About three inches so far. My husband asked if it depressed me and I said no. I'm used to it after living in Alaska for 36 years. It used to bring me down back in the seventies. We've had lots of bright sunshine recently and more is predicted for tomorrow. One aspect of our weather that took some getting used to is that sunny days are colder than cloudy ones in the winter. Apparently the clouds hold in the heat (totally unscientific explanation) I would go outside without wearing a jacket on sunny days my first spring and would about freeze to death. I grew up in California and sunny skies meant warmth. Not here. Anyway, I know this snowfall will melt relatively quickly, even though more is predicted for Sunday. We've had snow in May. Never June that I can remember.
Had a semi-craptastic lesson on Monday with a different instructor than my regular lady. It started out great - tacked up the horse, walked her around and then mounted her on my first attempt as if I actually knew what I was doing. It was grand and I felt terrific. My regular instructor is always telling me to take up my reins - this other woman kept telling me to loosen them and move me hands in tempo with the horse's head. I have a feeling this should be a natural rhythm and not take so much effort on my part to make it happen. It felt totally forced.
Then I was corrected when I was told to move the horse from, say, the letter M diagonally across the ring (to K?) Apparently this lady wants me to have the horse's rear at the letter when I start the diagonal as opposed to her front, which is what I have been doing. At least that was the impression I was getting when she was shouting, "No, no, no!" at me. Sometimes I just feel like an idiot. But, on a positive note, she did say that I showed a lot of improvement from the last time she gave me a lesson and that I was doing a lot of self-correcting and wasn't getting as flustered when she yelled at me. (It's probably that I'm just becoming desensitized to being yelled at since it happens all the time) - (kidding)
Then it came time to dismount which I totally know how to do and no longer hit the mare's butt with my right leg. I'm halfway off when she yells at me to look at the horse's head (why?) which caused me to flop around on top of the saddle and almost not get my left foot out of the stirrup in time. I told her I usually do much, much better but still was told to do exercises to strengthen my legs. Bah!
Have to go shovel snow before husband finishes his portion and berates me for still being in my pj's. It appears to have stopped snowing as I wrote this.
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May you always have
ReplyDeleteWalls for the winds,
A roof for the rain,
Tea beside the fire,
Laughter to cheer you,
Those you love near you,
And all your heart might desire!
Happy St. Patrick's Day to you:-)
I remember a couple of times when we had flurries in the month of June here in Northern Ontario and I wasn't too impressed! lol It's pouring rain here at the moment, complete with thunder and lightning. That should help get rid of a lot of our snow.
Good to hear your lessons are going good. I don't know if I could get use to being yelled at, though! lol xoxo
Sorry about your lessons. I probably wouldn't get along with your instuctor well is yelling is her thing. It's sure not mine!
ReplyDeleteI do have to say that I believe that horses need to be able to deal with riders thumping them on the b*tt. I train my horses to deal with that kind of stuff.
At my age I have days things just don't work the way they should and I can tell you stuff just sorta happens on those days. I've been known to thump a horse's b*tt, kick it in the side (mounting of course) and not get my foot out of the stirrup along with getting stuck half and and half off. Recently I just about fell over with my foot still stuck in the stirrup. The point of all of this, is don't feel bad. Everyone does it at one time or another in their riding careers. The ones who say they never hare are lying. LOL
I think from reading your posts that you're improving every lesson. Rein pressure and give and take (following the horse's mouth) is one of the hardest things to master. Don't give up.
ReplyDeleteAnd by the way, you are paying for a lesson and your instructor shouldn't be yelling at you but treating you with respect. It's been my experience that the more you get yelled at the worse you do. So the next time an instructor yells at you, stop the horse, walk it over to her and tell her that she's not accomplishing anything by yelling at you and to keep a civil tongue in her loud mouth. You could explain this tactfully of course and make her see that you're not getting anything out of the lesson but a headache and lost confidence. I hate when trainers bully students. It happened to me for years until I stood up for myself.
I don't agree with an instructor yelling for any reason during a lesson unless it's a life or death situation! Mikael is right we all have days when we thump our horse on the butt when dismounting or mounting or in the sides a little. Well trained horses know how to deal with this and don't get all shook up. Sounds like you are making great progress so keep up the good work and request your regular instructor!
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