Pearl's 2018 in Review

L.E. should really be posting this update, as she spends time every day with Miss Pearl. They've become quite a team.

Jay and I hoped to get up on Pearl and get some good rides in on her, but the fact is neither of us was confident enough to actually climb on up, so we sent her to the trainer in June to "dumb her down" for us. She has all of the fancy buttons that Skeeter lacked, but riding Pearl is like driving a Ferrari, and we needed more of a Corvette.

Jay telling Pearl to behave for the trainer. Love this picture.

On Pearl for the first time since she bucked me off.

Swinging my leg over the horse who completely destroyed my confidence was possibly the hardest thing I've done in recent memory. The trainer rode her down before I mounted up, but it was still nerve wracking. Jay's work schedule didn't work out for him to get to take a lesson at the trainer's, so he didn't get the chance to ride.

We came to the conclusion after getting bucked off that Pearl was sensitive to saddle fit, so after we brought her home from from the trainer's we took her to Saddle Up in Longmont and had her fitted for a saddle. L.E. had her fitted for a synthetic western saddle last year, but L.E.'s little butt and Jay's don't fit the same. We needed a saddle that would fit both Pearl and Jay.

I can't say enough good things about Saddle Up - they've always been amazing to us every time we've been in. In fact, when Pearl refused to load back into the trailer (weird, because she's the one horse who always loads, every time), they came out and spent an hour helping us get her loaded.

Stubborn mare

In July, I finally grew some balls and climbed back up on Pearl at home. Getting on her at the trainer's was tough, but at the scene of the crime? Yikes. That was tough. It was a short ride, but one that was necessary.

I'm almost ashamed to admit that I haven't been up on Pearl since. Even though she was a perfect lady, my confidence isn't back where it needs to be to really ride her. Hopefully, with more riding time with Skeets, as my seat improves, I'll be more comfortable on Pearl.

I managed to find time to go watch one of L.E.'s lessons at Inspiration Riding Academy Stef rode Pearl first, and they looked so good.

Stef and Miss Pearl

L.E. and Miss Pearl

In August, the mare swap happened, and Pearl got to go up the hill to learn to be a trail horse as well as an arena horse. Autumn worked with Pearl as diligently as she worked with Skeeter, so when L.E. and I went up for a ride, Pearl was ready. I think she's just happy to work, no matter if it's in the arena or on the mountain.

I'm far more comfortable up on the trail than I am in an arena, whereas L.E. is far more comfortable in an arena than on the trail. Having said that, they did great up on the mountain.

After the mare re-swap, L.E. resumed her lessons and they've become such a great team. I wandered over to watch one of her lessons again in September.

L.E. is riding more days of the week than not and has fallen head over heels in love with Pearl. But who wouldn't? She's a great horse (even if she destroyed my confidence). I've been lucky enough to get to join L.E. across the street and get some riding in over Christmas break.

13 Days

...Until the horses come home!  I can't tell you how excited I am.  They're coming home a month earlier than usual, but so far the weather's being fairly nice(ish).

I had another lesson last week.  Finally, between the weather, my schedule, and M's legs it all worked out.  He's still not completely sound, but did well at a walk for an hour.  No longe line lesson this time, it was all about teaching me how to help him hold his frame.  It's so weird for me to not have slack in the reins.  When I want Estes to do something, I "pick up" the reins, give my direction and then release.  This idea of constant contact is just so foreign to me.

I finally figured out how not to "give my elbows away" and keep my own frame while helping balance M in his.  We worked on halts and three-tracks.  I *almost* got the hang of the halts, with M squaring up underneath me and had limited success with three-tracks.  I could do it while moving around the arena clock-wise, but counterclock-wise was a total loss.  Sharon also had me ride in a two-point position, which made me very thankful that I have been working out.  I still only made it one lap around the arena before I started feeling the burn.

I left the lesson feeling so much better than my first one.  I only had to be reminded to watch my legs a couple of times.  I hope it's because I'm getting the hang of it, and not because she just got tired of telling me.

I was hoping to have another lesson tomorrow, but I've developed pityriasis rosea - a viral skin infection - that has migrated from my torso to my inner thighs and hamstrings.  I can barely pull on my jeans without setting off awful bouts of itching/scratching, so I cancelled my lesson tomorrow.  I can't even imagine the irritation that would be caused by both the jeans and the motion of riding.

Once Estes is home, I'll continue working on what I'm learning between lessons.  Estes has lousy "whoa", so maybe if I can master the halts, I can carry that over to her.

Only 13 days...

Curse You, Mother Nature!

Just heard back from my riding instructor...

Though the weather is absolutely beautiful and will be in the 50s tomorrow, there won't be any lessons, as the outdoor arena is still under eight inches of snow from Monday/Tuesday's snowfall.

Looks like I'll be heading to the gym instead.

And that's not nearly as much fun.

It's Been Forever

Well, maybe not forever, but it sure seems like it.  It has been weeks since my last lesson and finally the weather is cooperating.  I've got me a date with the handsome boy M tomorrow at noon and can't wait to see if I can remember to keep my toes pointed forward.  Who would have thought that it would be so difficult?

Ashinator is going with me tomorrow in Mom's place, since Mom can't drive yet on her new hip, so I should have a picture or two to post.  I might even smile in them instead of chewing on my lips and concentrating so hard I look like a two year old being potty trained.

I've started with a personal trainer (okay, okay, I started this week, but it's still a start), so I'm hoping that I'm not as sore as I was after my one and only lesson.  My trainer has agreed that I can count my riding lessons as working out.  Mostly because I dared him to give it a try and then tell me it wasn't a work out.  Poor kid's never been on a horse.  Musta been neglected as a child.

The Day After

Just like Sharon promised, I hurt.

