Lesson, new instructor, numero dos.

Today we had our second lessons with Denise. Again, WONDERFUL lesson, and she laughed and said that I was fun to teach because she could see the light bulbs going off. Here's what I learned:

* To get a horse to go, don't squeeze with your entire legs (because this was exactly what I was doing and I was being ignored). Relax the upper leg, and squeeze with only the lower. This was so much more effective.

* Conversely, to get a horse to slow down/stop, relax your lower leg and squeeze with your upper. This puts pressure on the muscles working along the top line, so the horse naturally stops. The more pressure you use, the more the horse halts. This completely blew my everloving mind, especially the fact that it worked SO WELL. I kept giggling and hugging Peanut.

* Cuing the canter entirely from the seat (with minimal help from the legs). Weigh the inside leg, move the outside leg back a smidge, and scoop the pelvis under and up. Don't squeeze with the legs at all. It worked first time. Holy shit! With each successive cue, I had to use less and less of the body cue to get the canter.

* "Sponging" the reins. Just squeeze the rein itself like it's a wet sponge instead of doing any sort of pulling with it. I have never heard of this. This was best used with my outside hand when I was trying down transitions from the canter to the gait. Peanut will fall from a canter to a walk or halt if you let him - the challenge is to catch the gait.

* The transition from canter to gait in general. Stop riding the canter entirely. Don't go with the horse and instead do what you'd be doing in the gait you're asking for (this would be easier if I had to post). This, accompanied with a thigh squeeze accompanied with a sponge on the outside rein did it perfectly. Whoa. The lesson ended on the great downward transition.

We worked mainly on transitions in general, which are still a big weak point with me (because I tense for them) but the above tricks are going to be so helpful. As Denise says, she gives us tools to fill a toolbox, and we take each out as needed.

She said that my riding is much improved over the last lesson, and she didn't correct my posture once. My hands are still incredibly defiant, and sometimes my elbows join in, but my legs, pelvis and back have learned to behave. I still have to learn to move with the horse (without actively thinking about it), but she said it will come in time. I was complimented on my cantering, and she liked that I moved my hands with him (yay!) but caught me moving my entire arm from the shoulder instead of just opening and closing my elbows.

She also said that Peanut was really tuned into me, and was so very responsive. He was complimented like crazy, although she did mention his pesky stifle and prescribed hills - at a walk only! To trot up them (she's really not used to gaited horses, honestly, but I don't care) can pull some muscles in their back (I think she said lumbar?), so walking or cantering is best. The absolute best would be to march, so I think that means a powerful walk. She agrees that I definitely lucked out with my first horse, and that he was a great color to boot with the prettiest face. And this after she just gave a lesson with one of the farm's arabians! :D

He tossed his trot at me for a few strides, and she said that he has a wonderful trot. She also liked the look of his canter.

At one point, my hip started hurting and so I flung my leg over his neck to stretch it out. She gave me the look. You know the look. The "I don't approve of this but I'm not saying anything" look. I said that my last instructor once told me that if I tried that with any of the other horses at the old barn that I would be in the next zip code. Without a break in the look, she said that yes, she could see that happening. She then smiled and said that he would be a great sidesaddle horse. I said with a laugh that I had enough trouble riding astride. :)

He really is the best horse ever, in my incredibly biased opinion.

Here's what I know of Rick's lesson. I didn't watch the lesson as I was busy finding shade to be prone in as Peanut gazed around me. It was SO damn humid that the mid-80s temps were so unbearable that my legs ended up going wobbly, so this is all second-hand.

She ended up hopping on Gene. Denise had to know whether the trouble he had with framing him was his or Gene's doing. She ended up having one of the epic Gene battles and decided that, hmmm, it was a combination.

Rick said that he and Gene had their normal lesson battles, and that Denise said he really isn't the ideal horse to be teaching someone to ride. He's just so full of appy-tude.

When I told him that I was learning how to ask for a canter from my seat, he said, "you're on the canter?! I'm still on the trot!" We really are starting over from the basics, just like Lisa. :) In fact, at one point, Denise was talking about some other aspect of riding that I can't recall but I'd already done, but then said that before she teaches that she makes sure her students have a good seat first.

I am so happy that I found Denise. She is really incredible.