Horse Talk

[chickluvinfreak]

Your toes should be straight and pointing foward. I struggle with the same thing. You just have to relax your ankles and point your toes in towards your horse. It will feel exaggerated but if you have someone stand in front of you and check they should look straighter. It might not seem like that big of a deal which way your toes are pointing. But holding them straight will give you better knee and thigh contact with the saddle.

 

[duckmeister]

Cute! Is she really big or is the saddle really small? Or am I just seeing it weird?

It's a training saddle the size of an english saddle.

 

[drumstick diva]

Bunny I loved the story about Obie. I'm glad he had a happy ending.

 

[abigalerose]

Your toes should be straight and pointing foward. I struggle with the same thing. You just have to relax your ankles and point your toes in towards your horse. It will feel exaggerated but if you have someone stand in front of you and check they should look straighter. It might not seem like that big of a deal which way your toes are pointing. But holding them straight will give you better knee and thigh contact with the saddle.

Hmm okay. I noticed too that my grandpas legs stick out a little on her too and I think it may be partly because she's a small horse so our feet hit at a weird spot, but mine stick out way more so I'll have to work on it. Probably because I focused so hard in the beginning on not gripping with my legs becuase I didn't want to dull her to pressure

Now I look like I'm doing the splits

 

[chickluvinfreak]

Hmm okay. I noticed too that my grandpas legs stick out a little on her too and I think it may be partly because she's a small horse so our feet hit at a weird spot, but mine stick out way more so I'll have to work on it. Probably because I focused so hard in the beginning on not gripping with my legs becuase I didn't want to dull her to pressure

Now I look like I'm doing the splits

Have you read "Centered Riding" by Sally Swift? It's a great book on correct riding position and posture. It is much more helpful and detailed than my explanation and may help. Theirs also videos.

 

[henny1129]

Hello everyone! I'm just stopping in for a bit to share what my last lesson/training went with Libby. We had to work in the small arena because the big one was filled with water, so we couldn't work in cantering much. We did work on tucking, consistency in gaits, bending, and circles. We also did a lot of work on a loose rein. Here's a pic, and I also realized that I look like a little peanut when I'm riding a horse.

 

[abigalerose]

Thanks! I'll look into it.
And I'm jealous of your fence! Lol
June loves being ridden on a loose reign, I've had people ride her with tight reins and she'll just stand there and ignore everything they ask

I've been trying to trot her down the driveway lately to work on her consistency (may have already said that) and when she breaks into her real fast bumpy trot I get a little nervous and tighten the reins, so I need to work on that. We've only ridden twice out in the wide open country side (meaning if she decided to take off there would never be any fence to stop her, like there would in a pasture! Lol) and that makes me a little nervous, but so far so good. Last time we trotted all the way down the driveway and around the side of the barn to the gate, our longest trot without stopping (she stops and goes in the round pen

)
And we "pole bend" around the row of bushes along the driveway. Riding out there also gets her use to being around cars and tractors.
I can also throw a rope off of her while she's walking and trotting (I'm just not a good enough roper to rope anything and I have issues multitasking

).
I guess she's gonna be my "all around" horse.

I've been enjoying our time together so much lately that on the days I don't ride it makes me feel depressed lol

 

[henny1129]

Libby seems to enjoy riding on the loose rein, lets her stretch out her back! That's funny!

June is adorable, she seems like a sweetheart!

 

[abigalerose]

June stretches out really far sometimes! I have to manually pull her head up on occasion if I want to trot because she'll get so relaxed and have her head way down. And she's the biggest sweetheart, everyone told me I was crazy/stupid to choose her as my first horse to train because they claimed palominos are crazy, mares are hot headed, and young horses have to much go. They thought she'd be a wild combination. Pft. My cousin claims that since she's palomino she'll get crazy as she gets older, or at least more stubborn. I don't see the crazy, but she is pretty stubborn lol

 

[henny1129]

Lol! That's interesting, I've never actually if of the Palomino's are crazy thing, but I did ride a Palomino once that had a lot of spunk......