Muscles I forgot I had (or maybe never knew I had) hurt.  Who would have thought that just doing something like move my toes 45* would cause my knees to ache so badly?

Now, I know I'm not in good shape.  Any semblance of good shape.  The fact that I haven't seen the inside of the gym in almost a year testifies to that. 

However, I ride.  I ride up and down mountains, across creeks, over boulders.  For hours.  And I do it all bareback.   I have better than average posture when I'm horseback.  My core is fairly strong.  In fact, that's the only part of me that doesn't hurt.  My riding muscles should have been in good shape.

Sharon managed to kick my arse.  Who would have thought that almost two hours on level ground going in circles could hurt so much?

Okay, okay.  A lot of you warned me I'd be sore and I didn't believe you.  For that I'm sorry.  I should have believed you all.

I've decided that my arms are going to get quite the workout, too.  I've always ridden Western.  Very little contact unless I needed to give the horse instruction.  After the few minutes I did yesterday of riding with contact, my hands hurt.  I'm not used to helping the horse hold his/her frame and it's going to be quite a change.  But I'm willing to bet my triceps will appreciate it.

First Lesson (warning: lots of videos)

As you know, I was all sorts of nervous about my first lesson, thinking I'd make a total and complete fool of myself (which I only did a couple of times).  The important thing is that I managed to keep Manassis between me and the ground, and on any ride, that's a good thing.

I first learned that I turn my toes out too much so that I'm gripping with the back of my calves instead of the inside of them.  Learning to keep my toes forward is tough.  For too long, I've ridden with them at about a 45* angle from the horse.  Sharon was patient and spent some time going over proper positioning with me.



We then started at a walk, just so I could get the feel of the big boy.  Estes is only 14.2h and Manassis is much bigger, so I think Sharon was worried that I'd be nervous riding such a large horse.  I used to pick the biggest horse around to ride B.E. (Before Estes) - probably a little bit of short-person syndrome.  Then I switched to smaller horses - Estes and Meeker - and realized how darn agile they are and fell in love.

I was familiar with the exercises we did at a walk and was comfortable with them.  The hard part was remembering to keep my darn toes facing forward.



My first trot was not pretty; I kinda look like I'm flopping around up there trying to pick up his rhythm.



Then it was time to add in the arm exercises at a trot.  I actually felt much better not holding on to the cheater strap.  I felt like reaching down for it threw me off balance, so I was more than happy to go to arms.



Just to make it a little more difficult, Sharon had me do it without stirrups. I actually preferred being without stirrups, because I could feel myself bracing in them when I was posting. Gave myself a heck of a toe/foot cramp, too. This is where all the bareback riding I do paid off. I find that stirrups now are a distraction and I drop them every chance I get. Heck, even when I do ride in a saddle, I only use the stirrups for mounting and dismounting.



After a few rounds without stirrups, I went back to them and felt a difference. I was much less inclined to use them to help me post. I think that it's pretty easy to see that just the few minutes I did without stirrups helped.



Sharon had told me that she was going to have me ride three gaits today, so once I got comfortable with the posting trot, it was time to face my nemesis - the canter. I'm not quite sure why I'm so afraid of the canter - I know it's an easy gait to sit. It's a lot more comfortable than the trot, but I'm still not comfortable with it. I think that part of it is the fear of falling (always), but the other part is that Estes is so quick. She could leave me behind in a heartbeat if I'm not paying attention or off balance. I know this and she knows this. Another part is where we ride; there's not a lot of room to canter, but I'd like to be able to do it with confidence in the areas where it is safe to do so.

Please disregard the arms flapping like I'm a bird trying to take off. I was so focused on trying to keep all of the leg stuff straight that my arms just kind of did their own thing (That whole making a fool of myself thing? Yep, here it is.).



I had a blast!  I learned that I'm going to be able to do this.  I don't have too many bad habits to break; essentially my position is okay.  I wasn't quite as big a dunce as I had anticipated, either.

Sharon told me that I had a lot more confidence up on the big boy than a lot of riders who have a lot more learnin' under their belts; even riders who are competitive dressage riders.  I can chalk that up to having to ride so many different horses when I was working at the livery.  It's not hard for me to get up on a strange horse; if I wanted to ride, I had to ride what was available.  And maybe Mom and Bill should get some credit for dragging me out of my slump of riding only "easy" horses when they made me ride Estes the first time.

I'm A Little Afeered

One of my resolutions for this year was to take riding lessons.  I want to be able to use my seat better and purposefully give leg cues to Estes.  Sharon, who was the Key Grip on Horse Master, offered to give me lessons on her retired boy, Manassis. 

Photo by Heidi Nyland, The Whole Picture, LLC

Is he a handsome feller or what?  Sharon and I set my first lesson for this coming Saturday.  On one hand, I'm absolutely excited and can't wait.  On the other hand, I'm terrified.  I've never had a riding lesson (at least not that I can remember - my godmother had me up on Flame when I was just a young 'un, but I don't remember any lessons).  Anyway, I've never had a riding lesson - what if I don't get it?

Don't laugh.  I'm really terrified about being a totally uncoordinated doofus.  I don't speak the language; hell, I don't even understand English tack.  That God for Sharon during Horse Master.  We had three English riders and since I was the Horse Grip, I was supposed to be able to help with tack adjustments and such.  I know I looked like a deer in headlights.  She took pity on me and gave me some very, very basic lessons on the tack.

I really want to do this, and know that it will help me, but now that it's almost here.  Well, that's a whole 'nother story.

Mom's going with me to video tape and take pictures.  I just hope Manassis doesn't give his mommy a bad report about my attempt at riding.

Picture by Heidi Nyland, The Whole Picture, LLC