I cleaned them and wiped off my spurs. I washed polos and saddle pads and breeches. I went to bed feeling satisfied and prepared.
It snowed that night. When I got up it was COLD and there was about 2 - 3 inches on the ground. It was fluffy and sticky and clumped onto the trees and even the telephone poles. I was wearing a red, white, and pink striped shirt, (aka the candy cane shirt) and felt a little like Santa's elf as I drove through the winter wonderland and shuffled to the indoor from the barn.
I take off my coat and Peggy yells that she can't believe how skinny I am. "Uh, thanks," I say, "but I thought horizontal stripes were sposed to make you look wider..?" She tells me that she's just used to seeing me in big sweatshirts. Sadly, this is to be the highlight of my day.
I get on and start warming up. My legs keep sliding all over the place and I've forgotten to stretch out. Phoebus is sluggish and won't move off my leg. I squeeze, nothing. Squeeze again, tap with the whip, nothing. Whacky whacky, sluggish hollow trot. Oh goody, it's going to be one of THOSE days.
We were bad. Phoebus was a jerk and I was a mess. He wasn't forward or through, he hung on my reins, and played "Russian Roullet" with the canter leads, in BOTH directions. I got shaken up, hunched over, and kept grabbing the inside rein, and I couldn't feel anything through my seat. Later on I lost my temper and took the reins in one hand so I could give him a good wallop when he continued to ignore my leg and I yelled mean things about his mom, which is really unfair as she was probably a very nice horse. Bent handled the situation very well, he was calm and gracious and simply had me work on getting the horse forward NO MATTER WHAT, wrong leads and all, and on letting go in front. After about 40 minutes of flying around the ring, Phoebus was finally forward and through, I was warmed up, and our lesson was nearly over. I sat up, put him in a good frame, and we had a good 10 minutes. When we finished I tried to look on the bright side, that while there were witnesses at least I hadn't had anyone record my ride. Then one of said witnesses piped up and pointed out that someone ELSE had videotaped the ride. *Groan*.
I went home that night and thought about quitting. I felt pretty embarassed and really disappointed after working with the horse the last few months and feeling like we had made progress. I didn't sleep well. In the end I did the only thing I could do, and tried to remember what the good stuff felt like and what I could do to get it, and what I didn't want to do and would try not to do.
Sunday, thankfully, was better. The second day usually is, but this was MUCH better, at least in comparison. Bent had me continue riding Phoebus very forward, and told me to leave the front end alone. I trust him since I've cliniced with him several times before and left my reins long and almost loose, and just used my legs. Phoebus had been sneaky the day before about hanging on the inside rein when we got near the spectators as I wanted very much not to run them over, and I told Bent that he still wanted to hang on my inside rein. "If it's not there, what's he going to hang on to?" Bent asked. "Nothing," I replied sheepishly. I know it, and I work on not holding, but sometimes you have to go farther and work on letting go. Things went a bit better and we did some leg yields along the wall. They weren't brilliant but there were some good steps here and there, and Phoebus was listening better than the day before. We worked on the canter some more with a better quality gait and the leads were correct more often. Bent had us circle around him and he had a lunge whip, which he used occasionally when I couldn't keep Phoebus's hind legs active enough. He had me concentrate on using my abs more and it helped a lot with the halfhalts and with keeping his forehand light. A friend took some photos and he was the most uphill I've ever seen. I got yelled at once for hitting Phoebus during a canter transition, he'd been about to take the correct lead but he paused, and I hit him- Bent said "He was gonna take it and you hit him, why'd you hit him?"
"I thought he was stopping and that he'd take the left," I said, feeling really sheepish.
"It was just the pause, he was gonna take it," Bent said.
I apologized and we got it right the next time. We worked till we were both soaked with sweat and I was satisfied with our performance. I was glad to have things end on a good note.
It looks like I'll probably start riding one of the broodmares. I rode the Deputy again for a few minutes but I'm not planning anything with him- his owner just loves to see him ridden so it was fun for Sue. He was good for me again, and he even steers a little better.
