Self-Improvement

One thing that really stood out to me in the video from the show was my floppy feet.  My trainer had been telling me that our past few lessons, but I didn't realize how bad it was until I saw the video!  And then Emma's comment got my thinking about the root cause, which I think is that I brace against the stirrups.

To back it up, I am somewhat a self-taught rider.  I started out taking lessons, once a week at a H/J lesson barn with my sister, but after not quite a year my parents decided it would cheaper to just buy us a horse.  So we ended up with a very green 3 year old!  After about 2 months we convinced them to lease a second horse so we can ride together, so that's how I ended up with my eventual first horse, a ranch-broke quarter horse that was pretty amenable to whatever style riding I felt like doing on any given day.  I think I only rode her bareback for several months because I didn't have a saddle!  Eventually after a few years I was starting to earn some money and decided to do a few lessons, and I remember back then the trainer telling me that I was bracing in the stirrup, but I don't think I rode with her long enough to really fix anything.  So I've had that habit for over 20 years and it is not easy to change!

But I decided I can't brace against the stirrups if I don't have stirrups.  I've never really ridden Cupid without stirrups, except at a walk while we're warming up.  I've been putting it off because I'm not convinced I won't totally bounce off his back!  We started on a 20 meter circle, trotting about a full circle before transitioning down to a walk for a few steps, then back up to the trot, a few minutes each direction.  Keep it short so I can hopefully do it correctly!  I have to be careful not to round my shoulders, or "clench." 

The next ride we did it longer, making each trot set a little longer and also cantered!  And it went better than I expected.  It was mainly just the transitions into and out of canter that I was worried about, but I had already been working on doing it from my seat.  Of course once you're in the canter itself it's a bit easier than trotting!  But without stirrups I can really feel when Cupid gets rounder since it makes sitting easier, and we definitely had a few moments of this.

Before all this, I had promised Cupid that if he was good at the show that we would jump in our next lesson.  He held up his end of the bargain, so I did too and we had our first jump lesson since maybe last spring (aside from the Nick K clinic.)  We build up to a little course of 5 jumps, 2'3"-2'6" and Cupid was super!  Since Cupid was relaxed I was able to focus on smoothing things out - straight approach and departure, maintaining the canter I want, and trying to land on the appropriate lead - instead of just being totally preoccupied with the jump itself!  It was a lot of fun.