Weekend Recap

Wow, do I feel absolutely unmotivated today! After a whirlwind weekend of thunderstorms, tornadoes, power outages and rain - ugh, it's finally Sunny and of course - - - -Monday.

The saying goes: what comes after two days of rain in Michigan?

Monday. How true!

I rode 3 horses this weekend though, so that's something.

On Saturday, my mom and I went over to see Lady. We wanted to pull some of her hairs for genetic testing and of course, ride her. She was a good girl, and is doing quite well with everything. My mom is planning on taking a few lessons with her, just so she gets a better grasp on the tools she'll need to get Lady going a bit more. We have J in mind, as she's an excellent instructor despite some of her faux pas (who doesn't have faults anyway?).

On Sunday, my mom accompanied me to my Dressage lesson. I felt kind of bad as it's not always fun to sit on a bench and watch other people ride. Especially for my poor barrel racing, quarter horse lovin' mom. She said she enjoyed watching and thought it was fun, so that's good.

I had a great lesson! I got to ride a new horse, a big bay mare, CH. I don't know much about horses that aren't Morgans, so when I saw CH I wasn't quite sure what to make of her. She is pretty and athletic looking. I wondered if she had some T-bred in her, but she was bigger boned than a straight t-bred. It turns out she's a T-bred and Hanoverian cross (it was Hanoverian or something like that, I still don't know my Warmbloods very well). Anyway, strapped to CH's back was T's old custom made saddle. It had some big knee rolls and looked and felt like an absolute dream. I have NEVER ridden in a dressage saddle with actual knee rolls like that, I literally felt like the saddle kept me in position. It also had a stickier textured leather, making it very easy to sit the trot in comparison to the saddle that Knight wears - I want one, now!!! :). Anyway, at 20 years old, CH is a bit stiff to start out, but once she got going, I fell in love. She was easier than Knight to keep going (still not as easy as my very forward Morgans, but still easy). She is trained up through 4th level, too. Not that it made any difference for me, I'm still a beginner and can barely leg yield at this point.

Regardless, I did something I have never done before....wait for it, 'cause this is very exciting....as I began to canter T said:

"I want you to cross the diagonal. At X, move your right leg back and sit deep. Just move your right leg back, nothing else!"

In my mind, all I frantically could think was "Okay, I have to move across the diagonal in a second. Left leg? Right leg? Wait, this is the right, get ready to turn. Keep the horse moving, RIGHT LEG RIGHT LEG RIGHT LEG!!!!"

During that time I was pressing my right leg toward the back of the mare's side about the time we reached the center. The mare pinned her ears, lowered her head slightly and sped way up. We took the corner at Mach speeds, and I could hear T saying "Great, you did your first flying lead change!"

Welllll, welllll, welllll....I can't say it was amazing, because I had no idea she had changed. We did it again going the opposite way, and I totally felt it. That time, it was great. I was and am so excited to have been given the opportunity to learn that. I know that not every beginning Dressage student is fortunate enough to ride such a horse, and I am just counting my blessings. Okay, so maybe that isn't such a feat, but to me it is. I have been on a horse who has blasted a flying lead change on me, but it's always an accidental NAUGHTY thing, and never on cue. I don't know if I'll ride CH again, it depends on her and her owner, but I am happy that I got that opportunity. SIGH, I'll just have to get my own horse soon.



Later that day I rode Bobby. Bobby is built like a skinny little rail. Most Morgans are nice and solid, but Bobby is quite narrow and almost T-Bred looking in his body composition, and I felt very insecure on him. It doesn't help that he was feeling cranky/happy/excited/hyper and wanted to buck at every turn. Don't tell him this, but it wouldn't have taken him much to get me off. It also didn't help that after riding in that awesome dressage saddle, my all purpose with it's pathetic knee rolls and slippery leather felt like a greased launching board....sigh sigh sigh! Now please, I love that Bobby boy, he is my sweet boy and is so cute, he's just a different kind of horse to ride and takes some getting used to. He just has nothing to grip.


Bobby doing his best T-bred impression. Spring of 2008.

Unfortunately, Bobby felt gimpy when we were trotting clockwise. I dismounted and lunged him to gauge his movements. Sure enough, he was bobbing (pun intended) along, favoring his tender front feet. There was no heat, so perhaps it is his recent shoe job?? I ended there, cooled him out and then headed home. Oh, I also told J that I would not be showing. She looked a bit put out, but got over it quickly. WHEW!


I hope everyone had a great weekend!!!!!!