Fun but exhausting

We went on a trail ride this lesson because there was a jumping show in the ring and as much as I would like to gallop and leap over jumps, I am pretty sure I can't.

Dada always says trail-ride lessons are supposed to be fun and relaxing. I enjoy them, but they are anything but relaxing. With T wandering over uneven ground, I am squeezing real hard with my legs, holding tight with my hands, trying to push my heels down.

By the end of the lesson, I am sagging. But it was fun.

T yields for me

I will post a picture tomorrow, though you won't see the freakin' awesome thing I did with T today. I leg yielded her.

By that I mean I held her head straight and pushed against her with a heel and she walks diagonally but facing straight ahead. It is so cool.

Dada said it was T just staying under me and Mom said T looked kind of happy or proud of herself. I was sure proud of us both.

The last time we tried leg-yielding was with Bella ages ago. Dada helped me hold Bella's head straight and Kate pushed my heel into Bella's side. It did not go that smoothly and when it was dropped from Grade 1a tests, we stopped worrying about it. Sort of. I always wanted to try it again and now I have and I succeeded and I can't wait to do it again.

Can't have the blues when you win a blue

I won a blue ribbon today at the Ride to Thrive show sponsored by the Northern Virginia Therapeutic Riding Program. The show was broken up by schools so I beat the other folks riding with SPIRIT.

More importantly, though, I had one of my best show rides ever. Dada was in the ring, but she stayed as far away as possible, so I felt pretty alone with T, which was awesome. T was in wonderful form -- she stopped perfectly and didn't mind that we had to change a big circle to a small one at the last minute.

She had great rhythm, too. She only hesitated twice, once at the end of the circle when I suspect I pulled the reins or shifted oddly in my saddle. She also started to stop when we passed A the second time. We do have a halt at A on the first pass so I guess T just decided to pause there again. Both times, though, she started moving again with a click from me and Dada.

Dada said I surprised a lot of people with my ride. Even myself, to be honest.


It was fun to see everyone, too, gathered together. The only disappointing part: I did not get a photo of the Virginia Quarter Horse Association queen giving me my ribbon.

My stupid left foot

I told Dada that it makes me nervous whenever she says she has big news. She assured me I had no reason to worry this time, and then she told me about a dressage competition they went to last weekend.

Becky, a little 10-year-old but a very good rider, was riding T, who apparently has never done just dressage. T has a history of eventing, which involves running and jumping as well as dressage, and Dada said T was a little unsettled to be in a show setting but without all the running and jumping. Becky got off T and they put her in a small ring and T apparently spent the next 15 minutes bucking and running and jumping. Then she was OK, and Becky won fourth place.

What this means for me is that at my show next week and for the immediate future, I will have Dada as a sidewalker even during competitions. She won't hold me up, just walk next to me. If Dada feels that is needed, then it is needed, and lord knows, I am not at all embarrassed to have a sidewalker -- I know I am not a great rider.

But I am still sad about it. Shows are the only time I get to ride alone. I like that it is just me and T. When Dada is close, even though she is not talking or riding T, Dada is in command. T will be following Dada. Riding alone is the only time I really feel like I am connected to the horse, that it is just us against the world ... or at least a world-shaped big circle.

And today's lesson was not great either. It felt like my left foot was falling out of the stirrup and that there was something digging in to the top of my foot. It was real hot, too.

The first ride I made was good, I thought, which made me glad that I could ride so well despite my left foot. The second ride was pretty good, too. But I just lost it on the third one and my foot was killing me. So we stopped.

I guess we need to get the stirrups lined up. And I know everything will work out OK.