Gotta get myself a horse again one of these days. I'll just add it to the list... ^_^
I had taken the day off work on Friday, went out and rode, then cleaned him up a bit- the temperature felt close to 60 and it was sunny and warm with a mild breeze. During our ride he was a little stiff and resistant at first, but once I got him going well I decided to stop after about 10 minutes so as not to tire him out for the clinic. I wiped down my bridle and took my boots home. I cleaned them and wiped off my spurs. I washed polos and saddle pads and breeches. I went to bed feeling satisfied and prepared.
It snowed that night. When I got up it was COLD and there was about 2 - 3 inches on the ground. It was fluffy and sticky and clumped onto the trees and even the telephone poles. I was wearing a red, white, and pink striped shirt, (aka the candy cane shirt) and felt a little like Santa's elf as I drove through the winter wonderland and shuffled to the indoor from the barn.
I take off my coat and Peggy yells that she can't believe how skinny I am. "Uh, thanks," I say, "but I thought horizontal stripes were sposed to make you look wider..?" She tells me that she's just used to seeing me in big sweatshirts. Sadly, this is to be the highlight of my day.
I get on and start warming up. My legs keep sliding all over the place and I've forgotten to stretch out. Phoebus is sluggish and won't move off my leg. I squeeze, nothing. Squeeze again, tap with the whip, nothing. Whacky whacky, sluggish hollow trot. Oh goody, it's going to be one of THOSE days.
We were bad. Phoebus was a jerk and I was a mess. He wasn't forward or through, he hung on my reins, and played "Russian Roullet" with the canter leads, in BOTH directions. I got shaken up, hunched over, and kept grabbing the inside rein, and I couldn't feel anything through my seat. Later on I lost my temper and took the reins in one hand so I could give him a good wallop when he continued to ignore my leg and I yelled mean things about his mom, which is really unfair as she was probably a very nice horse. Bent handled the situation very well, he was calm and gracious and simply had me work on getting the horse forward NO MATTER WHAT, wrong leads and all, and on letting go in front. After about 40 minutes of flying around the ring, Phoebus was finally forward and through, I was warmed up, and our lesson was nearly over. I sat up, put him in a good frame, and we had a good 10 minutes. When we finished I tried to look on the bright side, that while there were witnesses at least I hadn't had anyone record my ride. Then one of said witnesses piped up and pointed out that someone ELSE had videotaped the ride. *Groan*.
I went home that night and thought about quitting. I felt pretty embarassed and really disappointed after working with the horse the last few months and feeling like we had made progress. I didn't sleep well. In the end I did the only thing I could do, and tried to remember what the good stuff felt like and what I could do to get it, and what I didn't want to do and would try not to do.
Sunday, thankfully, was better. The second day usually is, but this was MUCH better, at least in comparison. Bent had me continue riding Phoebus very forward, and told me to leave the front end alone. I trust him since I've cliniced with him several times before and left my reins long and almost loose, and just used my legs. Phoebus had been sneaky the day before about hanging on the inside rein when we got near the spectators as I wanted very much not to run them over, and I told Bent that he still wanted to hang on my inside rein. "If it's not there, what's he going to hang on to?" Bent asked. "Nothing," I replied sheepishly. I know it, and I work on not holding, but sometimes you have to go farther and work on letting go. Things went a bit better and we did some leg yields along the wall. They weren't brilliant but there were some good steps here and there, and Phoebus was listening better than the day before. We worked on the canter some more with a better quality gait and the leads were correct more often. Bent had us circle around him and he had a lunge whip, which he used occasionally when I couldn't keep Phoebus's hind legs active enough. He had me concentrate on using my abs more and it helped a lot with the halfhalts and with keeping his forehand light. A friend took some photos and he was the most uphill I've ever seen. I got yelled at once for hitting Phoebus during a canter transition, he'd been about to take the correct lead but he paused, and I hit him- Bent said "He was gonna take it and you hit him, why'd you hit him?"
"I thought he was stopping and that he'd take the left," I said, feeling really sheepish.
"It was just the pause, he was gonna take it," Bent said.
I apologized and we got it right the next time. We worked till we were both soaked with sweat and I was satisfied with our performance. I was glad to have things end on a good note.
It looks like I'll probably start riding one of the broodmares. I rode the Deputy again for a few minutes but I'm not planning anything with him- his owner just loves to see him ridden so it was fun for Sue. He was good for me again, and he even steers a little better.
Gotta get myself a horse again one of these days. I'll just add it to the list... ^_^
