Leaning

I'm a little behind on my updates! I haven't felt much like writing, as we have been working on a lot of the same stuff. The big things right now are not leaning and, of course, breathing while not leaning. 

Two Sundays ago, Tosh was raring to go from the moment we stepped into the arena. Once I mounted, and T walked us around a couple of circles, we set off at a brisk walk to warm-up. As I came around from C to M, T calls out, you're leaning right. Oops. So, when she asked what I wanted to work on, I said not leaning!

It ended up being a really good class and actually got better as we went along, which is unusual!

It started raining late on Sunday and continued into that Tuesday (let's be honest, it rained all week, but we needed it). The high on Tuesday was in the 60s, which was a big change from the upper 80s-lower 90s we'd been having. The horses were definitely feeling it, between being in the barn and it being 30 degrees colder than it had been. T told us we were all lunging at 6:20. That was interesting -- 6 horses, lunging, in various degrees of feeling their cheerios. 

Skylar was a good boy but he got a little nervous with a rambunctious green horse on one side and a rambunctious pony on the other. I ended up dropping my lunge whip (definitely didn't need it!) and using my voice to reassure him. We did some transitions and changed directions a few times until he seemed settled. 

That class also went well, but it did involve some spooking and slight mayhem at times (oh, herd animals!). I noted pretty quickly that Skylar was using my leaning as an excuse to spook. Like, oh, you're leaning away from that corner, it must be scary. No, buddy, it's not, I just can't get my body to stop doing it LOL

This past Sunday, it was back in the upper 80s by midday. I rode at 11:15 and it was still in the 70s, so it was quite lovely! The horses had been out for several days/nights, only coming in for a few hours in the late afternoon when it is hottest and buggiest. So, Tosh was relaxed and eager to work.

It was the first class I've had in a long, long time -- and probably ever, at this barn -- where I had a really consistent, quality ride in all 3 gaits, in both directions. It wasn't without struggle -- in fact, there were at least 2 instances tracking left when she had me lift my left arm over my head to straighten up and instead of continuing around our left turn, Tosh immediately turned right. Problem in chair, not in horse. But, we turned around, and tried the turn again, with me reminding myself to stretch up, breathe, turn my body and boom, nailed it. I also was reminded again that if my body is correct and I'm balanced, I don't have to do so much work to turn, especially on a horse as sensitive as Tosh. So, as a whole, the lesson felt like a HUGE leap in the right direction.

On Tuesday, I had a crap day at work, but I was looking forward to riding and letting some of that stress and anxiety go. Skylar's stall wasn't too bad since they had been out so much and I had cleaned it on Sunday, since Tosh's was clean. So I was able to finish it before my ride AND braid his mane to help keep him cooler. Fancy! 

As the class worked on the flat, I was thinking I wasn't going to jump because I was feeling crooked from not really being able to move from my desk all day. Ugh. Toward the end of class, the woman on the green bean dismounted and exited the arena to watch, the woman on the pony did a lovely course, and then the woman on Tosh also did a really nice course. T had the woman on the pony dismount then she held the pony and the green bean, while they went and dropped a few fences to crossrails for me. 

She told me to do the middle of the triple on a figure 8 (solid green arrow), so we trotted off. We didn't have enough impulsion the first time, so Skylar knocked his leg and proceeded to gimp for a few steps. He shook it off and we did better on the way back. 

We hopped over that a few more times, and then she had me do the middle of the triple and continue straight to the next one (dashed green arrow), heading home. I jumped ahead a little on the second fence, but knew I was doing it. So there's that, lol. From there, she told me to go up the quarter line to the ocean fence. We did that combination a couple of times. 

Then, to finish, she had me change direction, and jump the triple heading away, then come around the corner to the lime green on the diagonal and do a bending line to the last fence of the triple (orange arrow). I must have finally started to feel brave because he landed from the triple in the canter and I didn't bring him back to the trot before we did the bending line! It was a really soft and easy small course, and I was even able to stay up and back but still offer him a small release on the last few fences!

All in all, it was way more than I expected to do, and I'm still reveling in the fact that (at least once I start doing it) I don't feel nervous. I still feel a little bit of nerves (maybe mixed with excitement? not sure) before I get into the ring to jump, but it seems like a normal level of nervousness. Also, it seems to be coming back to me in a slow, confidence-building manner, which is exactly what I needed in my life.