# K9Kenai's Riding Journal



## k9kenai (Jul 1, 2017)

(I spent like ten minutes trying to think up a cool title for the journal and got nothing...)

_Finally_, after four LONG years, I am back in the saddle! After moving from a big city to a rural area, and having no luck in finding anybody to teach riding lessons in our new tiny (but fairly horse friendly) community, I had just about given up. But lo and behold while posting a found ad for a dog we picked up on the highway I saw a posting for someone offering riding lessons about an hour away from us! I chatted with the woman on Facebook for a bit and found we had a lot in common and explained that my background was in Dressage and Jumpers and that I was wanting to transition into Endurance. Well...turns out she and her husband both have been competing in Endurance for several decades now!

My first lesson was this morning, and I was very nervous as to how I would do as it has been four years and previously I had a nasty fall on my gelding so I had a few fear issues as well. I explained my riding background to them and what my goals were and they gave me the low down on Endurance. I was placed on Bear, a beautiful Morgan mare and we started off on the lunge line. I quickly realized I need new half chaps and riding boots as the ones I've been using for years have definitely reached the end of their lifespan! So I had to work through that bit of pain (especially with the dang half chaps!). But I was pleased to find that my balance was still there (mostly...I still lean too much to the left and bring my legs too far forward) and my hands follow well and my hips follow the movements of the horse well.

We progressed to the posting trot and I was "over enthusiastic" I guess because I literally propelled myself out of the saddle and tipped up and forward and lost all balance. So we tried again and this time I let the movements of the horse push me up and forward and I was much more balanced. I even remembered to breathe! This first lesson (which was about two hours) was a great confidence booster (and stress reliever) and a reminder about why I love riding and why I want to continue to do it. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Endurance and I am excited to have two great instructors who obviously care so much about the sport and their horses and who are so willing to go as slow or as fast as my skills allow. It is nice to finally have an instructor who, instead of being TOLD something is wrong and then just being given a quick fix answer I am asked "what do you feel? how do you think you would correct that and why?". It's a much more hands on experience and I found I learned more in this lesson than in many of my previous lessons with your "typical" riding instructors. I am thrilled to begin this journey!

*Goals for Next Lesson:* Work on lateral balance, don't give in to your body's misconceptions about where your feet are...they're still in the stirrups!, allow the horse to move your body for you, breathe, don't overthink what your body is doing, let your legs relax and flow

(and buy new boots and half chaps...especially half chaps!!!)

:cowboy:


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## k9kenai (Jul 1, 2017)

Whelp, definitely going to get new riding boots. And half chaps.

Also, low rise breeches suck. So note to self, don't try and wash your good breeches the day before and expect them to be dry in time for a morning lesson the next day.

Good news, my balance is MUCHO improved over last week. I was correctly balanced in the saddle the entire two hour lesson and did not need to adjust my seat at all, except to re-center over the horse's back and move my center of gravity whenever I would sit too far forward coming down from the post. My balance at the trot was much better and I wasn't propelling myself up as much and letting the horse do more of the work with the post, especially at speed. I am still having trouble keeping my feet in the stirrups, but we think that they may be due partially to my riding boots.

*Goals for Next Lesson:* Breathe from your center, not your chest; experiment with what position works best for you when posting the trot


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## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Subbing! Excited to follow your journey!


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## k9kenai (Jul 1, 2017)

Bought some new Ariat Terrains and some Tough 1 Breathable Half Chaps and they made a HUGE difference in my riding and leg position. I don't think I'll ever ride in paddock or tall boots again! :mrgreen:

Since the weather was so nice today we did a 5 mile trail ride. I haven't done a trail ride in at least ten years, and never in this type of terrain (living in the suburbs didn't really allow for anything more than ditch bank rides...thank goodness for country and mountain riding now!). So it was wonderful! :grin: Once I got my legs in the right position (which was a lot easier with these half chaps than my very restricting Ariat ones) I was very balanced the entire ride. We just stuck at a walk for the whole ride since it's been so long since I last did a trail ride, but it really allowed me to be aware of my body position and where I would hold tension (knees, elbows, and upper chest/shoulders/neck) so I could try to focus and release it.

I had a much better time with relaxing my legs with the more comfortable shoes and chaps, although I still held a lot of tension in my knees and a bit in my ankles but it wasn't as much as in my previous rides. We are still trying to find the right stirrup length for myself as well and we are thinking that lengthening them by a hole next week will be the perfect length.

This was my first ride off the lunge line (straight into a trail ride...my instructor's must have a lot of confidence in my riding abilities lol) and I felt really good riding. I've got two weeks till the next lesson and I've borrowed some books from my instructors on equine sports medicine and endurance riding so I'll still be learning. 

*Goals for Next Lesson:* Let go of tension while riding, let your whole body follow the movements of the horse, stretch more before and after the lesson to help with tension

:cowboy:


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## k9kenai (Jul 1, 2017)

Back to riding after having to miss a week due to being out of town!

We did another trail ride. We were going to work on trot work but I sprained my ankle last week and apparently it hasn't quite healed to the point I could balance well enough at the post (which is what I need to work on) so we had to scratch that. Instead we did some bush whacking which was fun.  Went over lots of logs and through trees and down into arroyos and whatnot. Despite having an injured ankle, knee, and apparently my hip based on my terrible, no good dismount (any hip opening exercise recommendations anybody?) this ride went very well for me in terms of fluidity while riding and I had absolutely ZERO tension in my left leg and back/shoulder blades and only slight tension in my right and leg and upper chest. So a huge improvement, especially after having a week off.

