Lessons
Winter is a time for sorting out my schooling. At the yard at 6, on a horse by 6.30, off by 7.30 before clambering onto another one. Home just before 8.30, breakfast, coffee, shower and at work by 9.30. Colleagues occasionally look at their watches and make smart comments about what time they were in. I rarely bother pointing out what time I was up and about any more… I merely think smugly about how the start to my day was so much better than being sat in an office from the moment I get up.
This winter I’ve been trying to improve my dressage at home, with a few lessons thrown in for good measure. I have a brilliant instructor in the form of Sue Pimbley. She definitely gets the best out of us and I look forward to our sessions. I started going to Sue because I struggle to complete xc courses. Since going, my interest in the dressage has rapidly increased and I’ve gone from not being able to ride a decent 20m circle to attempting the first basic steps towards half-pass! We’re a long way off mastering it yet, but we’re slowly and steadily getting there. Jad’s neck and top-line have improved no end in the mean time, and a nice walk to canter transition is more the norm than the exception these days.
My aims this year are to concentrate a lot more on dressage and try and get some points affiliated. I hope to do half a dozen ODEs as well, but we’re going to go back to Intro level so Jad can start enjoying himself more. He loves events, but scares himself once the fences start getting too technical and I’d far sooner that he had fun than push him into a level of competition that worries him.