Look, Ma! No Hands!

We are back to more seasonal weather here. I am grateful that I didn’t packed away all of my snugly riding clothing. :-)   Last Tuesday’s lesson was…just OK. Gem and I were not working together. Granted, my shoulder was really bothering me (yes, I have started physio), which I am sure made my whole body stiff. I did get a really nice, slow jog from Gem. It was a pleasure to be sitting on him. I have to say that it has taken a lot of work but, more often than not, he can jog just like a quarter horse. :-) My loping, on the other hand, was horrible.

When I loped, my arse was way up in the air, my hands flaying around, and with all the flapping they were doing my arms should have had feathers on them to fly me away. I couldn’t seem to help myself. I looked like some crazed person. It couldn’t have been comfortable for Gem. He let his displeasure be known by some head tossing when I asked him to lope.  I couldn’t seem to do what LA wanted me to. It was a tiring.

Towards the end of the session, LA had me dismount and she got on Gem. As she loped him, she exaggerated how I am riding him (apparently I look like a deranged madman) and showed me how to correct it.  I need help and I immediately booked a private lesson with LA for Sunday morning. BTW, Gem looked beautiful as she loped him in a small circle. :-)

At burger and beers after lesson, my nervous classmate asked me what I thought of LA riding Gem.

  Me:  It was great to see him from that perspective.   He looked beautiful.
  NC:  Yes, it's great to see what he's capable of when he's ridden properly. 

WTH? I know that she doesn't mean to be rude, but still.... Anyway, I was able to deflect any comments about Gem being disrespectful because of his head tossing by concentrating the conversation on Jean and her progress with Stu (update coming soon!!).

I was pumped for my lesson on Sunday. My body wasn't tired like it was Tuesday night. We were in the arena. The focus of the lesson was to work on not depending on my reins for balance when I loped. We did our warm up and then we worked on correcting Gem. The concept of this exercise is not unfamiliar to me, but I haven't really put it into practice. I jogged Gem large on a very loose rein. That in itself was a bit weird for me. I didn't realize what a security blanket my reins are!!! When he made a decision to disregard my leg, I had to turn him in the opposite direction and do small circles until I could feel him give and then start on our way again. This was to tell him that he doesn't make the decision on where we are going and if you disregard my message then I will make you work harder.  It was at this point I saw that my nervous classmate was watching my lesson. Boy, I could just hear the conversation afterwards about how many times Gem had to be corrected. Sigh. I quickly gave my head a shake and got back to focusing on the task at hand. Eventually, Gem caught on and we were much better at going large without him disregarding my leg and straying off the path. 

Next up was loping. My loping has always been hit and miss.  I was looking forward to having one-on-one instruction in this area.  Asking Gem was easy and he was on the correct lead each time (yay!).  An issue that I have is that in my effort to "push" Gem on with my butt in the saddle, I start leaning further and further back. To compensate for this imbalance, I pull on the reins to right myself. Pulling on the reins actually pulls my butt out of the saddle and Gem's head back.  See, it's all connected!

LA told me to lope on a very loose rein. I was nervous, thinking that Gem would take off at a gallop. LA reassured me that there was no where for him to go if he did. :-) Off I went.  It wasn't bad. I started to relax.  Gem was steady and I was actually able to do small circles by just opening up the (long) inside rein. Nice. :-)

Then LA informed me that I was going to lope with no hands. Pardon?? She came over and tied my reins in a knot and looped them over the horn of my saddle, with the instructions that I could keep my hands on my thighs as we loped large.

Me:  Have you completely lost your mind?!
LA:  You have been basically riding without your reins all lesson.
Me:  Maybe, but that was mostly at a jog.  Loping is completely different. You can't lope without holding on the the reins.

I glanced over and saw my nervous classmate watching me.

LA:  Stop trying to talk yourself out of it.  Keep your butt in the saddle and lope....

And I did.  I started with my hands on my thighs.  It wasn't bad....my body was actually balanced.....I mean really balanced.  I felt secure in the saddle.  WTH?  Gem was even and steady, his neck relaxing.  We went around the far end of the arena and with LA yelling encouragement, my confidence grew......to the point that I eventually lifted my arms up and straight out from my sides (imagine "I'm King of the World!!).....around the other corner and right passed my nervous classmate.  :-)   

I completed one full circuit of the arena!  I couldn't believe what I had just done.   It was exhilarating.  I couldn't wipe the smile off my face.   I tried it again and managed to do 3/4 of the arena.  I could absolutely feel the difference in how I was sitting in the saddle.  I now know what it feels like to be balanced; something to strive for.

 When I dismounted, I hugged LA and thanked her.  How fortunate am I that I have an instructor that seems to know when to push me?   My nervous classmate was very excited for me, too.  You know what?....maybe my little no-hands display has been as inspiration for her....you never know.  In any case,  I am guessing that the conversation over burgers and beers after tomorrow's lesson will be a little more positive about my skills.  I can hardly wait!  :-)