Guess what I did today...my horsey adventures
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Gotta
rantcomplain...I had another lesson on "Opal" today. This is the, I believe 6th or 7th lesson I've had on this mare.
It's SO different when you only have 30 minutes, once a week, on a "school horse."
Simon and I had such a special bond. I could just "think" something and he'd respond. No need to kick him, pull on the reins, or squeeze with my thighs. He'd just read my mind and do what I was thinking about.
Opal probably get ridden about 6-7 times a week, by 6-7 different riders. Each of us us different, each of us asks for things differently, and it takes her a long time to understand what we're asking.
Today, it was pretty simple. I asked her to trot around the arena. Just a simple trot. As she approached a corner, she'd slow down, and drop to a walk. Her attitude was, "Hey, if you want me to keep going, you're gonna have to keep asking. Otherwise, FU, I'm doing what's easiest, and now, it's a walk."
Had a long talk with Mrs. George about this on the way home this afternoon, and she made a very good point.
"Simon was a great horse, and both of us had a great bond with him. But...did he make you a better rider? Probably not. Because he was so good at reading your mind, he didn't demand much from you. To be a better horseman, you need to learn how to ask, how to 'read' the horse. Opal is teaching you that."
Yeah...
Still, frustrating.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@George-K I think you need to buy your own horse!!
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@taiwan_girl said in Guess what I did today...:
I think you need to buy your own horse!!
Buying the horse is the cheap part. Boarding, vet bills, etc is where it really adds up. Sort of like golf.
Also, at my age, I'm too old. They are a lot of work and a huge time commitment. When we had Simon, I was at the barn 3-4 days a week, usually after work, and I'd spend an hour and a half each time. Sort of like golf.
I only started riding when I was (I think) 48. Should have started earlier.
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A better day today.
Opal is called "The Happy Wanderer." IOW, she pretty much goes where she wants to go, and it's up to the rider to really instruct her that, "no, this is NOT what I want."
For example, sometimes, she has a tendency, when walking in a boring oval in the arena, to cut corners, and wander away from, the wall. Yeah, the wall is "supportive," but if she thinks, "I'm going to end up over there just let me get there faster!" she'll move away from the wall and make the trip shorter.
My instructor told me that, to prevent that, I have to tell her that I don't want her to do that. I have to guide her feet in the direction I want to go.
What that means is that, when her foreleg on the inside of the circle is in the air, I have to apply some pressure with my leg to let her know that I want her to move her leg away from my pressure. You can't make a horse move a leg when it's on the ground, so it's all about timing. I have to learn when that leg is off the ground, and put pressure on her shoulder to move that leg away from my pressure (my leg).
We trotted around the arena a couple of times. She tends to be a bit lazy, but her attentiveness increased a LOT when my instructor gave me a crop to hold. It's not like I really needed it to get her going - it was more a "Holy CRAP! I see what you're holding there, and now, I'll REALLY pay attention to what you're asking of me."
Much better than last week.
Considering I've only ridden her about 6-7 times, I think we're beginning, just beginning, to understand each other.
Here we are, at the trot. I'm on the correct diagonal (I'm rising in my stirrups when her outside foreleg goes forward) , and she actually seems pretty happy.
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Success is measured by your discipline and inner peace. – Mike Ditka
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@Catseye3 said in Guess what I did today...:
your seat is admirable!
Better women than you have said that...
Nah, I'm just yanking' yer leg of course.
Thanks for the comment.
When I started riding, when riding English, I rode "Hunt Seat." That means short stirrups, heels down, and legs forward. The goal was to get the horse over the jump, and nothing else. At my tender age of 52 at the time, I had no interest in jumping.
The place where we're taking lessons now is a "dressage" place. @jodi can tell you all about Dressage...
Basically, "dressage" means "training." The goal is not to get over a jump, to rope cattle, or whatever. It's to make the horse the best possible horse: responsive to your cues, etc.
