~ Let It All Out! -- Confess All Of Your Riding Errors Here

My problems,
-my patience could be a lot better
- I don't always use my seat properly
-I can be a pushover with him
- My correction timing is off, some times I just let the bad stuff go beacuse I didn't catch it in time
- I get a bit stiff throughout my whole body
-I don't keep my feet level, sometimes I get toes down, sometimes they get really pointed out.

At least we are not afraid of admitting our riding faults.

YEP! LOL! I love Mountain Horse Boots very much. I have 4 pairs. 2 winter and two summer - one being schooling and one for showing.

^haha! That's awesome. I just have the one pair and I love them. Kepp my feet warm and dry in snow knee deep!

-my lower leg slides back and I start to lose my stirrup
-I tip forward
-I'm not assertive enough with my horse ie I give too much time for transitions and turns
-my arms can be stiff
-I look down at the horse more than I look straight ahead
-my left side is stronger than my right, same with my horse (what a wonderful combination!)

I have quite a bit don't I? When I ride most of these problems aren't too bad, except when I stop focusing then they can come back.

I have too many problems to list! :)
But my main one I would say is bracing against my horse with my hands/upper body (which in turn can cause me to tip forward also). He's always been very strong and used to be unpredictable so its been really tough for me to break this habit! However when I can manage to relax my core and give with my hands and be soft when he's having a moment instead of clamming up he softens back...
And the list would surely go on from there if my brain was in thinking mode and I had all night to type :)

I just had a lesson tonight so my flaws are excruciatingly fresh in my mind.
Elbows drift away from my body resulting in the amazing chicken lady position, I look down at his ears and watch the pony go round, way too much inside rein, not nearly enough outside, and I lose my left stirrup a lot due to lack of weighting that heel enough. Oh yes there are many more, but those are the ones I am constantly trying to fix.

^hehe!

Hmm...lets begin...

1. I'm weaker on my right side than the left side..
2. I need to put my heels down more!! Grrr....this can be so irritating at the sitting trot!!
3. Totally guilty of letting myself and my horse collapse from downward transitions!

There are many more!!

Wow this whole confessing your riding sins is wonderful!!

Well, to start off with, I tend to lean slightly to the left, or at least I think I do....I'm also left handed, and so is my horse! We make a bad pair, lol.

-I tend to let my heels come up when we're going from a trot to a walk.....this made me lose both my stirrups when he took off on me! But on the bright side, if I ever ask for a trot and he takes off on me, I know I can keep my seat....I did it with one foot once!
-I don't use my core as much as I should for posting. This is really bad because I have a bad knee.
- I'm a little bit of a nervous rider. It really only applies when I'm trying something new, because I have NO IDEA how Ice will react. Once we've done it a few times, I have no problems.
-I also look at him rather than in front of me a LOT. But he really is just so picturesque....ears forward, happily plodding along....lol. But I notice when I do look ahead he feels a little lighter under me.


Just to even up things though, I thought I would list some of my attributes!

-I have light hands. I know when I'm being too hard, because Ice gets pissy and does things too fast or too hard. Its kind of hard to describe with words but its something that you know.

-I'm very patient with him. I've had numerous comments on this from anyone who's seen me ride him during our early days. He was very gate sour, and I've backed him in circles and all the way across the arena because that was the only way he would go.

-I'm very confident in my abilities. If I don't know how to do something, show me how to do it twice, let me read the mechanics of it, and I can pull it off pretty well.

-I'm a quick learner!

Wow, where to begin?
- I lean inwards on corners and circles, my instuctor calls me Eileen! Ahhaha
- I get frustrated really easily at my old horse, but I have tons of patience with my new one. It's terrible, I think it's because I know my old one so much better, and I can tell when he's faking :P
- To put my legs on, I sometimes pull my heel up and use my heel and not so much my calf. Urgh annoying.
- I'm constantly looking down! Which doesn't help my horse who is very heavy on the forehand.
- And again, with my old horse I expect him to learn things so much quicker because I had already taught him (he's coming back form a year's rest now). I need to be mroe patient!
- Both of my horses have had ligament injuries. On the same leg. I can't help thinking that it's all my fault, and I'm afraid to ride other people's horses incase I make them lame too. :(

Phew, that was great to get that all out! I'm going to go and ride my old horse now, and I have a funny feeling that I will be able to be a bit more patient with him :)


Note - when I say "my old horse" he's actually not that old (eighteen), but he's my first horse and so I refer to him as my "old horse". My second horse is my "new horse" but he's not that new :P