I thought I'd just sneak it into this weeks, as nothing terribly exciting happened. We had a flatwork lesson, and I was given Charlie. For a bit of a change we learnt a formation ride. It was actually really good fun! My routine as lead file was (in trot):
- C to A, track left
- Change rein F to H
- Pass other riders on inside track
- A to C next to rider "pair"
- Track right
- Change rein M to K
- Pass other riders on outside track
- C to A as lead file, halt at A
I wish someone filmed it, it looked awesome once we'd practiced it a few times!
Today I arrived ridiculously early because Britain has decided it wasn't ready for Spring and dumped 5 inches of snow on us. I thought the roads would be packed with queuing traffic but they turned out to be uncharacteristically empty!
Come on Winter, I know you're jealous of Spring because we show it more love than you, but snowing in mid March makes us hate you more!
I had Flan today. I'd never ridden Flan before. I'd heard he can be lazy, and that he has a reputation for biting. When I say biting, I'm talking carnivore style! I made sure I was very careful when retrieving him from his stable, I really didn't fancy any chunks taken out my skin today!
We started off our lesson with some flatwork. We trotted lots of circles and changes of rein, with and without stirrups. Flan was pretty good, he needed a lot of encouragement as a lead but went at a nice pace when he had a tail to follow.
Flan has a particularly interesting habit of sticking his tongue out when he's being ridden. It's so funny to watch, especially when you catch sight of it in the mirror flapping around!
For the second half of our lesson we focused on jumping. First a grid of two tiny 1 foot cross poles, which soon got changed to 1 foot verticals. Flan, even though he is massive (I'm not sure how big exactly, but we're talking 16HH+), actually made an effort over the jumps, rather than treating them like trot poles. It was pretty funny! He had a really comfortable jump. Simon called myself, Lauren and Audrey into the middle to rest whilst the others did some more smaller jumps. After a few times round we were sent back out. Simon popped one side of the vertical to 2 foot, so it was an awkward crooked jump. I wasn't sure whether to canter the line or not so I stayed in trot. I figured Flan could manage it considering his size!
Then Simon put the first jump up to a 2 foot vertical! Ahh! I think I'd only done a 2 foot vertical once before, back when I had lessons with my friend Jasmine about a year or so ago. Probably even longer than that!
Flan popped over it really nicely though, and the last time we went round I decided to canter in the corner and canter the double. Awesome fun!
It looks like my goal of jumping 3 foot this year is getting closer!
xx
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