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Not the best ride... but it has its benefits. Share your story?

951 views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  englishaqh 
#1 ·
After tonight, I have to be honest, I am disappointed in myself.

I am so proud of my girl, we have come such a long way. It's literally a green horse/green rider partnership. I've been riding for years, on and off, but only started working with a good trainer 6 months ago so before then it was kind of just basic (more like children's) lessons.

Last week, during my lesson, I literally had the best lesson of my life. Every other ride this week has been great as well. Not anything that topped that lesson (my lessons are usually my strongest rides) but still great. But tonight, I do feel disappointed in myself, but proud of my horse.

I was doing my w-t fine, but when it came to the canter, I was having trouble with the transitions into it. Not leaning back enough, toes pointing down, relying on the reins too much, just messing up. I did get both leads thankfully, but I didn't get the transitions with ease. I know that is something I will work on, and something I've been focusing on lately... but I realized that you know, sometimes it just takes that flawed ride to make you realize what you need to work on most and have that goal to reach for the future. Plus, giving myself the benefit of the doubt, I had a very busy night last night (retreat), stayed up late and woke up early. On top of that I had a lot of thinking to do and slept in a new place. I still should have been able to get the canter down even being tired, but you know what, maybe my concentration wasn't as keen or something... I don't know. I just am not great at it and I need to work on it.

So take that one ride that you might have and as hard as it might be sometimes, realize your flaws and make yourself better for the next time. Then with the progression of skill and ease, you can laugh and say, "HAH, and I used to have trouble with that!"

Not the sound like a geek. But one of my biggest fears after my ride tonight was worrying that my horse might be mad at me.
 
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#2 ·
I know what you mean! I think everyone has "bad" or disappointing rides. Every ride can't be your best ride. BUT every ride teaches you something. You just have to embrace it!

I know the "is my horse mad at me?" feeling too. Sometimes you just feel like you failed your horse. It's not pleasant.

As for a disappointing ride that taught me something:

At first we were just jumping a small vertical. Easy, right? Well, I failed at it. Wrong lead...took forever to change the lead...not enough energy to the jump...got left behind...horse expressed his displeasure with a small buck. I totally deserved it because I rode like a beginner and I'm still kind of surprised he actually jumped instead of refusing.

I learned that I need to take my time, pace myself, and trust in my instructor. I thought that we should have been doing a line instead of just a single jump...how am I supposed to do that if I can't even make it over the single? :lol: I think I rush myself sometimes and it just leads to bad riding. I have to remember to breathe and think. Now I am more careful on my approach to jumps and I've gotten better since then :).
 
#3 ·
This is a very timely topic for me because, I, too, have been having trouble with the canter and I knew that everytime I messed up it must have been driving my horse crazy!!!! I was slamming down in the saddle with every step and I know that couldn't feel good.

Today, I had a cantering lesson and I got it all straightened out and I could actually see my horse's relief. We were in the round pen, which she normally hates, but I swear, once she realized it was to HER benefit that we were in there working on this, she relaxed and did her best to help me get it right.

I can't remember which trainer said it, but every single time you are in the saddle, you learn something. So even when things go badly, as long as you learn from it, nothing is wasted!
 
#5 ·
UPDATE:
Had a lesson today. YAYAYAYY. Fixed the cantering issue, all a matter of just leaning back and trusting my girl!! YAY! Hahaha ironically enough my trot was a little weaker than usual (not bad just not as consistent as usual) but the canter was better. Irony.
 
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