My Weekly Riding Lesson – Recording My Ride

My Weekly Riding Lesson

For the first time since I started my riding lessons back in January, My husband was able to come to my lesson. It was probably boring for him, but I am so grateful he came. For the first time I was able to see what I looked like while I was riding, and it was very helpful!

I was not having a good day in general. People were grumpy today, in person and on the phone. But All of the grumpiness was gone when 5:00 came, because it was Thursday, and that meant I got to go to my riding lesson. And as an added bonus, My husband was able to bring our video recorder and gather some much needed video of my ride. Seeing yourself ride, and being in the moment actually doing it are two very different things!

I was able to get to my lesson a little early, so by 6:00 PM I was in the arena and ready for my lesson to start. This was the first time I would be able to get the entire amount of ride time out of my lesson! And Murphy has been brought into the barn, so I saved time by not having to trek out to a field and get him, this was really nice!

Murphy

Murphy is an awesome horse. He has been my lesson horse for the past several weeks now, and he is the kindest horse. And he’s cute, so that’s a double bonus.

But today Murphy was feeling a little spunky, which is good. He gave me a little more of a challenge, and this was a good thing to be able to feel, and then later look at what my ride looked like while I was reviewing the video clips my husband caught.

We did everything we always do, which I can now add canter to the list. I feel a lot more confident cantering now, which is a fantastic feeling. But we upped the challenge today because there were other rider’s in the arena. It is a lot simpler when it is just me, my horse and my trainer in the arena.

Because when there are other people and horses to contend with, I get discombobulated to say the least. Not only do I have to pay attention to what my trainer is asking me to do, but I also have to watch what everyone else is doing in the arena. And I know you are supposed to pass left shoulder to left shoulder, but half the time I can’t remember where my left side is! Let alone anticipate which direction other rider’s are going. But, it does increase my awareness of what is going on around me. So even though it got frustrating at times, it is a good thing to have other people riding in the arena.

But I am happy when I go home and only have to worry about myself and my horse. Again, thanks to my incredible husband for helping me build my own riding arena!

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Remember I had a new found confidence during my lesson last week? Well that disappeared today. The arena was filled with jumps, and even the little cross rail appeared huge for some reason. I don’t know why, but everything seemed bigger today. Except for the squishy rails I got to trot over. I like the squishy rails, they are my friend and confidence builder.

We worked on two point a lot today. I did more two point at the trot than I have done in a long time, which made me think I really need to be practicing this at home with Ethan. I also think my stirrup leathers have stretched a bit, because I felt like my legs were longer tonight too.

Time For A Cross Rail

After I had successfully done two point and sitting trot patterns for my instructor, it was time to add in the cross rail. I think I was thinking to much about it, because it just seemed so big, even though I know it wasn’t. But it seemed humongous, whatever the reason.

We had the pattern that my instructor explained, go over the squishy rails in two-point, and then back to posting trot, and then go over the cross rail, heading toward my instructor. The squishy rails went well, and then coming to the cross rail, I gathered my reins a little shorter, which Murphy does not like I learned. He prefers a loose rein, especially over jumps.

The first time over the cross rail he popped over it and cantered off after the cross rail. I felt like I was bouncing all over the place, and there were other horses after the jump, so I felt unbalanced and awkward. But she told me to do it again, and grab his mane if I needed too. So we did it again, and again. The fourth time of this my leg slipped back and squeezed, so Murphy was like “Oh, you want me to go, ok!” So he cantered off away from the jump. And I wasn’t scared, it was fun, but I didn’t feel like I was in control, which I didn’t really enjoy.

The Benefit Of Video At A Lesson

After that she had me stop, and go over what I had done incorrectly, and how to correct it. I have a lot of things I can work on, especially after reviewing the video my husband captured. Having him there was so helpful. Being able to come home and review my lesson, and replaying what my instructor was telling me is priceless.

I can watch and re-watch the video to see what I did right, and what I did wrong. I can see where my leg looks strong, and I can see where I lost my position over the jump. And even more important, I can see what I looked like during the ride. There were times where I felt like I was bouncing all over, or felt like Murphy was racing around, but watching the video, I can see that he wasn’t. I can also see I didn’t look as bad as I thought I did. Yes, I have lots of room for improvement, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was.

This is helpful for continuing to build my confidence. And even though this wasn’t my best lesson, I feel it was the most valuable lesson I have had so far, partially thanks to my husband for recording it all.

So my takeaway for you this week is if you have anyway for someone to record even a portion of your riding lesson so you can review it later, I think it will help you. To be able to ‘see’ what you are doing, and relive the lesson, you will be able to get even more out of the time you have with your riding instructor.