2023 & 2024 Riding Journey

#21 Lots of Lateral Work with Mariah

We rode again in the indoor arena again, and again I rode Mariah.  But this lesson, we did all the lateral work we missed out on last lesson.  

Vivie, Friend, and another girl who I don't think I've ridden with before but who I'll call Kiley, were part of this lesson.  Vivie rode Rugar (for the first time, I think), Friend rode Cordell, and Kiley rode Riggs.  I was on Mariah again.

It wasn't very long after I got on that my trainer gave me the first exercise and pretty much the only exercise of this lesson.  She wanted me to go around the circle of poles and try to get the outside front foot to step over each pole first.

Now, I've done this before but it's been awhile.  It's where you angle the horse on the circle so that their shoulder on the outside of the circle meets the pole first, and so it makes them want to step over the pole with their outside foot first.  You're still going around the circle, but the horse's hindquarters are placed to the outside, so the horse goes around at an angle.

I thought that when Mariah got it right I was to let her out of the bend as a reward, but my trainer was very clear that I was not to.  Now, Mariah is advanced enough that we want to ask her to step over the pole with her outside foot first several times in a row, and then we'd let her go straight. 

I did better going clockwise then I did counterclockwise.  Going counter-clockwise, it was harder for both of us, and I don't think we ever stepped over four poles in a row correctly, but we did two or three in a row.  My trainer was also clear that I needed to make sure Mariah walked straight out as a reward.  One time I steered her to avoid a pole, and my trainer didn't want me doing that because that created more bend, not less, and wasn't a good reward.

So, after we'd done that for awhile, my trainer told me to have some rounds of rising trot to give Mariah a mental break, then we'd come back to the poles and this time do the same exercise in sitting trot.

I picked up a nice rising trot and just rode that around for several laps in each direction while trying to stay out of people's way.  It was nice for her and I to just have a good trot round after the mental work on that exercise.

Then when we were done with that, we took a halted break by my trainer.  Kiley was using the circle of poles and doing sitting trot with Riggs.  They did really well, and then it was our turn.

I've never done this exercise in sitting trot, and it is harder. I would like to have been rising, but I think my trainer would've said that I needed that extra help from staying in the saddle with my seat, and I think she's right.  So there was a lot to think about.

The first round, going clockwise, went pretty good.  I got her to step over with her outside foot fairly soon into it, and so my trainer had us go straight and come to walk.  Took another break, and then went back to the exercise the same direction.

This time things didn't go quite as easily.  I struggled more with getting the right bend, but we made it and took another break.  I have to be honest, when you do the same exercise over and over, things start to blend together in your memories.  

Some of the things my trainer told me were to turn my whole body more towards the center of the circle, and to make sure she listened to my inside leg.  She needed to keep moving away from my inside leg, if she wasn't, then I needed to get onto her about it.  The temptation is to grind your heel into her side, but that is counter productive. Rather, the horse needs to know that if you've brought your leg in against their side like that, they need to stay away and keep moving away from it.

I also had to be careful with sitting trot, because it was so tempting to get tense, but that only makes things worse and makes her go faster.

So we took another break, and then it was time to attempt this going the other direction.  This direction was harder for both of us, and I knew it was probably going to be because it is my harder side.  I had to shorten up my inside rein by quite a bit, and be firm with my inside leg.  Mariah didn't like this and would get hissy about it by speeding up, but I had to stick with it.