Also, in that picture, I'm out of the saddle, rising in the post. When Opal goes a bit slowly, I'm able to sit her trot. Otherwise I'm rising in my stirrups every other stride.
Here we are at the walk - toes level with heels, just sitting there, asking her to make some 20 meter circles.
The frustrating thing, no ONE of the frustrating things is how out of shape I am. "Back in the day," posting the trot all the way around the arena was no biggie. I was in my early 50s at the time. Now, 20 years later, I find myself winded after one round. I commented to my teacher about this, and she said that we're using muscles we use for nothing else, and it's just a question of building stamina. It was better today than last week, but not as good as I wanted.
Confident? Yeah. I was tought, early on, that I should forget that I'm on a horse. Just concentrate on where I want to go, look that way, and, eventually, the horse will do that. Simon (RIP) was great at reading my mind. I've only ridden Opal a few times, so we're still getting adjusted, and that's hard to do in 30 minutes, once a week.
Mrs. George has been riding a horse, his name is "Freedom", since September. It's only now that's she's REALLY beginning to connect with him. He's always been a slowpoke - horses always do what's easiest - and only in the last 2-3 weeks, he's beginning to understand her requests to move faster, etc.
Hopefully, Opal and I will get there in the next few months.
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Success is measured by your discipline and inner peace. – Mike Ditka
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@Catseye3 said in Guess what I did today...:
As for muscle strength, that should increase as time goes on.
I commented about this to my teacher last week. She said, "Remember the muscles you use for riding are muscles that you use for nothing else."
However, it's frustrating that it's only once a week.
Having your own horse made that a lot easier - because you didn't think about getting "in shape for riding." It made it harder, because you got lazy when your horse responded to your requests without you thinking about what you wanted.
Here's Simon and me at the canter, a long, long time ago.
We were SO connected.
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@Aqua-Letifer said in Guess what I did today...:
@George-K said in Guess what I did today...:
It's interesting that, when you're learning, and on an unfamiliar horse, you tend to be a bit anxious. After all, a fall from Opal, who is about 16.3 hands tall, could be traumatic. A comment like "breakfast!" or "smile!" will do everything to relax you and make you comfortable - because you forget you're riding.
Skiing and bike-riding are very similar. The more relaxed you are, the safer you are, especially in city traffic. Freak out and chances are high you'll get fucked up.
I can’t say that I have ever skied in city traffic… I think that would make me freak out…
Me/rry/Christmas
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@LuFins-Dad said in Guess what I did today...:
@Aqua-Letifer said in Guess what I did today...:
@George-K said in Guess what I did today...:
It's interesting that, when you're learning, and on an unfamiliar horse, you tend to be a bit anxious. After all, a fall from Opal, who is about 16.3 hands tall, could be traumatic. A comment like "breakfast!" or "smile!" will do everything to relax you and make you comfortable - because you forget you're riding.
Skiing and bike-riding are very similar. The more relaxed you are, the safer you are, especially in city traffic. Freak out and chances are high you'll get fucked up.
I can’t say that I have ever skied in city traffic… I think that would make me freak out…
Overlook Pass. I did it all the time growing up.
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@George-K Looks like a lot of fun. Hope you continue to enjoy
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My cousin just sent me this photo of my paternal grandmother—. I’m guessing circa 1920s when she was in her 20s, perhaps horseback riding in Brooklyn or Long Island.
I wonder if that's a police horse, given that seems to be a baton...
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@Ivorythumper interesting that she's riding him using a double bridle. There are four reins, two on each side. This is a style used by polo players, and the skill of using just one of the four reins to convey to the horse what you want is beyond belief.
And, they do it with one hand, because the polo mallet is in the other. A level of horsemanship I never even had dreams of achieving.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@George-K could that be a mallet holster, rather than a baton???
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@Ivorythumper good thought!
An aside...
