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Diesel Fumes
Riding lessons like today's stop me getting complacent. I ride the same horses and do the same activities week in, week out, and it all seems easy. Then, I get a new horse and I suddenly realise just jow much I still have to learn.
I knew the lesson wasn't going to go well when Matt told me at the start he was going to assess me today to decide if I should move up to the A class. What ensued felt more like a beginner's lesson than an intermediate one for me - I had real trouble keeping Diesel on the track, he kept dropping out of trot at the corners, and what should have been a smooth canter transition involved a great deal of very fast trotting and the occasional buck. In my own defence, the problems I had were more to do with the horse being a beginner than the rider - though it brought home to me that my signals aren't as firm as they should be, and it's all much more hard work when the horse doesn't interpret what I'm trying to tell it to do.
Thirteen years ago, I was teaching young horses how to jump and do dressage, and now I can't even get one to walk in a straight line... Sigh.
Hey ho - Matt seemed quite pleased with my performance, and it was fun to ride a new horse, as well as being very good for me. Matt's going to find out which A class would suit me best and I'll move up in a couple of weeks. It'll be a shame not to keep watching the progress of the others, but I do feel as if I need a bit more of a challenge - though hopefully they'll give me the horses I'm used to for a bit, while I get accustomed to the change!
The reason for the post title is that Diesel spent several minutes rubbing his head all over my t-shirt at the end of the lesson and covering me in slobber - and horse slobber is very stinky.
I knew the lesson wasn't going to go well when Matt told me at the start he was going to assess me today to decide if I should move up to the A class. What ensued felt more like a beginner's lesson than an intermediate one for me - I had real trouble keeping Diesel on the track, he kept dropping out of trot at the corners, and what should have been a smooth canter transition involved a great deal of very fast trotting and the occasional buck. In my own defence, the problems I had were more to do with the horse being a beginner than the rider - though it brought home to me that my signals aren't as firm as they should be, and it's all much more hard work when the horse doesn't interpret what I'm trying to tell it to do.
Thirteen years ago, I was teaching young horses how to jump and do dressage, and now I can't even get one to walk in a straight line... Sigh.
Hey ho - Matt seemed quite pleased with my performance, and it was fun to ride a new horse, as well as being very good for me. Matt's going to find out which A class would suit me best and I'll move up in a couple of weeks. It'll be a shame not to keep watching the progress of the others, but I do feel as if I need a bit more of a challenge - though hopefully they'll give me the horses I'm used to for a bit, while I get accustomed to the change!
The reason for the post title is that Diesel spent several minutes rubbing his head all over my t-shirt at the end of the lesson and covering me in slobber - and horse slobber is very stinky.
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Ah posts like this bring back my 20 years of riding and schooling troublesome horses. I for one have always loved the challenge of riding a new horse, keeps things interesting and does help with the skill level ;)
I'll still take a slobbery horse over a farty horse lol
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I agree that some horses are just awkward, but I think Diesel was just more interested in looking around at what was going on elsewhere than he was in paying attention to me. He's just not used to being in the school yet.