And I feel like this is the first lesson that I’ve had since I went to a horseback riding resident camp that I did through Girl Scouts.
The lesson went pretty well. The instructor asked Jenny and I what we like to do and what we hope and want to learn. We worked on the flat for most of the lesson. Apparently I need to keep my thumbs on top of the reins instead of under. It’s the little things like this that I wanted to fix. Like, I know the basics of riding and stuff, but I know there is a lot of little things that I don’t know. I also need to start using my legs to get horses to move forward or go faster instead of clicking with my mouth like I usually do; that will be really hard to get used to. She also had us trot in our two-points on the flat. That I hadn’t done in so long. My legs were burning!
For the last 15 minutes or so we worked on jumping, but we started with the basics by trotting over ground poles in our two-points. Yeah, it was a little boring, but I’m grateful for it. She fine-tuned our two-points. I need to put more of my weight in my heels when I go over a jump. Though once she put the jump up, now granted it was only a cross rail, but when she told me what I needed to fix, I started to over think it and I got left behind on a few of the jumps. It was definitely frustrating, but I know it’s going to take a while to fix what I’ve been doing for 6 or so years.
I know it’s only going to be for the summer, but hopefully these lessons make me the better rider that I desperately want to be. I’m so envious of the people who have had to opportunity to have proper riding instruction from the day they started riding. I wish I could have had the equestrian education that some of my friends had. But I hope that this crash session this summer will help me.
Horseback riding was that one thing I had in my life for 8 years and to have it ripped out of my life was one of the worst things that could happen to me.
Jenny and I went out to look at a barn in Mt. Airy and we both loved it. When I asked my mom if she would be willing to help me pay for lessons out there just for the summer, she flipped shit at me and told me that “maybe you should find a new hobby for now.”
No. I won’t. I’m pretty certain that riding horses is what I love to do. Don’t you dare tell me that I have to “find a new passion.” It’s not that simple. When you have a passion for horseback riding, it’s not just the sport you love; it’s the connection you have with the horse your riding that makes you love the sport more.
It just hurts me to know that my mother really don’t care about what I love and isn’t really willing to do anything about it.
The guy who rode Chance at the same time I did posted this today. Missin’ my baby.
And this was from when we first started jumping. Hence my awful positioning.
Like right now.
I’ve been in a slight funk lately because of it. Horseback riding used to be my outlet where I could just completely forget about everything that was bothering me and just focus on Chance and our ride. I miss having that one thing that I loved to do. Having no money really sucks. I’m envious of all of you that I follow that are able to have their own horses and have lessons.
The barn I was at was a horrible farm. No one out there really knew anything about teaching anyone how to ride. I taught myself how to ride by watching YouTube videos and talking to other people. I didn’t have any friends at the barn because the owner of the farm started so much drama between everyone at that farm, that I just didn’t really want to make any friends. I had Chance. I was there to ride and take care of Chance, and then I’d leave. Yeah, it sucked not really having anyone out there that I was friends with, but I never got involved in any of the stupid drama that started.
I hated the barn I was at so much. I was there for 9 years. The first couple years were good. I was actually being taught and looked-after and I never got pushed to the side. After that, things went down hill. The owner became almost obsessed with taking money from people. She would scam people into giving her money and she’d always play favorite with the ones who gave her the most money. She never gave me the attention when it came to teaching because my family just paid her the monthly money for “sponsorship” and that was it. I didn’t go out there often enough because, oh my god, I have school and a job, so I didn’t get to be a favorite. I never got the opportunity to show. I didn’t get jack shit when it came to an equestrian education. The only thing I gained from that farm was Chance. He was the reason I stuck it out so long out there. He was my rock.
Without him, I know I’m more stressed out. I know that I’m not myself. Having that one thing in your life for 8 years that helped you cope with just about everything suddenly be taken away from you fucking sucks. And not having that outlet at all really makes things suck that much more.
I miss my sport. I miss my horse. I miss being normal.
Even though Chance wasn’t mine, I still had this one girl AND HER MOTHER tell me how to ride him even though she had been riding him for 3 weeks and I had been riding him for 4 years at the time. Most annoying thing ever.
(Source: ohyesitscaitlin, via xosaranda)
