So, I think it goes without saying that I haven’t really posted during the month of July. I’ve debated back and forth on whether I wanted to post the last few lessons I had on Diesel, as I do want to be honest with my challenges, but I think to post all of them would not come off the way I intend it to, so I’m going to use this post to summarize them, as well as the things that are changing in August. In short, I’ve really been struggling with staying with Diesel’s downward transitions, more specifically his transition down from the canter and landing from a jump. His downward transitions and jump landings have really always been something that I needed to be mindful of, and I’ve chosen to keep a lot of the mini challenges i’ve been having pretty low-key in my previous blogs, but through the month of July, when my trainer and I really started to focus on it, it truly became a struggle. It didn’t matter which way I was tracking, no matter how hard I worked my butt (and core and legs and arms) off to try and stay with the motion and not get yanked onto his neck, and believe me, I tried my butt off, but it was very much hit and miss every lesson. I feel like I have to disclaim, because I don’t want it to seem like I’m dissing the Diesel bean. I do NOT hate this horse, and I absolutely do NOT put any blame on him for my inability to stay with him. Some of it does still come from a lack of strength, but a lot of it comes from the way my body is proportioned. For a rider, I’ve been gifted with stub legs, for lack of a better term, which makes it really hard for me to brace myself and stay with his motion. The problem is me, not him. I absolutely adore Diesel, he has given me so much and taught me so much since May, and all of that absolutely trumps my shortcomings in this area of my riding. That being said, my trainer and I had a very long discussion and in depth discussion about it after one of my lessons, and we both decided that while I should absolutely continue to ride Diesel and continue to work on getting stronger and staying with him, in order for me to keep moving forward and progressing with my riding, I should try shareboarding another horse in addition to Diesel, so that I can lesson on the other horse, but still continue to practice with Diesel during hacks. So, without further ado, I’d like to introduce my new shareboard, a chestnut Dutch Warmblood gelding named Tin Tin! He’s actually a horse that I’ve seen forever ago; he was in a Frank Madden clinic and I oggled at him hardcore, and took a lesson on him back in April (peep my avatar, haha!) and was absolutely smitten, so my trainer knew that adding him to what I’m beginning to call my Ginger Harem, would take literally no persuasion. Really, the fact that this is happening at all is absolutely ridiculous to me. I’m by no means oblivious to the fact that up until moving to my current barn, being able to ride just one horse that’s of the quality of Diesel or Tin Tin would be just about impossible, and to be able to have not just one, but two, to learn and grow from and fawn over like the horse crazy girl trapped in an adult’s body that I am is just surreal. I’m so humbled and grateful to Diesel and Tin Tin’s owners, and my trainer for making this possible, and I’m beyond excited moving forward with these two wonderful horses. Until next time, safe riding!
