Tuesday 28 May 2013

First lesson report

Remi and I had our first lesson on Sunday. Just 30 minutes. Equissaged first. Warmed up on lunge then lesson. He looked good on the lunge.

Lesson was fab, he exceeded all my expectations. Walk, trot, canter. Canter nowhere near as bad as I expected. Needs lots of straightening and suppling work. But was a good start. Starting to feel like a normal horse in school. Loads to work on but a big step forwards today. Main points to work on were riding definite shapes e.g. clear 20 metre circles, spiralling in and out, not letting him displace my seat off to the right. Not tipping forwards. Getting him to bend through neck to the right. Keeping constant rhythm. Not letting him lean on me. Exercise canter 20 metre circle. On open side back to trot, leg yielding out of circle. Walk when hit track and ten metre circle.


If he tries to rush off in a big trot, said it is him blocking through neck so I cannot ask him to use his hindquarters more.

It felt very strange to be “riding him properly”. And actually the more I asked of him the better he went, so is a good sign. I must actually ask him some questions, and ride him with more clarity and focus. I worry about being too bossy / asking too much. Will need to find the balance.

I didn’t take a lot of the lesson in, as I was so happy to be actually riding him, and that he was happy and not feeling too bad. :-)

Instructor encouraging and v helpful. And Remi happy, which is great. Remi was very pleased with himself. And rather sleepy in sun afterwards. I think we might aim for an unaffiliated prelim outing when we are ready. Strangely Remi likes dressage outings.

Bodywork next Saturday. Second lesson the Wednesday after. Lots of hacking to fit in too.


Keeping all crossed for on going progress.

1 comment:

  1. Pleased went well for you both! There's no stopping him now!

    ReplyDelete