Brookie's Ramblings: "Sit in that saddle!"

Welcome to my ramblings! Tomorrow is my lesson, so expect a better update tomorrow :)
"Sit in the saddle" is something my trainer is constantly telling me to do, and I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. Right now, we're trying to seriously SIT the canter, which could take the rest of this school year (but hopefully not!)

Here's a little about me:
Been riding for about 5 years, just got back in the saddle after a break. Been riding for a year with my current trainer, basically started all over.
English, preferred discipline is jumping but first I need to re-learn my canter and then I can jump with glee like I did as a wee one!
I play piano and violin and I'm a huge fan of music! I love classical and country, but I enjoy almost everything except some kinds of rap.
I talk entirely too much for my own good!
I'm also too opinionated for my own good. One day, I know I'm going to get shot (probably by my crazy liberal, NRA-hating friend Cameron, which would be hysterically ironic!) but mostly I'm just a a crazy nut who tells stupid jokes and still manages to get a laugh.

Did I mention that I'm a loud Southern girl? I think it's pretty obvious by now!

I ride Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I'll have probably two (hopefully entertaining, while begging for the wisdom of my superiors) stories posted a week. Unless Daphne decides she wants to be a race horse again and bucks me off of the face of the earth. Which is entirely possible!

Please come along for the ride!

Tuesday was a pretty good ride, I did much better at sitting in the saddle but my posture was all wonky so it didn't work out right. I was riding a horse that I really like, though, so it was easier to mess up on him. The horse that I normally ride takes off with me when I mess up, so I really have to get it right when I ride her!

Thursday's lesson was spectacular! I lucked into a about 10 minutes of private instruction since half of my lesson girls were absent. When I got there the barn was empty, and I asked my instructor if she was teaching still and she said yes and that she'd ride with me, so that was nice :)

Then we worked a ton on my posture, which is correct now! I'm not saying it's perfect or show-worthy, but it's correct which makes my ride so much better. Then we cantered and I sat on my seat bones correctly and didn't flop around in the saddle or anything like that, and my horse and I were both happy with each other (me that he wasn't taking off, and him that I wasn't slamming down on his back because of improper posture!).

She said that this lesson was one of my best so far and made it sound like we came a long way, so I was a very happy girl :)

Next week I'll probably be back on my regular horse, unless my instructor wants to keep me on this recent one. I trust her, so whatever she chooses is fine with me. It's most likely that I'll be riding my old, regular horse because the only reason I rode a different one was because she threw a shoe. Also, the new horse's owner is going to start riding him more often because she's going to try to show him, I think.

-Brookie

I'm back to riding Daphne, the ottb. She's about 6 years old and very spirited! One of the most difficult horses at the barn according to my trainer. We had a great lesson with the exception of getting the leads correct. Other than looking down to see if her inside leg extends the most, are there any other ways to determine if I'm on the correct lead? I think finding her rhythm is my best bet- really pay attention to how she's moving, and I'll know if we're on the right lead.
What's that saying, though? One man's incorrect lead is another man's counter-canter! Haha! I'll have to tell my trainer that one day :)