"She's grimacing."
Yes, Miss S, of course I am grimacing. First, you change how my foot sits in the stirrup. Let me repeat, she changed how my foot sits in the stirrup. She pushed my foot forward about an inch, so my foot was sitting in the iron all awkward and what not. You would not believe what she does next though. She sets up a gymnastic. It was simple, with poles and a few verticals, BUT THEN SHE PUT AN OXER AT THE END OF IT, LIKE, WHO DO YOU THINK I AM??!!!
If it's not obvious yet, I am not actually mad at my trainer, but oh was I grimacing today. We've had some snow the past few days, so that, plus the fact that it continues to melt and freeze overnight, has made for limited turnout for the horses and ponies. The ice is pretty insane; both Baby and I slipped on the way to the indoor. I was expecting her to be a bit forward from the get go, but she was actually very calm and willing today, and she saved my booty at least three times.
It was straight work for the first 15-20 minutes. We started off doing trot poles and a trot over on the rail. She was really good. She was moving, she was listening to my leg. Downward transitions today were not so nice, but, in hindsight, I wasn't being very nice either, so what was I to expect out of my trusty steed? We started doing the same pattern at the canter, and she was just perfect. The trot poles turned into a bounce, which was tricky at times (but we all know how I am with those godforsaken bounces), but she was listening so well. Throughout the lesson, when it came to distances, she took every single one that I asked, and if I was out of sorts and left it for her to figure out, she made sure that we stayed upright. Yeah, I'm a bad rider, you don't have to tell me.
We went both ways for the pattern, then we took a walking break before moving on to the gymnastics course. Now, this gymnastics course . . . my trainer wants to kill me, I swear she does. We're just walking around, having a good ole time, talking to Fifi and Cas, and all of a sudden Miss S is just like, "Okay, I'm going to set up a bounce with a little oxer at the end." First off, when I hear "bounce", I immediately become suspicious. I don't necessarily like bounces either (it's because I'm not good at them), but we had been working on them earlier in the lesson, so it wasn't as off putting, but then she says "oxer". I don't care if it's little, big, schooling, square, ascending, or knocked down, I don't do oxers. Nope, nadda, don't even try to make me do one. It's a try-on-my-own-time kind of thing, and by that I mean I will never in my life attempt an oxer on my own even if Sam Winchester opened the gates of hell again and jumping an oxer was the only thing that would save the world. Anyway, that's where the grimacing started. I was so on and off about doing the gymnastic because, to me, it was rather complicated, and it had the oxer, so Miss S took down the oxer for the first time that I went through it. I can't remember if it was bad or good, but every time I went through the thing it was either really good or really bad, there was no inbetween. We probably went through that thing three times, then Miss S raised it and added a diagonal single and a single on the rail. The first two times were bad, but then the very last time was great. Miss S got it on video, and hopefully I can upload it on here once I figure out how to transfer a phone file to a Mac, upload it to Google Drive, and upload a YouTube video. Tonight will be a night of learning.
Update: Eureka! We have a video!
Overall, today was really good. We only missed two leads, Baby was listening really well, and I didn't fall off over an oxer, but that doesn't mean that I like them. I hate them with a burning passion, and the fire of passion doesn't burn out easily. I apologize if this post seems rushed, but I am going to a rodeo soon, so I am pressed for time. My next show will be February 8th!
If it's not obvious yet, I am not actually mad at my trainer, but oh was I grimacing today. We've had some snow the past few days, so that, plus the fact that it continues to melt and freeze overnight, has made for limited turnout for the horses and ponies. The ice is pretty insane; both Baby and I slipped on the way to the indoor. I was expecting her to be a bit forward from the get go, but she was actually very calm and willing today, and she saved my booty at least three times.
It was straight work for the first 15-20 minutes. We started off doing trot poles and a trot over on the rail. She was really good. She was moving, she was listening to my leg. Downward transitions today were not so nice, but, in hindsight, I wasn't being very nice either, so what was I to expect out of my trusty steed? We started doing the same pattern at the canter, and she was just perfect. The trot poles turned into a bounce, which was tricky at times (but we all know how I am with those godforsaken bounces), but she was listening so well. Throughout the lesson, when it came to distances, she took every single one that I asked, and if I was out of sorts and left it for her to figure out, she made sure that we stayed upright. Yeah, I'm a bad rider, you don't have to tell me.
We went both ways for the pattern, then we took a walking break before moving on to the gymnastics course. Now, this gymnastics course . . . my trainer wants to kill me, I swear she does. We're just walking around, having a good ole time, talking to Fifi and Cas, and all of a sudden Miss S is just like, "Okay, I'm going to set up a bounce with a little oxer at the end." First off, when I hear "bounce", I immediately become suspicious. I don't necessarily like bounces either (it's because I'm not good at them), but we had been working on them earlier in the lesson, so it wasn't as off putting, but then she says "oxer". I don't care if it's little, big, schooling, square, ascending, or knocked down, I don't do oxers. Nope, nadda, don't even try to make me do one. It's a try-on-my-own-time kind of thing, and by that I mean I will never in my life attempt an oxer on my own even if Sam Winchester opened the gates of hell again and jumping an oxer was the only thing that would save the world. Anyway, that's where the grimacing started. I was so on and off about doing the gymnastic because, to me, it was rather complicated, and it had the oxer, so Miss S took down the oxer for the first time that I went through it. I can't remember if it was bad or good, but every time I went through the thing it was either really good or really bad, there was no inbetween. We probably went through that thing three times, then Miss S raised it and added a diagonal single and a single on the rail. The first two times were bad, but then the very last time was great. Miss S got it on video, and hopefully I can upload it on here once I figure out how to transfer a phone file to a Mac, upload it to Google Drive, and upload a YouTube video. Tonight will be a night of learning.
Update: Eureka! We have a video!
Overall, today was really good. We only missed two leads, Baby was listening really well, and I didn't fall off over an oxer, but that doesn't mean that I like them. I hate them with a burning passion, and the fire of passion doesn't burn out easily. I apologize if this post seems rushed, but I am going to a rodeo soon, so I am pressed for time. My next show will be February 8th!
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