Serpentines

It was a chilly day when I arrived to ride Divine. I had not been out in a while so I wasn’t sure what type of lesson to expect. Divine was a lot more fuzzy, I think horses look so cute when they get their winter woolies. I was running late for my lesson but a young girl, I honestly don’t remember her name, had her lesson before me but was still there with Divine.

Stay pony!

Since Divine had just been groomed I did a slow light grooming, flicking out dirt and loose hairs. Hoof picking is a little challenge with her front legs, she always tries to pull out of my hand so it takes twice as long to do a hoof! She was also watching as I started to bridle Divine since she was waiting for her father to get a jump for his car. I have a hard enough time figuring out how to get Divine compliant without having an audience but I knew she wasn’t hanging around for any reason other than to be around a horse. Eventually Divine was bridled and Laurie showed up so we headed to the arena.

Getting ready to bridle....uge

I was off the lungeline, which was fine. I enjoy those lessons a lot and feel that I’ve become steadier at the trot. I used to have my hand on the saddle for sitting trot on the lungeline and now I don’t think I do that barely at all! Today we worked on a serpentine so it was a constant change of direction at the trot. The goal was to keep Divine’s impulsion, collection and make the turns smoothly. I had a few issues with Divine trying to go left when I wanted her to go right. I need to become more aware of my weight distribution. I think I was leaning left those times and needed to give a clear leg and rein cue.

It was a tough lesson that wore me out. I went home to nap the rest of the afternoon! LOL.