Post by Erin ♥ on Jul 20, 2008 17:59:05 GMT -3
It was nice a sunny today for my lesson which was nice! The arena was also awesome because we had rain yesterday but not too much so it dried up quickly but it wasn't at all dusty! It was just right! Anyway, I got there pretty early and we got to pick who we rode and I picked Dante because of my lease ride yesterday.
I went out to get him and he was eating his lunch so he wasn't near as happy as he was yesterday, but that was okay, i didn't mind that too much.. untill I was after chasing him for about 2-3 minutes and he decided he was sick of me. He faced me for a second so I walked up to him abit and then all of the sudden he spun around and kicked me right in the leg. At the time it didn't hurt that much but right now it's not feeling the greatest.. After that he decided he already proved his point so he just looked right at me and stood there and let me catch him.
what a jerk..
Anyway, on to the actual lesson.. the other two girls that are in my lesson didn't show up so I had a private lesson with Karen. It was really good but we did alot so i'm not sure if i'll remember it all! First we warmed up with halt transitions and circles. Then we worked on tracking up at the walk and trot. We didn't do all that good with that because Dante was being lazy but it was still alright! After doing that large and on the 20 m circle we worked on leg yeilds. I was pretty much horrible at them at first but after when we finished them I was much, much better. It was my first time so I guess I did pretty good. When we finished that we worked on 2 and 3 loop serpintines at the trot. Then canter transitions. You know how I said in my last few updates that he'd buck when i'd ask him to canter? Well turns out I was asking him wrong. After that a few times with him bucking Karen called me in and told me that almost everytime i'd ask him i'd do it different. Like once I posted before i'd ask and the next time i'd not use enough leg etcc. So we worked on that for awhile and now we doesn't buck at all with me! I guess he was just letting me know that I was doing something wrong!
Still at the canter, we worked on keeping him from brakeing back to the trot while cantering and using all of my aids to ask him instead of just my voice. Usually when I ask, without realizing it I use my voice first and then some leg but after a few more transitions I was asking with my leg much better! After giving him a brake and letting him stretch out I worked on some simple lead changes. I'd pick up my canter at A and then start a 2-loop serpintine, drop back to a trot at X, pick up my canter again and head towards C then back to X again in the other direction, changing leads again, and then back to A, completing 2 full 2-loop serpintines, or a figure 8. I did good the first time we did that with the lead changes but my circles weren't very round. (You could see where you went because under the surface the ground was still kinda damp so it was darker. It was sort of like a snails trail
) So we did it again and this time I went back to the trot too soon the first time and almost missed the second circle altogether but Dante helped and we got it anyway! Other then that it was good and our circles were much more round.
After letting Dante have another stretch we did some no-stirrup work at the trot. First it was kinda bumpy but i've done that before so it wasn't too bad. First we did it on a 20 m circle, sitting and posting, but once I got more used to it and relaxed a little more we did another 2-loop serpintine while sitting and that one was good again! Then Karen asked how I felt about going for a canter and I said i'd try. I've only done it in one other lesson before and that was only a tiny bit like last November so I wasn't sure but it was actually really, really good! Soo much more smooth then trotting. The only thing was the downward transition back to a trot. I hate that, it's soooo bumpy bit it wasn't too bad. I didn't fall off or anything, I just had to hold on to the saddle. When we finished that we cooled out and then I brought him in and gave him a quick brushing since he was good other for the ride. He was really sweating and he was LOVING it. Making weird faces and everything, I laughed soo hard at him! When I figured he was good enough I took him about out and he was fine.. At least he didn't kick me again! haha.
Overall the lesson was reallyyyy good and I learned alot! It's crazy how much more you get to do and how much more you actually learn in private lessons!
I went out to get him and he was eating his lunch so he wasn't near as happy as he was yesterday, but that was okay, i didn't mind that too much.. untill I was after chasing him for about 2-3 minutes and he decided he was sick of me. He faced me for a second so I walked up to him abit and then all of the sudden he spun around and kicked me right in the leg. At the time it didn't hurt that much but right now it's not feeling the greatest.. After that he decided he already proved his point so he just looked right at me and stood there and let me catch him.
what a jerk..Anyway, on to the actual lesson.. the other two girls that are in my lesson didn't show up so I had a private lesson with Karen. It was really good but we did alot so i'm not sure if i'll remember it all! First we warmed up with halt transitions and circles. Then we worked on tracking up at the walk and trot. We didn't do all that good with that because Dante was being lazy but it was still alright! After doing that large and on the 20 m circle we worked on leg yeilds. I was pretty much horrible at them at first but after when we finished them I was much, much better. It was my first time so I guess I did pretty good. When we finished that we worked on 2 and 3 loop serpintines at the trot. Then canter transitions. You know how I said in my last few updates that he'd buck when i'd ask him to canter? Well turns out I was asking him wrong. After that a few times with him bucking Karen called me in and told me that almost everytime i'd ask him i'd do it different. Like once I posted before i'd ask and the next time i'd not use enough leg etcc. So we worked on that for awhile and now we doesn't buck at all with me! I guess he was just letting me know that I was doing something wrong!
Still at the canter, we worked on keeping him from brakeing back to the trot while cantering and using all of my aids to ask him instead of just my voice. Usually when I ask, without realizing it I use my voice first and then some leg but after a few more transitions I was asking with my leg much better! After giving him a brake and letting him stretch out I worked on some simple lead changes. I'd pick up my canter at A and then start a 2-loop serpintine, drop back to a trot at X, pick up my canter again and head towards C then back to X again in the other direction, changing leads again, and then back to A, completing 2 full 2-loop serpintines, or a figure 8. I did good the first time we did that with the lead changes but my circles weren't very round. (You could see where you went because under the surface the ground was still kinda damp so it was darker. It was sort of like a snails trail
) So we did it again and this time I went back to the trot too soon the first time and almost missed the second circle altogether but Dante helped and we got it anyway! Other then that it was good and our circles were much more round. After letting Dante have another stretch we did some no-stirrup work at the trot. First it was kinda bumpy but i've done that before so it wasn't too bad. First we did it on a 20 m circle, sitting and posting, but once I got more used to it and relaxed a little more we did another 2-loop serpintine while sitting and that one was good again! Then Karen asked how I felt about going for a canter and I said i'd try. I've only done it in one other lesson before and that was only a tiny bit like last November so I wasn't sure but it was actually really, really good! Soo much more smooth then trotting. The only thing was the downward transition back to a trot. I hate that, it's soooo bumpy bit it wasn't too bad. I didn't fall off or anything, I just had to hold on to the saddle. When we finished that we cooled out and then I brought him in and gave him a quick brushing since he was good other for the ride. He was really sweating and he was LOVING it. Making weird faces and everything, I laughed soo hard at him! When I figured he was good enough I took him about out and he was fine.. At least he didn't kick me again! haha.
Overall the lesson was reallyyyy good and I learned alot! It's crazy how much more you get to do and how much more you actually learn in private lessons!
I agree, private lessons are so much better 
