Member Blogs

Today I rode Brava again; Zoe is fighting a deep thrush infection and wasn't feeling 100%. Rebel colicked earlier this morning, so obviously he couldn't be ridden (he's not my favorite, anyway). Shiah's been sold and Shayna's retired, so Brava was my mount by default. But I don't mind; I love riding Brava.

She and I worked on flying lead changes; specifically, we were supposed to do three of them on the diagonal from corner to corner. May I say this is harder than it looks. For one thing, you actually have to look where you're going or the horse drifts over to the wall too soon. For another thing, you have to coordinate the leg cues and the rein cues AND remember which leg to use to cue which lead. On top of that, it took me some time to figure out which lead to ask for first. (I'm not the world's most coordinated person.) Then I had a hard time being able to tell whether she actually changed leads.

On the plus side, I at one point lost my stirrup while cantering. Rather than try to pick it up, I just decided to ride without it (boy, have I come a long way!). But then Katelyn noticed and told me to pick it up. I had trouble doing so and ended up halting.

I am learning so much about myself from taking lessons. I've learned I have a tough time remembering verbal instructions. I try to visualize what I'm supposed to do, but it doesn't seem to help much. For example, last week I rode my first jump course, but I would probably have forgotten the order in which I was supposed to take the crossrails if Katelyn hadn't been there to remind me. I also tend to look at the horse rather than where I'm going, and I don't plan ahead too well. I'm hoping these skills will improve with time and practice!