Moving Forward

I've had a lot of time to reflect on why I've felt so bad about riding lately.  And a lot of time to think about the tough love NK gave me last week.  And I feel like I've exhaled for the first time in months.

Like this exhale at the end of my ride

My ride last night made it abundantly clear that everyone is right.  My regular trainer is right, NK is right.  The way I sit - and the extent to which I resist or do not resist his attempts to pull me forward - can make or break the effectiveness of the rest of my aids, which I think is part of the reason I've felt like nothing is working lately.  I'M letting things go that I can't, and no one can do that for me.

Thanks to the Pixio for helping me realize my reins were too long for this ride, but still eye opening to see half halts that don't involve pulling.

The way I sit is the difference between needing a lot of leg and a couple of light bumps to achieve the same thing.  It's the difference between bracing against him and not.  It's not the only thing that's wrong by a long shot - I need to stop letting him run through my right side in both directions (both trainers identified that!), rein length is an on-going battle - but now that my eyes have been opened to that feeling, I can't ignore it.

Turn on the forehand.  Promise I wasn't pulling!

That ride last night felt incredible to me, which is why going back and watching the Pixio footage later was so valuable.  It didn't look nearly as good as it felt, and I could immediately see some things I wish I'd done differently - which I can now put into practice.

So I guess in conclusion, I'm not taking up Professional Trail Riding (TM).  I have a lot of good people in my corner - you guys, both of my trainers - a horse that greets me with a nicker each day, and a desire to keep learning even if the path to progress drives me absolutely insane sometimes.

Thanks for all the love - have a "Connor spooking at absolutely nothing to get out of doing work" GIF to brighten your Tuesdays:

Yeah there was actually absolutely nothing there.  I checked.