Riding Lession #3

Which was last Friday, but I wasn't online a lot over the weekend.

In short - more trotting, more "obstacle" courses with trotting over poles, stopping in a box, picking up a towel from one jump standard, etc. More loping - I've got the departure (launch!) down pretty well, it's just an issue of keeping it going. I asked Sara to ride him for a few minutes so I could see his lope from the ground, and it definitely isn't as fast as it feels when I'm on him. He's just a average-sized horse - 15 hands or so - with a big lope that feels bigger if you aren't used to it.

I think I'm trying to slow Payton down too much, and not keeping enough leg on him. Instead of a slower lope, he shifts down a gear and I get a fast trot. (It's probably related to me being shy/timid/introverted/not a big risk-taker.)

So, tonight, I'm going to remind myself beforehand that Payton is a nice guy who isn't going to run off with me, not that he could go anywhere in the arena anyway, and that I rode through his little spook on Friday, and that he does have brakes, unlike the flaky gelding I owned for a few years. So, when we lope, I should just remember to keep some leg on him, so he doesn't slow down, and breathe, and steer.

Hopefully, that'll do the trick. If not, there's always Wednesday.

The spook, by the way, was because Sara was dragging the poles out of the arena and dropped one on top of another one. Payton decided to be scared by the noise and did that little sideways-skittering spook that horses can do. Not a really big deal, it was easy to survive compared to Flaky Gelding's light-speed 180-degree spin with a 6-foot lateral transport.