I have decided that Murphy’s Law is totally a thing. If you have a 3rd party that is willing to video your lesson- you will ride terribly. Things will just not go your way, and you will want to burn the video footage.
Haha ok I’m being a bit dramatic, but only a bit. My BFF and I planned a horsey filled day yesterday, where we watched each others lessons at our respective barns (which conveniently enough, are only 8 minutes apart). Her lesson wasn’t the smoothest, but she did an amazing job riding through it and keeping a positive attitude. Rio has been super lately, so I was feeling really good about showing off for my bestie. LOL. Murphy had some other ideas.
We started out pretty good, but once or twice over each jump and Rio was tired and I just couldnt keep it together. I always want it to go well SO BADLY that I seriously get in my own way sometimes and do this thing where I just like stop thinking while riding and become incapable of making a decision as I approach a jump. About 4-5 strides out I can tell we are in trouble but am incapable of pushing forward or holding. I literally found the same terrible distance 3 times in a row to the same jump. Exasperated, I turned to Trainder and said, “What am I doing wrong?!”She laughed a little and told me to do something DIFFERENT. I kept riding the jump the exactly same way and not changing our track or pace or anything, like a midless drone. Seems so obvious right?
But really, Rio and I are going through some growing pains and hit a tiny bit of a rough patch in our lesson. We are working on completly changing the balance of his canter (from very downhill to more balanced and uphill), and neither one of us could see a distance to save our lives Saturday. He also tires really quickly right now, and we are working on pushing him past his comfort level, and he doesn’t love it. In his defense though, he always jumps no matter what, which I am incredibly thankful for.
Enjoy this video, including all of our “misses”! Big thanks to my bestie S for videoing!
Rio4.15.17 from Kelly on Vimeo.
4 comments
First, you are too hard on yourself! I’m not educated in these things but the video looks like you had control and everything was relaxed. Second, I also ride like crap when someone watches. It’s easy to try too hard and get tense and then worry about that and get more tense.
Aw thank you! You are right though- it wasn’t like a total disaster, just not perfect. Next time I need to be less hard on myself and I’m sure things will flow easier ?
He’s super cute! And I get it- we all have those days. And I agree- it’s ALWAYS when friends come to video!!
Right?! Lol! Thank you!!