Herbie rides again - or not...

[alobear]

I really wasn't in the right frame of mind for riding Herbie this morning.  The other two people in my lesson both had gorgeous, forward-going horses who did everthing asked of them first time.  Why don't I get to ride horses like that?  I got stuck with a lump of a Herbie, who was in go-slow mode.  I was exhausted after ten minutes, and about ready to kill him by the end of the lesson.

We did walk to canter transitions about half way through.  After six or seven attempts, Herbie finally did a perfect walk to canter.  I shouted, "Yes!"  And Kerry said, "You're on the wrong leg."  Gah!!!

When we'd finished all the exercises, Kerry told us to start winding the horses down gradually.  My response to that was, "If I wind down any further, I won't be moving..."

At the end of the lesson, Kerry told me I need to be more assertive.  So, I went up to the office and assertively asked Maria if I can have a break from riding Herbie and Abbey for a while.  She agreed far too readily - so I expect I'll be on Madison next time!

I feel like I've been riding the same horses over and over, so I thought I'd check the stats and find out:

Overall stats for riding:

Once:
Cassie
Flash
Hughie
Kofi
Joker
Ben
Diesel

Twice:
Jim
Joe

Three times:
Dolly
Boysie

Four times:
Madison
Molly
Toby
Conan
Herbie

Six times:
Flossie
Abbey

A lesson stats, though, are: Joe twice, Abbey 3 times, Herbie 4 times.

I know there are horses out there that would be better suited to A lessons - Cassie, Flash, and Flossie for three.  Plus, I'd love to ride Joe more.  But I'd also like to try some different horses as well - there was a gorgeous chestnut mare called Babs in the lesson today and she looked like exactly the type of horse I like.  Chocco looks like fun, I haven't ridden James yet, and there must be others.  Hey ho, I shall just have to see who I get next time, and be more assertive about asking for variety.

Comments

[weaselbitch.livejournal.com]

They keep giving Flossie to Chris in our lesson.

[alobear.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know - and from what I saw today, he's not experienced enough to ride her properly! Flossie will do everything you tell her to, as long as you're clear. If you don't give her any instructions, she'll do her own thing, which is what she seemed to be doing in your lesson today - along with Conan!