Hello everyone. I'm new to the forum (oh no, fresh meat!) and I'm glad to be here after some searching through other forums. I'm glad to find one so wonderfully ACTIVE!
I've always loved horses and used to do a little riding when I was younger (nothing special, just simple walk/trot hack stuff, really). It definitely wasn't much and at this point I don't remember much now, thirteen years later. I recall some terms and practices, but altogether I'm pretty rusty and it really shows when I'm around life long horse people.
I'm 23 now and since I've moved out I finally have the time, money, and opportunity to pursue riding seriously. I'm interested in all English disciplines, but mostly dressage. I love watching the upper level tests and I'm so impressed by the skill of the riders to be able to do the movements they do with such subtle aids. It's a bit daunting, because I feel like I may never be able to do even simple things considering I've started so late (and I imagine anyone who is testing at the higher levels must've started as children, right?). One of my major goals is to be able to participate in dressage tests and horse shows in general.. but of course to get there I'd need to start at the beginning..
I don't own my own horse and will likely begin taking lessons once a week, but I'm wondering if there are any things I can do in between lessons to make myself stronger and/or help me pick things up faster? I ride a few times a week on my own, doing some light walk/trot workouts on a horse at the barn I volunteer time at and I've noticed some frustrating problems with my riding. First, my balance is terrible! It makes it difficult to keep quiet hands and I feel just awful because I feel like I'm going to haul back on the poor guy's mouth unless I grab mane. I feel like I have a secure seat at the walk, but as soon as I attempt to post the trot it seems to all go right out the window. I often hear the term "drive from the seat" and also how much of the control of the horse should come from the leg and seat aids and rely less on the rein aids, but as soon as we break into a trot I feel a little overwhelmed trying to post AND steer AND figure out what I should be feeling. Somehow I feel like there's something I'm missing and as soon as I get that I'll have an AHA! moment. I have wondered if I'm just terribly out of shape. It makes me want to kick myself when little girls smaller and younger than me manage to ace the things I'm struggling with.
I spend a lot of time reading and studying. My rekindled passion for horses has me absorbing every bit of info I can find when I'm not at the barn. It's both wonderful and intimidating that there's SO MUCH and often conflicting information, not to mention the terminology and descriptions might be better suited to a more advanced rider than myself, but I have found some helpful tidbits.
So.. the TL;DR version of this is:
- I will be taking weekly lessons after the new year.
- My goal is to be able to show/test.
- I'm looking for things I can do during all those hours OFF the horse to help my success for the time I'm on the horse.
- Help?
Thanks everyone!
I've always loved horses and used to do a little riding when I was younger (nothing special, just simple walk/trot hack stuff, really). It definitely wasn't much and at this point I don't remember much now, thirteen years later. I recall some terms and practices, but altogether I'm pretty rusty and it really shows when I'm around life long horse people.
I'm 23 now and since I've moved out I finally have the time, money, and opportunity to pursue riding seriously. I'm interested in all English disciplines, but mostly dressage. I love watching the upper level tests and I'm so impressed by the skill of the riders to be able to do the movements they do with such subtle aids. It's a bit daunting, because I feel like I may never be able to do even simple things considering I've started so late (and I imagine anyone who is testing at the higher levels must've started as children, right?). One of my major goals is to be able to participate in dressage tests and horse shows in general.. but of course to get there I'd need to start at the beginning..
I don't own my own horse and will likely begin taking lessons once a week, but I'm wondering if there are any things I can do in between lessons to make myself stronger and/or help me pick things up faster? I ride a few times a week on my own, doing some light walk/trot workouts on a horse at the barn I volunteer time at and I've noticed some frustrating problems with my riding. First, my balance is terrible! It makes it difficult to keep quiet hands and I feel just awful because I feel like I'm going to haul back on the poor guy's mouth unless I grab mane. I feel like I have a secure seat at the walk, but as soon as I attempt to post the trot it seems to all go right out the window. I often hear the term "drive from the seat" and also how much of the control of the horse should come from the leg and seat aids and rely less on the rein aids, but as soon as we break into a trot I feel a little overwhelmed trying to post AND steer AND figure out what I should be feeling. Somehow I feel like there's something I'm missing and as soon as I get that I'll have an AHA! moment. I have wondered if I'm just terribly out of shape. It makes me want to kick myself when little girls smaller and younger than me manage to ace the things I'm struggling with.
I spend a lot of time reading and studying. My rekindled passion for horses has me absorbing every bit of info I can find when I'm not at the barn. It's both wonderful and intimidating that there's SO MUCH and often conflicting information, not to mention the terminology and descriptions might be better suited to a more advanced rider than myself, but I have found some helpful tidbits.
So.. the TL;DR version of this is:
- I will be taking weekly lessons after the new year.
- My goal is to be able to show/test.
- I'm looking for things I can do during all those hours OFF the horse to help my success for the time I'm on the horse.
- Help?
Thanks everyone!