I had a very rough day yesterday so didn't get round to posting on here, so today I have a bumper lot of posts, with this, my update for the day, and two (yes two!) reviews.
So anyways, the reason for all the distress yesterday was a complete loss of confidence, to the point I was actually considering giving up horse riding all together. I am unsure as to what exactly happened, but I was riding Diesel yesterday, practicing for the dressage competition with a friend of mine with her horse. After a few minutes of warming up Diesel started to play up, spooking and spinning on the spot in an attempt to get to the other horse. Instead of riding through it (I feel awful and very stupid admitting this), I just burst into tears and got off. I tried to get back on again but couldn't bring myself to get back into the saddle. I had a sit on my friends horse, a very steady and safe mare, and I couldn't even pluck up the courage to do more than walk once around the arena. It was a complete confidence crisis, and I left the yard in tears and remained upset for the rest of the night. After a talk with my very long suffering boyfriend I was convinced to carry on, and taking advice from a comment already on this blog (thanks Carol) I decided to slow things down and take things back to basics while I get my confidence back again. I also decided to remove my entry to the dressage competition until I feel more confident (again on advice from Carol). So that is the news on my random but complete loss of confidence yesterday.
So onto today. As I was feeling nervous I asked my Dad to come and watch me ride. This may sound silly but there is method to the madness, my dad knows me well and knows how to motivate me into doing something. So I got on Diesel and started walking and working on circles and straightness. After about 5 minutes he started to nap and I became nervous again, however my dad would not let me get off and made me ride through it (It's amazing how at 23, I still feel obliged to do what my parents say!), and I instantly felt a lot more confident. I hadn't planned on trotting until I was feeling more confident again, but was told in no uncertain terms that we were not leaving the arena until I had done. This may seem harsh but I am very grateful as I had a fantastic ride and feel a lot better. It is going to take a while for me to get my confidence back properly, but I will keep blogging about everything that happens.
As for the training today (as I really do need to include more about the training on this blog). I continued working on the free walk on a long rein, and now Diesel has stopped upping the pace when I give with the reins I can start asking him to stretch forward and down. I find with Diesel that this is easier to achieve on a bend or circle than across a diagonal. While he still has a habit of taking off I taken to leaning forward and giving with my hands up his neck, although this looks very inelegant it means I can quickly regain control and bring him back to walk without too much 'fiddling' of the reins. I also worked on straightness by aligning the centre a ground pole with the centre line and riding loops along the long sides of the arena and down the centre line over the pole, forming an elongated figure-of-eight. I added random halts around the figure to ensure Diesel was still listening to my aids and not working on autopilot. I always remember a tip I read in a riding magazine many years ago to help straightness and I have always found it works for me. If you visualise a narrow corridor along the line (straight or bending) that you are riding that you and your horse just fit through, then as you ride along it visualise the corridor and that you cant touch the walls, and this encourages you to close your legs on and help keep the horse straight. It has always worked for me!
Tomorrow I am riding early in the morning (oh the joy of early mornings...), and I plan to do a bit more trotting, maybe work on a few 20metre circles in trot to aid balance. I will have to see how confident I am feeling tomorrow. If anyone has any tips on confidence or wants to share any experiences or ask any questions then please feel free! Now onto my reviews.
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