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Another instructor crossed off my list
Aug. 12th, 2007 12:09 pmToday's riding lesson was rubbish.
I was riding Herbie again, but he turned out to be very different in the school to how he was in the field last week. The biggest difference was that I couldn't get him moving, which made the lesson really tiring.
Then there was the instructor Martine, who kept giving me contradictory instructions. First, I was going to slow, then I was going too fast. I got told off for not watching out for the other horses in the school, then I got told off for moving off the track when I was trying to avoid someone else. She said I ought to use my stick more, then told me off for using it when Herbie reacted to it by trying to buck me off. Eventually, she just started ignoring me altogether and focusing all her attention on the other rider in the lesson.
We did some interesting exercises - cantering without stirrups, and leg yield from the three-quarter line with a canter transition as soon as we hit the track, but I found everything we did really hard, and we spent so long on each thing that it got boring after a while.
Towards the end, Martine told us to do some independent work on transitions and circles. I made an effort for a bit, but Herbie had a bucking fit when I tried to get him into canter again, and Martine yelled at me to "be careful" (not sure how she thought Herbie bucking was my fault, by hey). At that point, I have to admit I just gave up and ended up walking Herbie round for the last ten minutes.
Not my best lesson.
I'm supposed to be working this afternoon, but I don't think I can be bothered. What I really want to do is watch TV and eat ice cream all afternoon, but I just measured my waist and I've lost three inches in the last six weeks, so I'm not going to crack on the ice cream front now.
I was riding Herbie again, but he turned out to be very different in the school to how he was in the field last week. The biggest difference was that I couldn't get him moving, which made the lesson really tiring.
Then there was the instructor Martine, who kept giving me contradictory instructions. First, I was going to slow, then I was going too fast. I got told off for not watching out for the other horses in the school, then I got told off for moving off the track when I was trying to avoid someone else. She said I ought to use my stick more, then told me off for using it when Herbie reacted to it by trying to buck me off. Eventually, she just started ignoring me altogether and focusing all her attention on the other rider in the lesson.
We did some interesting exercises - cantering without stirrups, and leg yield from the three-quarter line with a canter transition as soon as we hit the track, but I found everything we did really hard, and we spent so long on each thing that it got boring after a while.
Towards the end, Martine told us to do some independent work on transitions and circles. I made an effort for a bit, but Herbie had a bucking fit when I tried to get him into canter again, and Martine yelled at me to "be careful" (not sure how she thought Herbie bucking was my fault, by hey). At that point, I have to admit I just gave up and ended up walking Herbie round for the last ten minutes.
Not my best lesson.
I'm supposed to be working this afternoon, but I don't think I can be bothered. What I really want to do is watch TV and eat ice cream all afternoon, but I just measured my waist and I've lost three inches in the last six weeks, so I'm not going to crack on the ice cream front now.
