Sliding into home
Had a stadium lesson in the back pasture. Worked on riding in between fences, turns, and even a couple of tight rollbacks. I did better riding in between fences, but still jump ahead or leave out a stride if I’m trying too hard. I did much better if I kept my head up and concentrated on turning in mid air to get to the next fence.
At one point, during an approach to a small fan oxer, I lost a stirrup and was fumbling with it to get it back—head dropped to look at it, etc. My trainer was trying to get my to correct my approach, and when I told her I’d lost a stirrup she said, “I don’t care! You can ride this without a stirrup!” I was flustered but a bit heartened by her confidence in my ability to ride through a less than optimal situation.
Then, after I successfully negotiated a hard right turn after the fan oxer, which then led to a rollback and continued to a regular oxer, I thought I heard my trainer say, “You missed a fence,” when in reality she said, “You’re going to miss the fence,” because I wasn’t turning Clover as crisply as I could. But we did make the turn, and I lost my concentration trying to decipher my trainer’s comment and lost concentration, putting Clover to an awkward spot so that she popped high over the oxer. I was loose in the tack, and felt my body shift to the right in mid air. I knew I was going down, so I bailed out, quickly trying to kick my left foot free of the stirrup iron before I hit the ground. I freed my foot and hit the ground on my left hip and slid like I was heading into home plate! Fortunately, the grass was soft and damp, so I wasn’t hurt at all. Clover trotted off a bit, then stood as I walked back to her. Thank goodness she’s an energy conservation beast, and didn’t take off around the field like some other higher strung horses might have.
So that was the second time I’ve come off of Clover.
The session over all was fairly good. I have to remember to keep Clover forward and on the aids so I can make turns and keep her forward to a fence. Again, I’m thankful she’s so honest, and really does bail me out when I put her to a bad spot.
At one point, during an approach to a small fan oxer, I lost a stirrup and was fumbling with it to get it back—head dropped to look at it, etc. My trainer was trying to get my to correct my approach, and when I told her I’d lost a stirrup she said, “I don’t care! You can ride this without a stirrup!” I was flustered but a bit heartened by her confidence in my ability to ride through a less than optimal situation.
Then, after I successfully negotiated a hard right turn after the fan oxer, which then led to a rollback and continued to a regular oxer, I thought I heard my trainer say, “You missed a fence,” when in reality she said, “You’re going to miss the fence,” because I wasn’t turning Clover as crisply as I could. But we did make the turn, and I lost my concentration trying to decipher my trainer’s comment and lost concentration, putting Clover to an awkward spot so that she popped high over the oxer. I was loose in the tack, and felt my body shift to the right in mid air. I knew I was going down, so I bailed out, quickly trying to kick my left foot free of the stirrup iron before I hit the ground. I freed my foot and hit the ground on my left hip and slid like I was heading into home plate! Fortunately, the grass was soft and damp, so I wasn’t hurt at all. Clover trotted off a bit, then stood as I walked back to her. Thank goodness she’s an energy conservation beast, and didn’t take off around the field like some other higher strung horses might have.
So that was the second time I’ve come off of Clover.
The session over all was fairly good. I have to remember to keep Clover forward and on the aids so I can make turns and keep her forward to a fence. Again, I’m thankful she’s so honest, and really does bail me out when I put her to a bad spot.
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