#lesson update

[ichayalovesyou]

Learning MGV-Update #2

Got to practice my letters a little more yesterday! Forgot to post

I also realized I forgot “Tangu (for Ng)” in my set up so I had to slap it onto the end 😅

Finally starting my vowels!

“Ii” hi key looks like a banana in my opinion lol but what’s WORSE is Itar looks a little... phallic 😂😂😂

Halfway through!

[gallopinggold]

I rode MC yesterday! Very different sensation, I dont think,I'll be switching to gaited only anytime soon lol. It was a lot of seat and thigh, and you couldn't have your calf on at all, so it took a bit of getting use to. I chose the cutback instead of western saddle, and I thibj that was a good choice because I could really feel his movement. MC is a TWH pony, so he could walk, flat walk, trot, running walk, and canter. We basically just hung around the rail most of the lesson so I could feel the different gaits and get the hang of the different position. I had some trouble telling the difference between the flat and running walk, but overall I think I did pretty good for never have done this before. I could definitely tell when he switched from gait to trot, and was correcting him (I.e. a half halt to bring him back) before my trainer could even say anything half the time, so I wasnt half bad at it lol.

Finished the lesson by running the barrel pattern a few times, which was a delight. My core is pretty strong right now from (now 27!) days of yoga in a row, so I didnt feel off balance on the sharp turns in the cut back. He's also a been there done that lesson horse, so I didn't have to do too much on the barrels besides stay out if his way. His canter is so smooth and different than a nongaited horse, we were covering some serious ground for a 14h horse, but it didn't feel like we were moving at all. I now see why he's a favorite of the lesson kids when it comes to barrels, it was easy and fun.

Like i said, I'm not gonna switch to gaited riding, but it was definitely a unique experience and fun to try. I feel like this discipline is not one most English people dabble in, which is shame, so if reccomend trying it at least once if you get the chance

[gallopinggold]

Such a good ponio the other day. She was pretty back stiff because its been so long since she's been in consistent work, so we did a few spiraling circles to loosen her up. Both directions in the trot and the right lead canter were fine once she warmed up, but the left lead made me think I was going to die lol, she tried to speed evade. We worked through it, though it still wasmt perfect. I need to remember to use my seat during these exercises, I got a much better response from her when I consciously thought to sit back. We also did a mini jump course, just two fences on opposites sides of the arena that we went over twice and then circled before and after. Had a pretty good ride over the left lead actually, mostly because it was set short that direction and Mary always does better with that. Right lead we got some funky distances the first time over, but we made a second attempt and it was perfect. Good first lesson of 2018! Made plans for our first horse show since I've owned her 😬 its just flat classes and its the end of April. Pending me being able to ride regularly, were going. Nervous and excited at the same time

[gallopinggold]

Snuck in such a great lesson on Mary horse yesterday. A very forward contact accepting horse yesterday. She really let me push her into the bridle and hold it, and was reaching from behind. It allowed me to focus more on myself and making sure I was using myself correctly, which in turn made her even better. I really worked my seat and tried to not mess with my hands much, other than just holding contact. We did wtc on the flat, she was still sore on the left lead, but moved pretty well on it all things considered. We then did a few crossrails, and we hit them all perfectly. Trainer asked me to work on riding her to the fence, instead of just sort of being a passenger. Mary will always take the long spot of given the choice, so we practiced me holding her and asking her to take the closer. I used a whole bunch of seat, which she responded really well to and so we got the spot every time Well, on the right lead at least. We tried hitting it from the left, and she swapped her lead every time the stride before the jump so she wouldn't have to put weight on the left hip. We didn't press the issue, because we knew it was a stiffness thing, so we jumped the right as a vertical twice and called it good

[gallopinggold]

We had a dressage lesson yesterday, and holy moly I'm sore. We worked on accepting contact and rounding up. She's love love loves her swinging hunter light contact, so picking it up and asking her to shift her weight back led to one cranky pony. The first time I tried to a 60 m circle with that frame, she just side passed thr entire way out of angry. She also would only counter canter at first too. It was a struggle of lesson, Mary has lots of buttons but she's not forthcoming with them, so you really have to be asking correctly and calling her out in her bluffs. We eventually got some nice circles with the correct head and back, and decent bend, and even got a little extended trot at one point. Should have worn gloves though, I'm blistered because she was pulling something fierce.

[gallopinggold]

My little ranch horse yesterday ❤ I had my very first western lesson, and ouch, I'm sore. Very different pelvic angle, very different muscles being worked in the hips. Mary doesn't do neck reining, so we direct reined, but it was a start. She had a bit of an issue understanding the jog, so it took a lot of leg actually to keep her in the slower pace, but she was starting to get it in the end. Loping was another story lol. She was a firecracker, and I'm not sure why, but when I have the western saddle on, all she wants to do is gallop. As soon as I put my leg on to ask for the up transition, she took off like a bat from hell. My trainer was dying, she had never seen mary move that fast before, and the only other time I had wash the first time I used the saddle on her. So our focus for the rest of the lesson was getting her to,slow down and relax, which was lots of large circles and me really using my seat to slow her roll. She calmed down more on the right lead than the left, which was odd to me. I would love to take her back out into the field and see how she gallops out there with space, but she won't open up in the English saddle, and I'm not confident enough in the western saddle to want to try it there. Overall, I learned a lot, and Mary had loads of fun. I'm going to borrow a plain shank bit from my trainer to make sure Mary likes it before buying, and we're gonna try to teach some neck reining. Im not planning on switching to western full time though, but it was a fun way to change things up, and a lot of the ranch horse cross training will help her as a hunter too. Maybe we'll try a barrel lesson next 😅 Also, that bridle matches perfectly with my saddle, I'm so happy I found it!

[gallopinggold]

We had an accidental two hour lesson yesterday, and holey moley, I'm exhausted still the next day. We had our first dressage lesson with the new trainer, as all our previous ones had been more hunter style. Mary's going pretty nicely hunterwise, so she's ready to step up into a hard routine. We did a training level dressage test to start, just so we had an idea of how she would do with me picking up contact. It was a bit rough, she definitely wanted to just go back to the rail, and she has like zero bend right now. So we worked on circles and how I can get her moving correctly outside of the lessons. Trainer also had me ask for some moves under saddle, like extended trot and shoulder in at the trot to see where she was at with that. She was very reluctant to do the moves, and I could normally get one or two steps before she broke. But it's a start and I'm not expecting her to be able to do everything right off the bat. My big issue is that my right hip is all sorts of messed up, and it's very hard for me to get that leg and seatbone in the correct position. Mary is very much the kind of horse that won't do it unless you ask very precisely and correctly, so I need to start doing more exercises outside the saddle to unlock that hip. I just have zero flexiblity in it right now, and it hurts all the time. My left left and side are fine, it's just the right side at this point. Anyways, the lesson was only suppose to be an hour lesson, and somehow it was two hours later before I got off the horse lol. I'm excited to start getting back into this stuff, hunters are fine, but I do like the variety.

[gallopinggold]

I love how shiny she stays, even in the winter. Had a great lesson her, pony is really starting to carry herself again after our time off, and is building that muscle again. We had a really lovely walk, very engaged and reaching, and she's starting to be more foward without me pushing her. The biggest issue we have is keeping her mentally engaged. If the exercise isn't entertaining enough she'll get super mouthy and toss her head around. One solution we've found so far is quietly wiggling one finger at a time to play with the bit, and she settles down and focuses on that instead. A bad habit Mary has gotten me into though is moving my hands around too much. She's tricked me into thinking she needs an opening rein every time we turn and over dramtic indirect reining, mostly because she's bored and likes to play with them. So part of our lesson was moving on a circle with my hands still, and just directing with my legs. The first time she acted like she was going to hit the fence, but I called her bluff and she finally turned, and then after that was much more willing to listen to my leg. I still had to use a lot of leg to guide, with constant switching, but that will improve with more practice. Overall, I can tell mary is a lot healthier and happier here, and it's reflecting in her performance. Excited for this season with her, and hopefully we can swing a couple shows just for fun