It's been such a long time since I rode horses on a regular basis. Since high school four and a half years ago.
My brief journey into saddleseat was interesting and educational, but totally opposite of everything I've ever learned and not the type of industry I want to be involved in.
Now that I have a job and successfully manage most of my finances (screw you student loans!), I'm making room in my budget for riding lessons. Hallelujah!
Although I could technically jump on any horse and be fine, it's almost impossible to find opportunities to ride without having to pay someone. I decided that if I'm going to pay someone to let me ride, they better be teaching me something interesting and useful. So, I opted for dressage lessons.
I've never done dressage. I've always been intrigued and amazed by it, especially after going to WEG. It's so technical and precise and I figured it would be a great way to regain my seat and learn new collection/extension/control techniques, which are useful in all disciplines (except saddleseat).
I'm going to chronicle my experience here. I hope to learn a lot and I'm going to tell you all about every detail because I'm like that.
~
My first lesson was on the 28th of Jan. I rode a big old Thoroughbred named Bo (or Beau?). He's about 15 years old and absolutely wonderful. So nice and calm and responsive! He was initially trained as a barrel racer, then found his place as a jumper where he was very successful. An injury forced him to retire and take up dressage. His owner goes to school at UK and the trainer is leasing him from her. I think we'll make a good team.
Although I had discussed my experience with the trainer, Laura Ovaitt, this lesson was still more evaluative than instructive. Laura needed to be able to understand my level of skill and I needed to simply get my seat back so I'd feel less awkward up there. Laura had me walk, trot and canter, and had me work on getting Bo to collect, i.e. tuck his nose and round his back, and push with his hind end. Bo has such a big stride, it will take some getting used to. Laura kept having to tell me to push him a little more, and she even said I looked small on top of him.
She also showed me the cues to get Bo to stretch his neck and nose down in the extended walk. I felt so good when I got him to do it!
The things I struggled with were posting (in dressage you normally sit the trot, but my seat is not ready for that), feeling like my legs were disconnect from my head (I felt like they were flopping all over, even though Laura said my position was very "hunter-jumper," I guess that means tight legs, straight body), and coordinating my cues (i.e. trying to signal for a canter while maintaining collection, etc, that will come back with more practice).
The thing about horse back riding is that it requires individual muscles to work independently and simultaneously to properly cue the horse. This takes a lot of practice, and I've been out of practice for a long time. And, riding horses uses muscles you didn't know you had. The insides of my thighs were sore as soon as I stepped down.
~
My next lesson is on Thursday after work. I'm pumped. I gotta get there a little early to get Bo ready, so that's fun. Laura said she wanted to do longe-line work with me to improve my seat, legs and balance. Ahh! Nervous. Not a big fan of longe-line work. I have control issues and I'm concerned my balance is not going to be good enough to stay on. We'll see what happens Thursday!
I've never done dressage. I've always been intrigued and amazed by it, especially after going to WEG. It's so technical and precise and I figured it would be a great way to regain my seat and learn new collection/extension/control techniques, which are useful in all disciplines (except saddleseat).
I'm going to chronicle my experience here. I hope to learn a lot and I'm going to tell you all about every detail because I'm like that.
~
My first lesson was on the 28th of Jan. I rode a big old Thoroughbred named Bo (or Beau?). He's about 15 years old and absolutely wonderful. So nice and calm and responsive! He was initially trained as a barrel racer, then found his place as a jumper where he was very successful. An injury forced him to retire and take up dressage. His owner goes to school at UK and the trainer is leasing him from her. I think we'll make a good team.
Although I had discussed my experience with the trainer, Laura Ovaitt, this lesson was still more evaluative than instructive. Laura needed to be able to understand my level of skill and I needed to simply get my seat back so I'd feel less awkward up there. Laura had me walk, trot and canter, and had me work on getting Bo to collect, i.e. tuck his nose and round his back, and push with his hind end. Bo has such a big stride, it will take some getting used to. Laura kept having to tell me to push him a little more, and she even said I looked small on top of him.
She also showed me the cues to get Bo to stretch his neck and nose down in the extended walk. I felt so good when I got him to do it!
The things I struggled with were posting (in dressage you normally sit the trot, but my seat is not ready for that), feeling like my legs were disconnect from my head (I felt like they were flopping all over, even though Laura said my position was very "hunter-jumper," I guess that means tight legs, straight body), and coordinating my cues (i.e. trying to signal for a canter while maintaining collection, etc, that will come back with more practice).
The thing about horse back riding is that it requires individual muscles to work independently and simultaneously to properly cue the horse. This takes a lot of practice, and I've been out of practice for a long time. And, riding horses uses muscles you didn't know you had. The insides of my thighs were sore as soon as I stepped down.
~
My next lesson is on Thursday after work. I'm pumped. I gotta get there a little early to get Bo ready, so that's fun. Laura said she wanted to do longe-line work with me to improve my seat, legs and balance. Ahh! Nervous. Not a big fan of longe-line work. I have control issues and I'm concerned my balance is not going to be good enough to stay on. We'll see what happens Thursday!
