Wizard Ride 34: On the BUCKLE!

Monday, 1/5/09

One more session with Sarah- this time even BETTER!

I hand walked Wizard for about 5 minutes and then walked under saddle for about 5 minutes. I already felt more security in my seat from seeing how he looks with Sarah. Then she mounted up and worked him for about 10 minutes. The improvement in relaxation from yesterday to today was AMAZING and inspiring! I was so impressed with them both. Wizard was stretching downward while maintaining a fairly good rhythm in his trot. His transitions were more comfortable. He seems like he’s a real people-pleaser and as soon as he grasps a concept, he does it. He still rushed to the right, but never broke stride or did anything out of the ordinary.

Then she hopped off and said, “Time for you to trot him”.

Sigh.

Deep breath.

And so we did.

Quite well!

It’s such a different feeling having somebody on the ground to coach me. It gave me confidence and I could relax so much more. I ride with people in the barn and even in the ring with me very frequently, and they are all very knowledgeable people, but having somebody there to actually instruct me made a WORLD of difference. I accomplished in one ride what would have taken me 10 on my own. I’m content to train at a GLACIAL pace, but a mini riding lesson once in a while certainly gets me going!

The tips that Sarah gave me were in line with what I had been doing, but just having her there really helped. Plus, her timing is fantastic and she knows exactly when the horse is going to speed up or get unbalanced. And she could see when my position was tensing up. She had me and Wizard trotting more in one session than we have all summer, fall, and winter! And we trotted on a very loose rein. I was able to ask for a walk with just my seat. He responded to a really simple form of a half-halt, and even “touched his toes” for me (stretched his neck downward). What a feeling it was to go from fiddling with his mouth to riding him on the buckle at a trot!

The right was more difficult than the left since he speeds up, but we got the job done.

What a good feeling it was to see such a quantum leap in training in such a short time. I know it’s not something that always happens, but every once in a while, it feels good!