Before I met Mrs. George, she was dating a guy who played polo at the old Chicago Armory downtown (it was on Pearson St, iirc). She had just gotten her horse, Charlie, and somehow she met this polo player. He was quite the horseman, she said. He could hop on any horse, bareback, and using nothing more than a couple of ropes attached to a halter (no bridle), he could rid it.
He told her that she could go to the armory, where the polo ponies were kept, drop his name, and the barn attendant would let her ride one of the ponies.
So, after a day in the ICU, she went there. It was a block south of where she lived at the time. The attendant got one of the ponies, "Otis," out for her and she tacked Otis up, walked into the polo ring and hopped on.
Otis took off like a bat out of hell. He ran, he ran, and then, he ran faster. She was holding on for dear life (and remember, she was about 26 at the time).
"Help! How do I stop him!!!" she cried.
"Otis?" the attendant said. "Otis ain't got no brakes."
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Had an interesting lesson with Opal today. I think she and I are beginning to understand each other.
Horses will always do what's easiest. If you want them to walk, they will, but at a pace that's slow and easy. It takes some effort to put some "energy" into the walk. Think about someone who's on a stroll, and what they look like. That's very different from a "power walker."
Similarly, if you want the horse to trot, they will do it at the slowest possible, least energy-expending way possible.
With a school horse, it's very different from the one that you own. School horses take their time learning what you're asking, and it's all about communication and getting your energy up. Sometimes, that "energy" includes a crop. No, you don't smack them with the crop. You just hold it, and the horse begins to understand that you're serious, and you expect to have a conversation about what you expect from it. Just holding the crop in your hand changes everything. A slight tap on the shoulder changes it even more.
I'm finding my stamina getting better. A few weeks ago, I could barely trot around the arena without fatiguing out. Today, a couple of trips around and I was good. I was able to sense when Opal was going to slow down (she's older, and corners are hard), and I was able to "push" her through, encouraging her to keep going as we rounded the corners.
All in all, a better day than I've had in the last few weeks.
I miss Simon. That horse could read my mind.
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Annnd another thing.
When we had Simon, I realized that there are, basically, two styles of riding: Western and English.
The Western style was all about function. The Western saddle was designed to keep the rider in the saddle. It had a high cantle (the rise in the back) and a pretty high pommel (the rise in the front). The "horn" was not something to hold onto. It was a place to wrap your lariat around when you were roping cattle. You would rope a calf, loop the lariat around the horn, freeing up your hands so you could dismount, and get the calf subdued. The Western stirrup was a broad, thick piece of leather and metal to keep you firmly grounded in the saddle while you did your work.
Also, the Western style was all about riding one-handed. Horses were trained so that, when you rested the rein on their neck, they would turn their head to the opposite side and go in that direction. Having a horse that "neck reined" freed up your hand so that the non rein-holding hand could hold a lariat, or in the case of medieval riders, a lance or a spear for combat.
Western riding is all about function and work.
By the way, the best early American horsemen were the Spaniards. They called themselves the "vaqueros". That word is the ultimate compliment one can give a rider. It's someone who is totally "as one" with the horse. They are one entity, doing the job.
"Vaquero" eventually became corrupted to "Buckaroo."
Similarly, the vaqueros had to protect their legs from the brush that they would encounter. They wore leggings to prevent the brush, brambles and vegetation ruin and cut through their trousers. They wore "chapparos".
Chaps, as we know them today.
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It's all about function. The Western saddle was designed to keep a rider in the saddle and allow him to do his job.
Older saddles, such as medieval saddles were similarly designed to do a job - warfare.
In a medieval saddle you didn't sit "on it," so much as "in it." The cantle and pommel were high and firm. You couldn't be thrown off the horse backward or forward because the saddle kept you in place. Your legs in their stirrups provided the lateral support to keep you balanced, and warfare was easier to conduct if you were secure in your mount
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I mean, really, imagine sitting in this thing. You'd NEVER come out!
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As for muscle strength, that should increase as time goes on. You know this. Patience.
