The last three weeks I've been riding dear gentle Ben for my lessons. His stride is very much like Buttercup's, so I settled right into his rhythm. But, have I ever mentioned his canter? It is one of the oddest things, it's not a true 3 beat. It's almost as though he is throwing a 4th beat in there somewhere and you get this oddest feeling that you are "swirling" in the saddle versus the forward movement you feel with most canters. There's some discussion that he may be somewhat gaited and that's what's causing his unique canter. I can't say for sure since I've never ridden a gaited horse!
Anyway, last night I switched back to Mic. At 16 hands he towers over little Ben and gives quite a different ride! I found last night that I got a far better workout on Mic than I ever did on Ben. I think it's trying to keep up with that long stride of his! My timing is still a bit off when I ride him but it's getting better. After a lesson spent mostly on the flat (darn those heels of mine!), my legs felt like complete jello! Those long strided horses make you work!
I applaud my instructor for making me switch horses every couple of lessons, it improves my skills and is helping me get over one of my issues - riding different horses. I used to have no fear and would hope on any and every horse I had an opportunity to. Then, I ran into a couple of horses that made me think twice about climbing aboard just any horse (getting turned into a lawn dart by a bucking horse will do that to ya!).
2 comments:
Great post! It is definitely difficult to adjust to a bigger horses' stride. I had a 13.1hh mustang for 15 years and now have a 15.1 horse and the change was tough! Keep up the good work!
Yay! Different horses are good for ya!
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