Bart: I thought you said you wanted a challenge.
Lisa: Duh. A challenge I can do.
That's about where I am right now. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I will be riding Marve in the schooling show next month. And I'm already getting nervous.
It doesn't help that I've been feeling kind of bipolar about my riding lately. My lesson last week went really well, as did my ride yesterday. But the other rides throughout this last week were not so hot, which is frustrating. And I'm just starting to realize Marve and I have some very real challenges in store for us at this little show, including:
1. Convincing Marve he does NOT want to chase down the horse in front of him and ride right. on. its. tail. This has the potential to be a big problem at the show. He's fine until I ride him behind another horse, and then he decides he just HAS to become best friends with the horse's butt. That, coupled with his huge strides, might make our classes kind of...interesting. I do not want to be that girl constantly circling to get away from other horses. I also don't want to forget everything else about my riding for the sake of holding him back. So I need to work on this.
2. Sitting trot. This is another tough one. Marve has a horribly rough, bouncy trot. Some of the girls at the stable told me they have a hard time posting to it. (Although, wtf?) At the last show I entered at this stable, the judge made us sit to the trot and go around and around forever. Which is fine on a horse that doesn't have a hellish trot. I can sit to Marve's trot okay if I slow him down (is that cheating?) and get him nice and round (if I'm lucky), but if he gets excited and speeds up, there's enough room between my ass and the saddle for a little league game. I've been practicing, but I'm afraid all the practice in the world isn't going to save me from 10 straight minutes of bouncing around on an excited TB at this show.
3. Showmanship. I've never entered a showmanship class before, and while I didn't expect to get a blue ribbon, I didn't think this would be too difficult. And then I realized that Marve seems totally unwilling to trot in hand. He just stares at me and takes big TB walking strides while I jog along, begging him to trot. I've never encountered this before, so I need to find a way to convince him to trot along next to me. Any suggestions? Besides this issue, I'm also stressing over the emphasis on appearance. I can't imagine what his poor mane will look like when I'm done braiding it, not to mention that he is gray (why why WHY can't he be chestnut or bay?) and perpetually dirty. All the currying in the world doesn't seem to get him super clean looking.
Well, I guess I better get busy practicing half halts, sitting the trot, and braiding instead of stressing over this little show. Again, I am excited, just a little nervous Marve and I will become a spectacle of poorly braided tail-chasing madness on show day. I'll keep you updated on our practice and progress!
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3 comments:
You are going to do fine!
For the trotting in hand, start at the halt. Stand at the horse's left shoulder and hold a dressage whip in your left hand. Ask the horse to step smartly forward with you at his shoulder. Tap him behind you with the whip if necessary. The horse should walk and halt smartly with you staying at his shoulder without dragging or pulling. Then graduate to trotting. I've had to really drill this with Brego and I found that trotting ahead of him pulling NEVER works. He must be made responsible for moving off beside me when I ask and we're now to the point that I can jog him in hand without a whip.
Good luck!
Love the Simpson's reference... they have a saying for every moment in life, don't they?
Your going to do fine. If you have to pass someone because of your horses larger stride, that is perfectly acceptable. Remember that horses are herd animals, and if theycan follow the tail or ass in front of them they don't need to do any thinking. Make sure that Marve knows whos in charge. This can happen a lot with lesson horses, who just want to coast along and not listen to their riders. Establish a good working relationship with Marve, but also a good one out fo the saddle as well. SOmetimes with my horse I just go and hang with him in the pasture. I have been known to take a lawn chair out to the paddock and read a book just in his presence. SO when he sees me, it doesn't always mean work and that I really care about being with him.
As for the sitting trot, I don't know what seat your riding in but I'm gonna guess hunt seat. Just think of collecting him a little like you said, slowing down his tror and moving your hips with his trot movement. Calf and thighs tight and taking the bounc down through your legs and out through your lowered. Just use a little imagery and think of his energy as something you can see and maniuplate. My appy has a horrible trot to sit through. But I sit up, keep my position and move my hips with him and can use my seat to slo whim down or speed him up. Even in hunt seat riding I like to sit the trot a little deeper, almost like a dressage seat, but not toally.
I'm glad that you decided to do the show and I know things will be just great. Keep usupdated, I really enjoy reading your blog.
I'm sure you will do just fine!
I totally agree with Daun's advice about trotting in hand and was going to suggest the same thing...saves me typing it!
Sidetracked - good advice to work on for the sitting trot - I have a harder time with it as well...
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