goin down in flames

So my lesson with Lendon was a bit less than desired. Throughout the entire lesson i kept fighting off tears, but she wasn't yelling at me or actually being mean. she hiked my stirrups up a hole (immediate charlie horse in both legs). then spent half the lesson w/o stirrups, which impressed everyone. BUT IT SHOULDNT IMPRESS ANYONE BC IF YOUR A HALF DECENT RIDER YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO RIDE W/O STIRRUPS. its not the end of the world. my god. worked on the leg yields, shoulder-in, renvere and turn on the haunches. worked on not getting in the mare's face. and worked on trying to slow down her canter. which didnt work out too well bc i was rushed through my warmup bc the 2nd rider didn't show up bc her horse wouldn't get on the trailer. (tori has an awful habit of weighting down the front right leg. which is also the leg she has the most problems with due to founder. so if i can't get her off that leg, she makes herself lame and experiences pain the whole ride. you would think that she'd stop doing it bc it hurts, nope.)

it was a bad day. i'm glad i got my name out there. bc i didn't get a chance to thank lendon for my lesson bc she was too busy trying to save a 2-yr-old mare from her owner who was trying to lunge her with a lungeline that was much too short, and the poor filly was twisting her whole neck sideways to try & avoid the pressure from the bit.

but after i left the arena, Lendon started asking who i was. and how old i was. .shruggs. apparently i got her attention. which is good and all, but im not really too impressed. i appreciate her time in teaching me. i appreciate the tools she reinforced. but that's about it

good news everyone!

Tori is so much fun now that she's happy in her work. Her left lead collected canter feels like it could pirouette at any given moment, she alights to halt from canter when i ask. Her right lead is kinda hit or miss but thats mostly my fault bc im not 100% confident that she'll do what i ask, even though she does, as long as i ask & follow through. BAD HABITS DIE HARD... but they do eventually die. :D

and now i get to ride again tomorrow because of an extra day off work!!! more time to prepare for my clinic with lendon gray!!!

and hopefully day 2 of riding dior, a lovely 5 yr old oldenburg mare. :D

12/11/11 lesson

still working on keepin the hands still. they often have a mind of their own and puttz around when its totally unnecessary. and then there's the matter of keeping them still and convincing the mare that they are still and that she doesn't have to move her head around.

but miss tori doesn't like keeping the weight off her right front when travelling to the right. which makes her lame. she's gotta start using her shoulders.. and boy does she not want to use her shoulders.

then introducing the haunches-in at the walk :: cake. at the trot :: not so much cake. to the right its cake. to the left its half pass! ... no i dont want the half pass... i need you to just move your butt and stay on the rail... BUT I CAN HALFPASS SEE!!! thank you... but thats not exactly what i wanted... AHOMGTIGHTNECKWALK /facepalm.

she tries. lol. such a good mare.