10.16.2006

Riding Lessons

Boy its suddenly gotten quite chilly lately! In other words, it feels like fall.

This does get me excited for winter to officially come forward. Its been raining for the last two days, and if precipitation continues at this rate, there should be snow on the mountains before to long.

Meanwhile, I've been searching for things to occupy my time, so that I am forced to leave the house. The PT job should be one. And I've got CERT classes for another three weeks. And there is always school.

Don't forget the army.

However, one of the things that I did enjoy doing this summer is go horseback riding. But being a self taught rider that kind of learned from neighbors and friends, well, when I was wrangling with a bunch of people who actually knew what they were doing, I often got the distinct feeling from them that they didn't consider me a true horseperson. And really I wasn't. Well, not formally at least.

I've been interested in getting a horse again. But looking into it, right now I certainly can't afford one. Another option would be a partial lease, but even that is really not to my benefit at this time. I just don't have the time to make it worth while.

What I could use, however, are some lessons to get myself in the mindset in case this is doable in the future. And it gives me enough horse experience during the week that I can sit back and have fun the rest of the time.

Winter's off season, so there are deals for private lessons during this time of year. I've always ridden western and I decided to get some lessons and learn english.

And now I am.


This is BP. You might be thinking 'well, isn't that the name of a Gas Station?' And you would be right, his name is British Petrolium. Back in his show days, his sponsor was BP so it kind of stuck. He's a Thoroughbred dressage horse that is multitalented and can be ridden both in english and western styles.

My instructor started at the basics for me, from the way I sit and how I hold my legs and head. The entire lesson I rode without stirrups just so I could get the feel of riding down. I do tend to slump, so it felt really awkward for me to sit tall like this. I can see how this is going to be a workout.

It turns out that a lot of western Reiners take Dressage lessons to learn how to properly sit on a horse among other things. So I can take these lessons and apply them to how I ride western as well. Actually, for somebody who's been riding horses off and on since I was about 7, I learned a lot about them today.

I just got to get used to riding and feeling a little more comfortable up there on the saddle.

This is going to really help me work my legs and butt. And don't forget my stomach. I think I'll be doing this into December.

Once the snow really starts to come down, it'll be difficult to get out there to take lessons. And honestly, by then I'll want to be Snowboarding.

But for now, it looks like I'm going to be riding horses about once a week.

No comments: