It's like a new chapter, or beginning.Honey had her chiropractor visit and has the new saddle. Riding her now is like a new thing. It's addicting, more so than I thought it was before. And all we're doing right now is walking!
Our first ride on Tuesday didn't go incredibly well in the beginning. Honey, as expected was very difficult to convince that the pain she had been feeling under saddle was no longer there. It took a lot of convincing, but when we got there, I was so thrilled! She felt lovely and even, and I was able to concentrate on myself more than I have been able to lately.
And then today, WOW. I know walking is beneficial, but my goodness I enjoyed it so much today. We had a huge space because I moved the fence out of our way... and she just powered on out! Granted she wanted to trot, and I had to try everything - trying to think walk and ignore jogging and sit deep, let her break into it (only once) for a few strides to get it out of her system, and then even shut her down and say "no, Honey I want you to walk." I was a little hesitant to really go "NO!" with her, my ride on Tuesday taught me that forward is better than nothing at all, and I didn't want to suck her back. We got there in the end, and we only had one nappy moment, which one is more than enough. She's napping towards her tie up post, and being quite arrogant about it. But I made a point of ignoring the pole and riding her forward and we got passed that issue well.
I'm really loving riding on a loose rein as well. I'm having to trust in myself a lot to do this, not so much that I'm scared of something happening, but I rely on my hands a lot for balance and don't want to just make a grab at them, which will frighten Honey. I feel the saddle fixes this notion within me a little and offers more support for me to correctly build my balance. I've done a lot of work in the past on using my legs on this mare for turning etc, so she knows her aids well. I slackened off with my hands and just guided her with my legs for a bit today. It felt really awesome to be back at that, because in the Wintec 500 dressage saddle and before she was "fixed", obviously me using a lot of leg made Honey go "UGH!" Now I feel the freedom to use my legs correctly, in the manner they're meant to, and retrain my arms/hands. It's great!
But the thing that I really enjoyed about today's ride was being able to feel that I'm actually breathing up on my horse. Of course I always have, but I know I have a habit of forgetting to breathe too. The Isabel has helped me realise my core a lot more, and I've realised I've been collapsing with my upper body a little before. Now I can really feel my ribcage expanding, and with the exercise I learnt from the Sally Swift book, breathing has become a new thing that I'm fully aware of in the saddle now. I felt like a lot of my nerves that could have played up were toned down because of my breathing. Honey of course, picking up on my breathing seemed to relax from the trotting urge and just walk out lovely. It was really rewarding for me, to notice so many things in about 10-15mins.
To be honest, I didn't want to get off. She's become an instant delight and I'm looking forward to doing more and more with her, once she's ready to of course! Sticking to the plan in place for sure!
On Sunday I have another ride, and my friend Megan is popping out. I wonder if she turns up when I'm riding, whether she'll notice the change in Honey or not. A shame only one of us can ride her at the moment, or I'd let her ride her to feel the changes!
Anyways, to end this blog, I'll just put up a few photos ^_^
No comments:
Post a Comment