Friday, January 11, 2008

Chewie Lesson - Robin

After the 01/05/08 train wreck lesson with Sam, I called Robin, explained what happened. Robin thinks Sam was intense because Sam is at a riding school now as an instructor. Sam was training me like she does the students.. I'm not a student at a riding school. I'm a hobbiest at best... with underlying terror-driven fear of the horse.

So, on the lunge line we went. Robin warmed him up free lunge, then on side reins. She asked aggressive for one trot-to-canter transition, Chewie threw a little mini fit, but otherwise, their warmup on side reins was good.

I climbed on, and we worked on walk with no stirrups & "no reins". I had them in case of a train wreck, but I was on the buckle. While I was on the lunge, Chewie still had side reins - Robin said to keep him balanced. Never been on a lunge with the horse in side reins, so that was nice. Chewie didn't have the option of throwing his head up & tensing his back.

Worked on "frog stretches". I was apparently okay at the walk, with room for improvement. At the trot, I'm told I bend at the knees instead of at the hip. Bending at the hip pulls the top of my thighs .... owwwwwwwwie. Muscle soreness to the max. My muscles were actually getting that cold-tingly feeling, which I haven't had in a while.

Did a TON of walk-frogs. A little bit of trot, but mostly walk. We're working on "tipping my hip", which still doesn't make sense. I'm sure it will when I get it right, but it's awful hard to feel, and even harder to see.

Robin got on him at the end of the lesson, and showed me the right way to do the frog. Cleared up some confusion for me - It's okay to grab the pommel, it's okay to lean back... Just as long as my legs come up in front of me, thighs at a 90deg angle to back, knees bent 90deg to the thighs. That should be easier than when I was trying to bend at the hip & keep the rest of my body "lined up perfect".

Next Lesson - Scheduled for 01/19/08, 2:30pm

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