Post by fleabitten on Dec 29, 2010 19:53:50 GMT
Well, I had a new instructor today, M, who was really nice and rode SD who was a really good boy - he probs just went to sleep lol! A 15hh bay cob.
So anyway, we went down to the indoor and M warmed SD up on the lunge by himself first and then i clambered on lol
We started off with stirrups and worked on leg and foot position - need to have lower leg back under me more and heel down. It was really hard to keep my legs in the correct position and wrap them round him and it was even harder in trot because i was rising. We did most of the lesson without stirrups and kept working on the leg position and doing those exercises where you bring your knees up and then stretch down and we did a lot of arm stretching and circling and twists at walk and trot which got hard after a while as my arms started to feel like lead lol!
I had a light bulb moment though - i held onto the pommel and pulled myself down into the saddle and it was a lot comfier and then M explained to me about going with the movement of the trot (a thrusting movement
) and by god, it worked! It was REALLY hard to maintain - its such a workout on your belly! But its a lot comfier. I was concentrating on keeping with the movement and i was doing an arm stretching exercise at the same time or holding my leg position and when i was concentrating on the trot, the legs or arms went lol! I think it would be hard to concentrate on going with the movement and riding the horse (steering and exercises and so on) at the same time. Also you and the horse have to be relaxed i think for to practice it.
But i did feel a lot more supple near the end and then we did a canter on my own to finish off - he was a bit more forward than he was on the lunge and of course the position work went to pot but it wasn't too bad.
M and I were very pleased with how it went and she said it was a great achievement. So now I feel that there may be light at the end of the tunnel with regards to the rut im in - i might just be able to improve my riding after all! lol!
Have my regular lesson tomorrow evening so heres hoping for a good one.
So anyway, we went down to the indoor and M warmed SD up on the lunge by himself first and then i clambered on lol
We started off with stirrups and worked on leg and foot position - need to have lower leg back under me more and heel down. It was really hard to keep my legs in the correct position and wrap them round him and it was even harder in trot because i was rising. We did most of the lesson without stirrups and kept working on the leg position and doing those exercises where you bring your knees up and then stretch down and we did a lot of arm stretching and circling and twists at walk and trot which got hard after a while as my arms started to feel like lead lol!
I had a light bulb moment though - i held onto the pommel and pulled myself down into the saddle and it was a lot comfier and then M explained to me about going with the movement of the trot (a thrusting movement
) and by god, it worked! It was REALLY hard to maintain - its such a workout on your belly! But its a lot comfier. I was concentrating on keeping with the movement and i was doing an arm stretching exercise at the same time or holding my leg position and when i was concentrating on the trot, the legs or arms went lol! I think it would be hard to concentrate on going with the movement and riding the horse (steering and exercises and so on) at the same time. Also you and the horse have to be relaxed i think for to practice it. But i did feel a lot more supple near the end and then we did a canter on my own to finish off - he was a bit more forward than he was on the lunge and of course the position work went to pot but it wasn't too bad.
M and I were very pleased with how it went and she said it was a great achievement. So now I feel that there may be light at the end of the tunnel with regards to the rut im in - i might just be able to improve my riding after all! lol!
Have my regular lesson tomorrow evening so heres hoping for a good one.
am not feeling too bad atm, pretty normal lol - might be a different story tomorrow though lol! 
Zx