New instructor and the aftermath

Rick and I had lessons with our new instructor, Denise, on Thursday night. Everything has changed.

A bit much to say after one lesson, no?

No.

She changed the way I ride. I have to get used to it, get the muscle memory down, but it is mind blowing. You're lucky if you get one light bulb moment out of a lesson, but I had them going off like paparazzi flashes for a particularly naughty starlet.

Here is what was covered, what I remember the best anyway. I should have written it all down as soon as I got home, which Denise recommended, but I was exhausted. I should have written it down yesterday, but I came home to find cat barf in my computer chair so I watched Netflix instead.

* The way that I hold my reins was refined. I was doing it wrong the whole time. The tip of the thumb is to be down, on top of the index finger, and the tip of the thumb is not to extend beyond the knuckle of the index finger. The thumb and the top of the index finger hold the reins, the rest are there for cues.

* My stirrups were shortened and the placement of the stirrup on my feet was changed. They were shortened for shock absorption. I am to have the stirrup under the balls of my feet, diagonally so that it follows them, and once there it felt like I was standing on the ground. I had always just perched my toes on them. This also somehow made my legs go back into proper position, extinguishing my pesky chair seat. This also made them feel a lot more even, although my right still feels shorter. I confided that I was riding with my right stirrup one hole longer than my left, but now the difference isn't really noticeable.

* She told me to quit forcing my heels down. That just used muscles which should be able to relax until needed. Whatever they did naturally with the stirrup length and position on my feet was just fine. Are my heels a little down? Dandy. Are my feet parallel to the ground. That's cool.

* She said that I am not to try to force my feet straight. Forcing only causes cramps, which I have experienced in the past in the form of horrible ankle pain. She did tell Rick that he needed to work on it, but he rides, as she said, duck footed with his toes basically to the sides.

* She moved my knee (really thigh) rolls. I am not supposed to be touching them when I ride normally. They are there in case I raise my legs, but otherwise they just kind of hang out on their own. It was cute, as she reached for them she asked if they were velcroed on. After I affirmed that they were, she asked if Peanut would be ok if she moved them. I said of course. He didn't even twitch an ear. Awesome horse.

* She changed the tilt of my pelvis. This moved my weight off of my butt and onto the points of my pelvis. To do this, she had me pull my legs up completely in front of the saddle and ride for a little bit. She then had me put my legs down, but not move my pelvis. This puts my weight a lot more forward in the saddle, where Peanut can best support me, instead of over the weakest part of his short little back. I should feel lighter to him and he should be able to collect more easily. This was also cute, as when she first told me to change my leg position, she asked if Peanut would be ok with it. I said of course and I, misunderstanding what she wanted, slung a leg over his neck as I wondered why she wanted me to perch cross-legged. She quickly said no, that's not what she wanted, but again Peanut didn't give a damn. It reminded me how I once tied my shoe or something on Peanut like that during a lesson, and Leeandra said that if I tried that with any other horse in the barn we'd be in the next zip code. Awesome horse.

* She corrected the angle of my back. There's a trick to this as well: I'd drop my chin to my chest, poke myself in the tummkins, and then raise my head. This left me feeling like my shoulders were hunched, but she assured me that I was sitting straight and this is what everyone thinks at first. Rick was riding by the ring, and she asked him if I looked straight. Yep. This new position took a lot of the tension out of my back.

* This will be hard to explain, but she changed my pivot point. I always considered my waist to be the junction where my lower half that followed Peanut's movements met the upper half that stayed relatively still. She moved it to just below my shoulders. When I think of it (I have to be thinking of it right now or else I go back to the old way), it finishes releasing the tension in my back and I move so naturally with Peanut while my ribcage and above stay still. Amazing difference.

* She taught me to open my hip angles. With my legs in their new position, if I imagine a ballerina doing a plie (side note - I had to look up to see how that was spelled, in French I could see it being spelled pliet, pliez, plier, and it would all sound the same) then I mirror Peanut's barrel with my legs and they hug him, and my feet naturally face forward. Normally, I would have them forced into position by his bulk, but this way I'm accommodating his shape instead of being manipulated by it which left my calves out in space. I now have full contact with my calves and... get this... heels.

* She also taught me a simple trick to release all tension. She challenged me to be tensed if I very slightly, I'm talking teeny movements, moved my head at the top of the first vertebra. I couldn't do it.

* She worked on my loose fingers. It's a bad habit that I'll have to break.

In short, she changed the way I ride. It's a completely different sensation, but all I can think is that I am coming off of the weak point of Peanut's back so it makes me happy. I also feel... regal when I ride like this. It was the first sensation that I had when I was finally put together. I felt damn regal.

The vast majority of the lesson was at the standstill or the walk, and my bad habits flooded back when she asked me to pick up the gait. That's fine, I'll practice at the walk until my muscle memory improves and we can take up transitions in a lesson.

After the lesson, I kept running everything through my head, trying to absorb absorb absorb. I also got into a conversation with Joan, which made me miss most of Rick's lesson.

**********************

Today, Rick and I went trail riding. We kept it to the shortest loop as Rick needs his saddle reflocked as the flocking finally settled and Denise pointed out that it was getting worryingly close to his spine.

The ride was phenomenal. I mainly left Peanut alone and concentrated on everything from the lesson and I felt great. It felt like Peanut could have vanished, and I would have ended up standing on the ground straddling an invisible horse. My position felt that good and independent of Peanut. Plus, when I was thinking about it, my lower body was mirroring everything Peanut did with no effort. My butt was also moved forward, so that I really wasn't sitting on the cantle at all. What I felt from Peanut most of all was his shoulder action - I don't remember feeling his hind end at all. Also, for basically leaving him to his own devices, Peanut did great.

:)

When I dismounted, I felt that I was standing straighter than usual, plus my upper abs and mid back felt like they had a workout. Grand!

Peanut and I then went for a walk alone, him on the leadline, back into the park. We did our truncated version of the blue trail.