Sunday was full of fun barn times! I woke up early and headed out to the barn to get Annie ready for our very first lesson together. We started her out on the lunge line because baby horse with no work… NT gave me some tips for lunging Annie which were very helpful.
After lunging NT hopped on Annie. I loved getting to watch him ride her. It really helped me to see what he was doing with his body and the responses that she was giving him. He told me that she seems to be a horse that really likes contact in the bridle. He reminded me that this needs to be followed up with my leg too. Annie really liked his ride and was looking great.
I wish that I had thought to get video but I as just enjoying seeing the baby horse go around. My fabulous baby horse has natural lead changes. Which I had already seen signs of but it was AWESOME SAUCE when she did them without effort for the trainer in her first training ride. I hopped on for a few minutes after and learned a great trick for getting Annie to pickup the correct lead if we get a little stuck in our transitions.
The trick is to post on the wrong diagonal as you go into asking for the transition. I was skeptical at first when he mentioned it but it really helped. More for me than for her as the issues were my balance more so than anything she was doing. All in all the first training ride/lesson was a great success. 🙂
After the fun with Annie I headed out to NT’s farm for a lesson on one of his horses. I had a blast and a half and LOVED the horse I got to ride. He was incredibly fun and game to the fences. Totally different than Annie from a feel perspective and also way bigger.
The main focuses for me over fences are for me to keep the correct canter and to sit up/back. I have a horrible habit of throwing my body towards the fences now and I want to break it asap. I also need to get more straight on the flat. I have a bad habit of leaning to the inside and not using enough outside rein. Luckily NT calls me on these things and has done a great job of explaining ways to overcome a lot of my equitation issues (form follows function anyone?).
I have another lesson with Annie tomorrow after work and hope to come up with a plan of action for the next few months to prepare for the spring.
I demand pictures and video of The Ginger next time!
Shoot, I don’t even know what a flying lead feels like! Lucky you for auto changes!
Yay! Glad NT is working out so well 🙂
so exciting that he did so well with Annie – sounds like a promising trainer situation 🙂
So happy you’re both settling in so well. Can’t wait to see more videos and pictures of Annie (hint hint!).
Really interesting about the wrong diagonal. Did he elaborate on why? I’ve never heard that before, but would be willing to try it out, especially if it helps with rider balance.
Glad you guys are having fun in TN!
Yay baby horse!
Sounds so fun! Yay Nashville!