Friday, August 17, 2007

I need to find out

if the saddle agent has recovered from her broken leg .... really need her to come look at the saddle set up.

but apart form that we got some nice slow trot today, and my rise wasn't too bad.

started off with the feet out of the stirrups to get my legs stretched down a bit. think i should do that occasionally throughout each session - give her a break and stretch my legs down ... and then think also perhaps i need the stirrups a hole longer?

made the mistake of trying to taker her down to the 20 acre. she wouldn't even go to the top of the hill. possibly doing that after some time in the arena was a mistake, but anyway we struggled to get back right after that. on the other hand, at least she left the arena ...

1 comment:

Jean said...

If you do ride without stirrups, you will probably need to lengthen the leathers when you pick them back up. You don't though, want to be "reaching for your irons" when you ride as that will make your lower leg unsteady as well.

If the saddle is not right, that could also be throwing you off balance. How long has the agent been out of commission? Seems a while as I recall. Maybe she is better.

Learning to get your balance independently of how your horse is going is the key, but it can be a long process with constant practice. You will do fine pretty quickly because you are not a beginning rider. Right now, it's just getting the proper feel back.

Getting your leg correctly positioned under you is an important key. If the lower leg falls forward, you will fall back. If it falls back,you will fall foward. That's how the riding in two point can help.

Ms. Molly just still doesn't have enough self-confidence to do that field on her own. She is a bit like my Tucker. If you can just get her out there a few more times with someone else, perhaps she will begin to realize it's kind of fun to do something besides go around in circles in the arena.