Yeah, I had one of those lessons where I flop about looking like a fool and my pony trots around looking irritated and confused in turns while I gyrate and nearly fall off. All of this just so I can learn how to sit the dang trot!
And then we started cantering and it was even weirder. It didn't matter how far I leaned back, it wasn't enough!
I understood where we were supposed to be going but it still felt really, really weird. Sitting gaits have always been a challenge for me because I spent so much of my riding career getting up off their backs. I never spent any time learning how to really sit. It's so much easier to get up in a half seat and just let the horse do whatever. Now I'm walking around the ring calling out 'drop, drop, drop' for each time I feel my hip drop, meaning the hind leg has hit the ground. I'm doing the chacha while sitting the trot (hip forward with the front leg, drop with the hind). The canter? I'm just leaning as far back as I dare and trying to not stick my tongue out for fear of accidentally biting it. It takes a lot of focus!
Oh, and I had no stirrups. Sob.
But I did feel like I was sitting deeper and mi papi seemed happier when I was moving my lower back to match him rather than just bouncing along. He's really getting the hang of stretching forward and down. Hopefully we'll be able to get his topline built up. It's very angular right now and it makes getting a saddle on him very difficult. A saddle fitter is coming out to give the new saddle a professional touch. Theo's right side is not as built up as his left and he has that dip right behind the withers. I definitely need a professional to get him sorted out. His back is different after just one month, I expect him to look completely different by the end of the summer. I expect I'll be good friends with the saddle fitter.
Tomorrow is the first jumping lesson in the new saddle. Hoping for the best!
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