Gorgeous Georgeous! (and ugly faces)

I didn't post my blog last week as I had another less than fun lesson. I had Charlie, and although I did learn some things and got to practice on my position, we just did mainly trot flatwork and a canter on each rein. I'm always surprised at how much I get worn out from a long canter! I asked Simon if I could go into the 6.15pm group the next week and do some jumping. I think I knew that this more advanced group will never jump, and I don't want to be that rider in the group making everyone do something they don't want to. 
I got given George for this week's lesson, and I seriously had so much fun that I've decided to move back in to the group before it fills up. 
Simon put the poles out straight away, I saw we were going to be doing a grid of four jumps, exciting! I made sure George was off my leg and listening to me from the start as I really really wanted a good jump. After a 20 minute warm up of trotting around (including standing in our stirrups, which I still majorly suck at!), he put up a small cross pole, only a foot. 
We went over this a few times and gradually he put up the other three jumps. George really didn't seem that interested though, possibly because they were small, and also because we were working on the left rein, which he is weaker on.
Simon started putting up the first and second jump to two foot cross poles and put us on the right rein. George loved it! He started cantering most of the line, but still didn't have enough umph in him and kept slipping back to trot for the smaller jumps. Simon called myself and Audrey into the middle and sent everyone else out on the grid a few times. After 5 minutes of jumping he sent us back out and put them all up to 2 foot cross poles. And finally, George started cantering them all, really whizzing down the line! I was so happy that he didn't really need my help with striding or egging along, and I really got to practice my position. I made sure I kept looking ahead, and it felt really secure and timed well. I wish I got it on video! At one point I was concentrating on my position so much over the jumps that I accidentally let go of the reins! Oops! It made me really want to have a go at jumping with my hands out like an aeroplane though!
On our last couple of times on the grid I managed to canter the grid (almost missed it because George "motobiked" the corner to the first fence), then cantered around the school, and back over the grid! I was so happy! I've never cantered a grid of four jumps, let alone canter the arena afterwards and back over some more jumps! Hopefully we'll be able to do some small courses in the next couple of months. And my goal of 2013 to jump 3 foot is looking more likely!
I love it when a lesson gives you a buzz! 
xx

P.S, here's some pictures from when my sister came up to the stables a couple of weeks ago!

Lazy Sunday Afternoon Bloggalogging

I'm so naughty at posting my blogs now! I'm only posting this because my friend Jasmine reminded me! 
This week we had our lesson on Wednesday, and well...it kinda sucked. I was ill, and I had Bally, which was cool, but we were only doing flatwork. So it was a bit of a frustrating lesson. I'm getting bored of constant flatwork lessons now and just wanna have a bit of a jump! Maybe on Tuesday... 
We also only worked in trot. Snore! My position is getting gradually worse although my control over the horse is getting better. Tomorrow on Bruno I'm going to do some position work (I'm also giving my nephew his first ever lesson, exciting!). I'll be posting again tomorrow with some pictures as my sister is playing cameraman. 
We did some interesting shapes that I've never done before, they were almost like a tear drop. For example, if I were riding on the right rein, I'd go from C to M, then change to left rein, and go from A to F. It was quite good to establish which sides the horses were stronger and more flexible on. We did this for about half an hour in walk, then trot. Bally is really bad at bending to the right so I spent a lot of time working on that. There was improvement in her, but my position was awful. Seriously awful. My lower leg was sliding into that horrible chair seat position. I really cannot wait to work on it tomorrow! We then spent the other half hour leg yielding and doing shallow loops in trot. 
So yeah. This blog was kind of pointless as the lesson was so damn boring! 
(Please please please let us be jumping on Tuesday!!!) I also have a job interview on Tuesday at Dogs Trust, so it'll be good to have that ride and release of tension in the evening. 
Sorry this is so short, I really didn't know what else I could add! 
xx

Took a break from the blog scene, but now I'm back!

I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!
I can't believe I abandoned this blog for over a month! So rude of me! 
Anyway, here's the latest:
Me and Lauren were not all that happy in the 6.15pm group. We've both been moved to the more advanced 7.15pm group. Then we found out the 7.15pm group doesn't like jumping, and because we've joined they're going to jump once a month. So, now, Lauren and I are going to do a flat 7.15 week 1, jump 6.15 week 2, flat 7.15 week 3, and jump 7.15 week 4. Phew. 

Our new lessons in the 7.15pm group are very tough. All the other riders are (I'm assuming) over 50, and are all really good. Instead of just going round in circles, we're working on bending, contacts, leg yielding, all these complicated things! 
I'm really happy about being thrown in the deep end though. I'm thoroughly enjoying the lessons even though we've had 3 flat works with just trotting in a row. (Which is why I'm doing lesson swaps, I need to do a bit of cantering and jumping or it's all going to go down the drain again!) 

I'll start writing proper blogs about my lessons from next week. Not that anybody reads them. Except maybe Jas (who I seriously cannot wait to see in March!) 

xx

First Ride of 2013!