All of that flew out the window at the dismount, though. I guess I did hurt my hip when I tripped and fell and hurt my ankle/knee because I locked up at the hip when I went to dismount and just could NOT open up that joint to swing my leg up and over which hasn't happened before so I'm thinking I must have done something to it during my fall. So I'm going to look up some at-home stretching exercises to maybe see if that will help and hopefully whatever's wrong with it will heal over time as will my ankle and knee. Shows what I get for trying to water the roses and not paying attention to where the hose is laying. :icon_rolleyes:

*Goals for Next Lesson:* Maintain better balance at the trot and work on not leaning forward, work on steering and adjusting outside/inside rein, open up that hip when dismounting!


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## k9kenai (Jul 1, 2017)

Today...was a challenging lesson, to say the least! But I learned a lot.

We were out on the trail again, and Bear was very fresh today. We did a lot of trot work since my ankle is better and being a seasoned Endurance mount, Bear is _extremely_ competitive so we'd start out in the middle of the trio but Bear would quickly try to make her way to the front of the line, which included trying to bite poor Val on the butt. :evil: But we didn't let that happen, although that resulted in speeding up and around so we worked on doing some circling and slowing down. Definitely some advanced maneuvers, especially going through such thick trees and uphill/downhill.

The highlight of the day (although it wasn't a good highlight) is that we were trying to do more circling and zig zagging through the trees to get Bear to stop trying to take over Val who is a slower and more sensitive horse (and also an OTTB...the little Morgan is outrunning her!) and to listen more to rein and seat contact but because Bear wasn't really paying attention to where her feet were going and was kind of off in la la land because we were almost home, she stepped into a hole and fell all the way down to her knees. We were going downhill and apparently my center of gravity was not where it was supposed to be either so I went off to the side of her and my shoulder took the brunt of my weight.  So that was embarrassing, and thankfully neither one of us was hurt (just our pride...). The good news is we both immediately learned our lesson and Bear started paying attention more and I adjusted my balance better for the rest of the ride and got my gravity back to where it was supposed to be in the first place. :lol:

I also learned the benefit of giant logs out in the middle of the woods for helping you get back up on the horse. inkunicorn:

*Goals for Next Lesson:* Maintain a better center of gravity, specifically in the lower body; release tension in your upper shoulders; do more hip opening exercises to prevent locking up when dismounting


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## k9kenai (Jul 1, 2017)

After a few weeks off due to my instructors both coming down with pneumonia, a bad snowstorm, etc. I was finally back in the saddle!

Bear was sluggish at first and did _not_ want to get back to work. Even the short legged Arab was passing her, and at the trot! Once we placed a horse in front of her, though, she was back to her competitive self and I was working to keep her slowed down. After that it was just go-go-go! We did a lot of great trot work and I definitely feel much more comfortable when I am out in front because I don't have to worry about Bear trying to come up on a horse or try to pass or move faster than I want right now. So I was put out in front and I ended up enjoying that so much that Bear and I ended up losing my instructors for a bit up the trail and had to wait for them to catch up.

Since it has been a few weeks since my last ride, and I did fall on my last ride, I was a little nervous on this ride but I still felt pretty good trotting and I gained a lot of confidence in my riding and handling skills considering Bear hadn't really been ridden in just as long and was pretty hot. It was a very fun ride and I learned a lot about myself and about Bear.

*Goals for Next Lesson:* Focus on staying balanced at the trot, don't lean forward as much; Lose the tension in your calves; Do more hip opening exercises and hip flexor exercises


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## k9kenai (Jul 1, 2017)

We made it a goal for yesterday's lesson to really focus on trot work across the trails. It went wonderfully! I felt very secure and balanced and Bear and I were in the lead for much of the time. I still tend to lean forward slightly and to the right, so I need to focus on keeping myself pulled back and shift my weight/seat to the left even before I begin trotting.

It was wonderful trotting in the mountains, though, and you really can feel the minute differences in terrain as you trot up and down the hilly, rocky terrain and over and through the trenches and ditches. I haven't done much faster work outside of the arena, so this is quite the experience learning to adjust my balance every few seconds as we progress along the trail! But it is quite fun, and I am excited about continuing. My body movement has also gotten quite better and the only places I am still holding some tension is the balls of my feet. My whole body is now moving with the horse and Bear is responding much better to more subtle cues given since I am not so tense and can give them easier.

My AERC and Green Beans membership also arrived in the mail this weekend so I am excited to attempt our first ride sometime this season! 

*Goals for Next Lesson:* Focus on keeping weight evenly distributed in the saddle; Adjust weight to the left as needed; Keep centered/don't lean forward; Relax your legs lower; Trot more!


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## k9kenai (Jul 1, 2017)

We did arena work today, and discovered that Bear is quite rusty in that aspect.  So it was good for both of us!

Worked on proper corners and how to bend properly in each direction. Bear definitely has a preference for a particular side, and on her "bad" side she tends to pop her should out and will try to leave the rail so it took a little more leg and contact with the bit to keep her from doing that. We stuck mostly to the walk and did a bit of trot work. It took the the whole session (and my instructors hopping on twice for me to see my errors and how to correct them properly) to get some good training in but it was a very informative session and I think Bear and I did some of our best work today and I believe Bear was at her most relaxed since I started riding.

This will be my last lesson until March as my instructors will be out of town, but in March I will hopefully be attending my first Endurance ride as at least crew for my instructor, and perhaps even ride Bear in an Intro ride depending on how we are doing. 

*Goals for Next Lesson:* Don't overthink it; Focus on your balance; It takes more leg thank you think


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