Sexy estrous
Spent last week house/farmette sitting for Katrina; between that and my mother and young sister in law visiting, I put riding aside for the week.
It was fairly hot and humid, but I seem to have acclimated pretty well,. After riding in the Green Acres three phase back in June with temps and humidity in the high 90s, and actually surviving as well as staying upright even the next day (when I am usually feel the effects of being in the sun and heat all day), I must be doing something right.
Since we had a week apart (weep, weep) Mico was heavy on the forehand and unsteady to the bridle, not to mention still on the muscle due to Clover's overly sexy estrous cycle. Now that I have put competitions aside for a while, the pressure I put on myself to ride perfectly has dissipated, and my head is clear to focus on self-improvement without being under time-demands. I would like to get back into horse trials eventually, but I have not been able to commit the time I feel is necessary to be adequately prepared for competions. I think I have mentioned that I still have a lot of fine-tuning to do on myself: focus in stadium, tact in dressage, etc.
So it was a good ride, even though Mico was being a bit of a twit. It was great to have Katrina and Christine along, by the end of last week I was missing our rides, I felt refreshed and ready to tackle the challenges as they come. Christine once again assured us that she intends to lay down a solid base on Irish this winter, in preparation for schooling at second level (straight) dressage next year, so we'd better be ready to ride, no excuses! It will raise the bar for me, I know I need to get past this insecurity and convince myself I can apply half-halts properly and work a horse through from the hind end, and training with other people helps me to stay motivated and strive to keep up. In the meantime, I can look back to this winter and see how far I have actually come since I hurt my back, I am stronger, my position has improved and I'm beginning to become more effective in the saddle. So there, nyah nyah to my inner critic.
It was fairly hot and humid, but I seem to have acclimated pretty well,. After riding in the Green Acres three phase back in June with temps and humidity in the high 90s, and actually surviving as well as staying upright even the next day (when I am usually feel the effects of being in the sun and heat all day), I must be doing something right.
Since we had a week apart (weep, weep) Mico was heavy on the forehand and unsteady to the bridle, not to mention still on the muscle due to Clover's overly sexy estrous cycle. Now that I have put competitions aside for a while, the pressure I put on myself to ride perfectly has dissipated, and my head is clear to focus on self-improvement without being under time-demands. I would like to get back into horse trials eventually, but I have not been able to commit the time I feel is necessary to be adequately prepared for competions. I think I have mentioned that I still have a lot of fine-tuning to do on myself: focus in stadium, tact in dressage, etc.
So it was a good ride, even though Mico was being a bit of a twit. It was great to have Katrina and Christine along, by the end of last week I was missing our rides, I felt refreshed and ready to tackle the challenges as they come. Christine once again assured us that she intends to lay down a solid base on Irish this winter, in preparation for schooling at second level (straight) dressage next year, so we'd better be ready to ride, no excuses! It will raise the bar for me, I know I need to get past this insecurity and convince myself I can apply half-halts properly and work a horse through from the hind end, and training with other people helps me to stay motivated and strive to keep up. In the meantime, I can look back to this winter and see how far I have actually come since I hurt my back, I am stronger, my position has improved and I'm beginning to become more effective in the saddle. So there, nyah nyah to my inner critic.
Comments
Post a Comment