Happy new year, chums! Hope you all got completely sozzled and had a good snog at midnight.
I'm really sorry, I completely forgot to post on my blog last week. Nothing particularly exciting happened except that I accidentally turned up an hour early, so you're not going to get an extra post I'm afraid! 
I got to pick who I was riding today for the first time. It was only a choice between two, but still, better than nothing! I chose Conker over Shamus, as I hadn't ridden Conker in months! 
We had a lady teaching us today as it's a Thursday and Simon isn't working. Our lessons the past two weeks have been shuffled around due to the festivities. I think her name is Ally. She's really nice, and this lesson she decided to really concentrate on our positions. It meant we only did walk and trot for an hour, but it was really worth it!
We started out just walking around, concentrating on our shoulder, hip, heel alignment, opening out our chests and lifting our chins. I tried really hard today as well to work on my "penguin feet". They stick out to the sides so badly, so I was concentrating all lesson to keep them pointing forward. 
After about ten minutes of walking around we took our feet out of the stirrups and did some leg stretches. This helped open out our hips and get our legs nice and long. Ally then called us into the middle and started putting everyone's stirrups down a couple of holes. Unfortunately mine don't go any lower, so I had to go stirrup-less for about twenty minutes! Sitting trot when desperately concentrating on your position equals pain! I couldn't believe how much burn I was feeling, especially in my lower stomach! It was amazing the difference a subtle movement in your leg position makes to your use of your core and how much more strength is needed. Hello six pack! 
I asked to take my stirrups back after a while because the pain was just getting that bit too much. My stirrups felt horribly short! However I had a great sense of achievement when we spent the last 20 minutes trotting around, as my feet did not move in the stirrups once! Hurrah! It's been months since my feet have felt secure, it was so great! 
After my lesson I punched an extra hole into my stirrups so I can have them longer next lesson. I can't wait, it's only 5 days away! 
xx

Pony Club Kicks - Cringe!

Yesterday I turned up early for the last lesson before Christmas,  so I could give out all my Christmas cards! All of them had horses on, for extra dorkiness. I looked in the book and saw I had George. I know I had Bally for three weeks, but I was kind of gutted I didn't have her again! I'd only ever ridden George once and I remember him being quite hard to jump. (He refuses a lot). 
We had an extra person in the group today, she was from the 7.15pm lesson though. She couldn't go to next weeks so decided to have a two hour slot! 
We pretty much had the same routine as last week. We had a slight change in the flatwork though. We did lots of standing in our stirrups, which I still cannot do to save my life! After a few trot strides I just slump back into the saddle. I find I have to grab onto a chunk of mane to keep me steady. I hope by the end of next year I'll be able to do it with no issues! We also did an exercise where we put our left hand into the small of our backs to open our chests more. We did this in standing trot, rising trot and sitting trot. I did ok, but George likes to cut corners so there was a lot of inside leg going on! After the trot work we halved the group for some cantering. Oh my goodness. George is so hard to keep in the canter! This is where my pony club kicks came in. Practically booting him every stride was the only way I managed to keep him from breaking into trot. I felt awful! I looked awful! My upper body was too far forward, my lower leg was slipping back, my feet went too far into the stirrups, my hands were a mess, argh! The biggest challenge was keeping him cantering over the three poles Simon had put out. It was so difficult. I think everyone found it hard, I only managed to keep him cantering over the poles once. 
After our exhausting canters, Simon sent everyone out trotting and set up three small cross poles. I tried to get George cantering between them but he only mustered the energy for it a couple of times. I was trying so hard to get him riled up! Simon popped up the jumps to 2 foot cross poles for myself, Audrey and Lauren, and we went over a few times. I felt so unorganised compared to when I was jumping on Bally. George is really sweet and comfortable, but I always prefer a more forward going horse. One that responds to a squeeze, or a click of the tongue. Simon keeps telling me off for clicking. He says "Kick, not click!" to me about 50 times per lesson. I need to sew my mouth shut! I tried really hard not to do it this week either, I vow that next week I shall not click, but to only KICK! 
At the end of the lesson Simon went round asking different parts of the bridle and saddle, asking everyone to name two parts each. He kept coming to me last, I think he's cottoned on to my boffin side! He also asked everyone to name native breeds. After everyone else had said what I was going to say, I only managed to name one breed! So here is a list of native breeds of horses and ponies that I shall learn for next week:

• Cleveland Bay Horse
• Clydesdale 
• Dales
• Dartmoor
• Eriskay
• Exmoor Fell
• Hackney Horse and Pony
• Highland
• New Forest
• Shetland
• Shire
• Suffolk Punch
• Welsh A, B, C and D

xx

Finally, cantering! WOO!

As you can probably tell from the title, we finally did some cantering in our lesson today! I had Bally again, third week in a row! I quite like having the same horse, you get used to them and what buttons to press. 

There were four of us in the group today, and we were absolutely freezing our butts off. It was so cold that in the hour my car was covered in ice again! It meant some painful hands and feet today, making me really want to head to Stockley to invest in some warmer gloves. I can't actually get anymore socks on than I did and have my foot fit in my boot, so I'm going to have to work out a different tactic there. I think I saw some battery heated socks on Amazon the other day... 

We started off with flatwork, and Simon brought out the poles straight away. We did some shallow loops and changes of rein in trot, then called myself and Amie into the middle. Audrey and Lauren then got to canter down one long side a few times on each rein. They were both doing quite well, I could tell neither of them had really cantered much though. They both had really good seats so I'm sure they'll be great within a few weeks! Me and Amie then got to go out whilst Audrey and Lauren rested. I found out Bally is much happier on the left rein than the right. On the left rein she transitions really nicely and is very forward. She was very easy to get into the canter. On the right rein she struggles a bit and broke into trot quite a lot. It was so good to finally be cantering though! I know I do it on Bruno, but it's nice to do it on different horses and with the motivation of someone there telling you to do it. She was quite fast in the canter (it felt pretty fast anyway), but I felt like I sat it nicely. My feet need a bit more discipline to stay down in those stirrups though, they're always flapping about again now, so frustrating! We had about three canters on each rein, then had a rest. Simon put up three 1 foot cross poles and we all went out and did them in trot. Bally occasionally cantered but she mostly treated them like trot poles. 

Amie then did them a few more times by herself with Charlie. Bless Charlie, he always did the first two as trot poles, then at the last jump he'd prick his ears and give a nice little hop over them! Amie got left behind quite a bit on that last jump haha! 

Then Simon put up the jumps, bought Amie back to the middle and sent out Lauren and Audrey. They were both doing really well, Lauren had Sultan cantering the line of jumps every time! I think we are pretty similar level wise, it's really nice to watch her. 

Then me and Bally went out to do the triple on our own a few times. I say a few times, it felt like a million times! I got to the point where my muscles were telling me "No more! Please, no more!", but Simon kept pushing me on. I really enjoyed myself, she does love a jump! I got left behind a couple of times because I have a bad habit of jumping ahead. I found though when I looked straight ahead and didn't focus on the jump, my upper body waited for her to come to me and it all flowed so much better. I'll have to really try hard to remember it for next time! 

I can't wait till next week now! 

xx

Jump, trip, KABOOM!

I had another lesson on Bally today! Such an awesome little pony. There were only three of us in the group so we only had a 45 minute lesson. (I was knackered by the end anyway!)
Simon didn't give us a cantering lesson today, which I thought was fair enough. If the whole group was there we probably would have done some, but we squeezed in loads of jumping instead! 
Simon set up three poles at the beginning of the lesson. I don't think I've ever done a triple before! We did some flat work for 15 minutes and some work without stirrups. He had us put our knees up as high as they could go like a jockey, then open out the knee and stretch the leg back and down to get it in the right position. Shoulder - hip - heel. I can always get that position fine without stirrups, but as soon as the stirrups come back my feet go forward a touch. (I've realised as well that I've developed an annoying habit of thrusting my feet forward when doing a sitting trot with stirrups, ugh, it's going to be so hard to unlearn!) We did some changes of rein, but no circles or shallow loops today. After a while we got our stirrups back and he put up three 1 foot cross poles. Diddy little things! Bally sometimes treated them like raised trot poles, and other times she'd jump them properly. (I much prefer her jumping them properly, what's the point of going into a jumping position for a trot pole?!) Then he asked myself and Lauren to come into the middle so Charlotte could go round a few more times on the smaller jumps. She is really getting better, I think Simon should have let her carry on with us! Maybe it was because she was on Harold, I don't think I've ever seen him put in a proper jump! 
He popped the jumps up to 2 foot cross poles and me and Lauren went round loads! The first time was a bit of a disaster though! We came up to the first jump in a forward trot, to the second jump Bally's trot had gotten considerably faster, and we tripped over it. She still didn't think to canter to the next jump and had an ever faster trot, and we pretty much ploughed straight into it! Oops! Totally my fault, I should have either controlled her trot more with half halts, or pushed her into a canter with my seat.
After our little mishap, Bally was going like a dream! She got into the most beautiful contact (I kept checking it out in the mirror), we always got to the first jump steadily, and almost always cantered the line of jumps! I think we worked out the striding distance together, I just felt so in sync with her, it was amazing! I was sad when he said it was time to turn in to the middle for a rest! 
For the last 5 minutes Simon had us walking around doing different stretches. He came over to each of us to show us the leg stretch from earlier, I was a bit nervous when Charlotte yelped in front of me when he pulled her leg down! It wasn't so bad though, a little painful because he did them one at a time, and my back has been hurting for a few days so I'm a bit tender anyway! We also did some shoulder stretches to open out our chests more. (Tits and teeth, ha!)
At the very end of the lesson we named the parts of the bridle and saddle. I had a Hermione Granger moment again, I recited the parts of the saddle as though I'd swallowed the list!
xx