Blog Hop Debut

So in honor of this first hop, the theme is: debut. No one is born knowing how to ride so all of us have memorable firsts.

Share a memory from:

1. The first horse experience you can remember.
2. Your first "aha" moment--when something really clicked for you as a rider.
3. Entering the ring. Could be your first show, or another time when simply entering the arena could be considered a "debut" of sorts.

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Here are my answers for this week:

1. The first horse experience you can remember. I know I had pony rides before this, but the first really vivid horse memory I have is when I was 9 or 10. My neighbor had a horseback riding birthday where everyone who attended got a real group riding lesson (in shifts). God knows how much her parents spent on that party, but I'll always remember it because it was the first time I really rode a horse on my own without anyone leading me. Do I remember the lesson? No. Do I remember the horse? No. Do I remember how insanely jealous I was that Laura got riding lessons every single week, not just on her birthday? Yes.
2. Your first "aha" moment--when something really clicked for you as a rider. When I was learning to ride I was always very timid. Well, I was a timid kid in general. If my lesson horse wanted to cut the corners---well, okay. If he wanted to break into a trot--well, okay. If he wanted to hop over the wooden logs that bordered the ring to eat grass--well, okay. When I got my first free lease horse, Spur, he had a problem with rooting and bucking after jumps/whenever he felt like it. With him, I really had to learn to be assertive, and I learned to not be afraid of a good gallop. The story of how that happened is here.
3. Entering the ring. Could be your first show, or another time when simply entering the arena could be considered a "debut" of sorts. I have to admit that I included this question because I felt like other people might have something more interesting to say than I can think of. I've already shared the story of my first show (also in a blog hop), so I'll share another first--my first day teaching, not so long ago. Honestly, I'd be hard-pressed to remember the exact details from student to student that day, but I do remember I had my lesson plan in a spiral notebook for each student. I introduced myself to everyone,  checked everyone's tack, brought them the mounting block...and then left the notebook there. It was helpful to have a general idea of what to accomplish, but I realized that there are so many things to adjust on the fly that having a lesson plan is just that...a plan. Not a schedule.

Well, I hope you enjoyed that and that if you have a blog you'll consider participating! (hint: it makes a good post when you can't think of anything to write about!)
---- UPDATE: So sorry! I added in the wrong script. Click here if you participated and would like the blog hop code for your own blog. Thanks to Dragon for pointing out the error.

Lesson plan: walk, trot, beginning canter

What about: Let's take all the students and pass on the no-stirrups work our trainers inflicted on us to the next generation? Not as catchy. via

Teehee.
So the first two lessons I taught today were 30-minute private lessons.

The first was for a re-rider who began riding at age 4, but took a long hiatus and now has some confidence issues, especially when her horse's attention starts to wander. She has just started to canter again on a big Percheron mare named Bella.

That lesson went very well so I taught another before heading home for some Father's Day celebration. This student was a teenager who also lessons at another farm. She has just started to canter regularly as well with a sporty Percheron/TB named Levi. I adapted the below lesson plan for both of these riders, so I just included everything that came up as an issue.

Setup: Four cones in a diamond shape at one end of the ring for teaching precise circles.

Walk:

• Forward: Start with a nice, swingy walk. Feel the movement in your seat and alternate inside and outside leg pressure with the swinging of the horse's barrel.
• Calm: Follow with seat and hands.
• Straight: Pretend your hips have laser beams coming out of them (it sounds weird but that is how I like to think of it). Keep them straight and look ahead. If your horse tries to cut in, correct her with inside leg and opening inside rein. If that doesn't work, strengthen the inside leg and inside rein (without dropping the outside rein) until it does, then release and continue with your hips straight.
• Two-point for one lap: Don't worry about looking like a jumper with your upper body. Feel your heels sink down and your calves connect with your horse's sides. This is the leg position to strive for. If you find your leg swinging, a little bit of  (correct) two-point will help to stabilize it.
• Bend in corners: Inside leg, opening inside rein, supporting outside rein. Keep the swingy, forward, following walk on the straightaway.
• Circles: Ride a straight line from one cone to the next, and bend around each cone (inside leg, opening rein, then outside leg to straighten again to the next cone).

Trot:

• Straight
• Bend in corners
• Change direction across the ring
• Sit the trot without stirrups (Did this for the second rider. Levi kept cutting in at the canter and she felt that her leg just wasn't there to move him over. Believe me...I can emphathize)
•  Circles: (same as above)

Canter:

• Canter setup: Sit the trot. Inside leg, opening rein, outside leg.  Both horses cut in/were lazy so I told the students to look forward, keep their hips straight, and sort of swivel with an inside rein and leg combination. We were moderately successful but I am sure better straightness and obedience (from the horses. The students were very obedient.) will come with practice.

Feel free to critique or make suggestions! It's only going to help.