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I rode a new horse, AND jumped 3'!

2K views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  juniormylove 
#1 ·
I've started working out at my barn for the summer, which is amazing. I'll be doing everything from first aid to helping beginners tack up to schooling naughty ponies.

Yesterday my trainer gave me the opportunity to ride Gunner. Gunner is...amazing. He's a 7 yr old warmblood of sorts, imported from Canada, and an extremely talented jumper [I've seen him do a 4'6" oxar w/a 6' spread like it was nothing].

I kind of assumed when I got on that I'd be just flatting him, since I wasn't in a lesson or anything. I first just have to say that he was AMAZING to ride - I think my leg position was the best it's ever been on him and his canter was soooo smooth I didn't want to tip back at all!

But anyways. She asked if I wanted to pop him over a few little fences, so I agreed. I thought I was gonna fall off over the first jump, his jump was so big and round and float-y, haha. It seriously felt like we went straight up and then just kinda floated over the jump, lol. He was good, though. I thought it'd just be a few little 2ft jumps, but she kept adding poles! We got up to 3' before I started overthinking it and we had an awkward distance [but Gunner leapt for it, saving me haha]. It was a really, really good ride though! I was able to work on pushing him into the bridle and using my outside rein on the flat, which was nice. I think jumping him was a bit of a confidence booster for me, which was needed a little bit. Y'know...I've been having so many bad lessons on Frenchie and then I had a frustrating ride on this STB we're retraining....it was nice to actually be successful for once! Plus, Gunner is NOT an easy horse to ride [almost everyone I know who's ridden him has fallen off at some point] so...it was just cool.

I was riding during a lesson when this happened [I jumped once they were cooling out] and it was these two little girls who were doing w/t and a little canter...I think I blew their minds a little bit, lmfao. One of the moms came up to me after and told me how cool it was to see me ride around on Gun and mentioned how big the jumps were :D I felt special, hehe.

Anyways. Here is Gunner


I posted a video of him and my trainer a few months ago when I was asking about the correct canter seat...but here it is again


[if I can ride 1/2 as well as my trainer some day, I will be happy]
 
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#2 ·
Congratulations on the new horse! I am excited to see the two of you together.

Your Coach does ride beautifully and I love how she applies the importancies of dressage in her riding that course. Very nice!

Remember though Junior - there is no "Correct canter seat" - riding isn't cookie cutter...you have to find what works for you. If a full seat works for you and your horse, then wonderful - if a 3 point seat works well for you and your horse, then fantabulous, if a 2 point seat is what works well for you and your horse, then go for it - there is not "Must ride in this seat when you jump" rule.

Remember, a good rider conforms to their horse, a poor rider makes their horse conform to them. I hate to see you so obsessed with "correct seat" - because you'll end up getting stuck there.

A good rider, will beable to quickly transfer from one seat to the other, to accomodate the horse, that particular fence and that moment where whichever seat is needed.

Find your balance over your feet. Solidify that lower leg, activate that core - and find what works well for you.

I wish you two all the best!
 
#3 · (Edited)
I'd love to ride him again someday...who knows, maybe I'll get the chance later this summer! It was really cool to ride a horse who HASN'T been ridden by a million other people in lessons, y'know?

My trainer is amazing, that's all I can say. I'm looking forward to watching her ride this summer because I know I can learn a lot from seeing the way she handles different situations. And yeah, she definitely carries that over to her teaching...we're not allowed to just get on and race around a course all willy nilly. My last lesson we spent like 40 minutes working on lateral work, which was awesome. She rode one of her horses with us and demonstrated everything she wanted us to do before asking us to try. The leg yield came in very handy when Frenchie threw a particularly big tantrum at one of the fences - he wouldn't walk forward at all so I ended up leg yielding him over to it, then circling and jumping it lol.

I've kind of given up on getting that "picture perfect" seat...what I have now works for me so we're just gonna go with that. It let me jump Gunner 3' without dying and let me stay on Frenchie on Friday when he was throwing a fit [we moved the jumps around in the arena ahaha] so.... *shrug* I rode a standardbred on Friday who is in the early stages of learning to canter, so I ended up riding out a very speedy pace at one point, lol. My seat is solid enough for what I'm doing right now, so I'm happy.

I felt really...still on Gunner. I don't know how else to describe it, haha. But when we were cantering, it didn't feel like my upper body was really moving very much, and it didn't feel like my leg was moving at all, and my seat didn't leave the saddle. It was kinda odd but like I said, very comfortable.
 
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