Just so you all know, I do still plan on making a blog post about the dressage show, so don't worry! (I got two fourth places and a second place by the way). :)
So last night I rode a new horse named Cece. She's a bay quarter horse, and she was way bigger than I'm used to after riding Cartwheel. She was really nice to groom and tack up - she barely even moved and was really quiet the whole time. Recently I've been having my lessons with three other girls: Tevonna (not sure how you spell that), Kara, and Karly. Usually the barn owner's daughter also comes up and rides but isn't part of the actual lesson.
Up in the ring, Cece was again quiet and well behaved. The only time I had any problems was when the car came up and ran across the ring. That was actually fine for Cece, and she didn't freak out, but then the next time we turned a corner and she saw the cat, she spooked and jumped sideways. My foot fell out of the stirrup, but I was okay. It's so weird when horses spook. It's like one minute we're one place and the next we've somehow moved 5 feet to the side. Anyway, after that, Cece was pretty wary of the cat, but otherwise she was fine. It was so strange because the barn owner said she's never spooked at anything before.
Once everyone was on their horse, we all stopped in the center so the barn owner could show us different types of crops (someone had asked). After that we walked around for a little bit before heading over to the big ring. There were five sets of poles set up, so we practiced walking over those. To make sure our feet were in the right place under us, the barn owner had us stand up for a couple of seconds as we were going over a set of poles. This helps when jumping so you know where to have your feet to be balanced correctly.
Next we went over the poles at a trot. The barn owner warned me beforehand that Cece was very athletic, meaning she takes very large strides. And as soon as she started to trot, I could see that was true. Her first couple of strides completely threw me off. I felt like I was being flung out of the saddle with each step! After I slowed Cece down a little and got a hold of myself, I tried to get used to her trot. I still felt like I was being flung upwards, but I found that if I really used my thigh muscles to keep my legs in place, it was way easier to post. I just had to get used to her big strides. After a little while we were all told to trot over the poles. Once again, I really had to keep my legs in place to stay balanced, but other than that it really wasn't difficult. Then we had to do the same thing we did at the walk: stand up in the saddle when going over the poles. I feel like I've talked about switching diagonals, but just to refresh your memories you basically just have to sit or rise an extra beat when posting. That's pretty much what you had to do when standing going over the poles - you just have to stay balanced long enough to stay risen out of the saddle for about three beats. It takes some practice, but if you have your feet in the correct position it's pretty simple.
Next we got to canter. I'm not really sure why we didn't get to jump, but it might have been because Cece doesn't really know how to. The barn owner said I might be able to use her to jump a little, it would just have to be a learning process for both me and Cece. Anyway, we got in the catch-up line that we normally do, and when it was my turn the barn owner told me to ask for the canter from a walk. I did, and Cece actually went to a trot first, but then she cantered. My reins ended up being way to loose but once I tightened them I had a really good stretch of canter that I was very happy with. After my turn was over, the barn owner said that was the best she's seen anyone canter her, which made me really happy. Also, I told her what I was noticed when I was cantering. I'm used to a canter that is relatively smooth and ongoing, but Cece's canter almost seemed to have a pause at certain points. The barn owner said this was called a suspension, which is when all four of the horse's feet are off the ground at one time. She also said it was actually good for a horse to do, although I forget why.
On my next try going the other direction, the canter didn't go as well, but that was mostly because Cece wasn't as good cantering in that direction. After a couple of tries I did get her to pick up the correct lead, but almost at once my right foot slipped through the stirrup so my toe was down the whole time. I was really distracted by that so my reins became loose and I had to stop pretty soon. Despite that though, I was really happy with her canter and my lesson tonight. I hope I get to ride Cece again next week, because I think with more practice I would really enjoy riding her.
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