30 day Equestrian Challenge – day 2

Welcome back! Today, I’m going to be doing question 2 of the equestrian challenge, and it asks:

“The last time you rode a horse and what you did.”

The last time I rode a horse was 3 days ago. I rode Diva, and we had such an amazing lesson. She was behaving so well, and except for a little (also know as a lot) of stubbornness in picking up canters and trots, she was perfect.

Now, to actually answer the question, we did a hunter course. It consisted of :

-A funny looking jump that was propped up by bushes, had cross rails, and a flower box in front.

-Jumps on the quarter line

-Jumps on the outer line

I don’t have any pictures, but you can imagine it in your head. (Or do I have pictures?) Diva was awesome, though! We’ve had 2 amazing lessons in a row, which has never happened before. She picked up a canter without my crop (one of the rarest things ever), and she jumped all the jumps without a fuss. She picked some really awkward distances though, and let’s just say I was caught off guard more than once (no I didn’t fall, if that’s what you’re thinking). She literally leapt at the jumps, which weren’t even that big, and had it been a 3′ oxer, it might have been understandable. It was mainly because I was lifting myself out of the saddle too early, rushing Diva, and making her think that she should jump. Once I fixed it, we found a better distance.

All in all, we had a pretty amazing lesson, and Diva was such a little angel for me. Now, enjoy these next few pictures.

(This is Diva saying “hi”)

(I found her itchy spot, so somebody was clearly enjoying a neck rub)

(Here’s another picture, 10 seconds later.)

(The one we’ve all been waiting for. She did this really big yawn, and did another one as soon as she was finished. The sleepy pon is adorable 🙂 )

About Diva

Diva is the stubborn, sassy, slow-going warmblood mare whom I love, and ride. She has a nice jump, and she knows lots. However, she’ll pretend that she doesn’t know anything, and will spook on purpose. It takes her forever to get going, meaning that I have to carry around a dressage whip. (We’ve been chased around with a lunge whip one too many times).

(See that tail swishing, and my crop out? She sure is one sassy mare!)

When you’re getting on her, she’ll walk off even if half of your body is still on the mounting block. She pins her ears a lot, whether its at me, other horses, or anybody who goes near her. She steals hay, tosses her head when she’s on the cross-ties, and just generally behaves rudely. Diva pretends that she doesn’t feel your leg, and does the complete opposite of what you want. I once rode her with twisted reins, and she behaved perfectly (meaning that she literally does the opposite of what you want). Oh, I almost forgot – corners. They are our biggest challenge. Diva zooms away as soon as she nears a corner. She’ll take off, heading halfway across the ring in an attempt to avoid it. She’s gotten a lot better since our first ride, but in every corner, she’ll still try to run away.

(We are soooo far from the corner)

But Wait – there’s a good side to her as well, the reason that I haven’t switched horses yet. She has the gentlest, kindest, warm chocolate brown eyes, and when she looks at you, its like she understands every problem in the world.

(See those eyes? They’re so sweet, and intelligent!)

Also, her gleaming chestnut coat, her thick, dark, mane, and her white socks make her a beauty to look at. She’s an absolute darling to tack up, and doesn’t hesitate for the bit. When Diva decides to be good, she is the most perfect horse ever. Diva has her flying lead changes (whoop, whoop), and when she gets a steady canter, she’ll hold it there.

(Her ears are pricked when she canters, and they make her look adorable!!!!)

She’s very predictable, so I know if she’s going to try to throw me off by doing a tight turn, skip her corner, stop dead, run out of a jump, or speed up. When we jump, it feels amazing, as I don’t have to half-halt every stride like the other ponies that I’ve ridden, and I know that she’ll jump the jumps perfectly (except for those rare awkward distances).

(Her jump feels amazing!)

Most importantly though, Diva teaches me so much about riding, and handling situations. Because of her, I know when to be tough, and when to be gentle. When she does do something correctly, I feel a sense of accomplishment that I haven’t felt with any other horses before, and I feel super happy and proud. So yes, she is as obnoxious as she is stubborn, and she is as clever as she is sly, but I think those are some of the leading factors behind why I love this gleaming, chestnut, animal so much.

 

 

30 day Equestrian challenge – Day 1

The other day, I found a 30 day challenge that I thought would be pretty fun to do. Day one asks:

“When and why you started riding”

Well, the first time that I had ever sat on a horse was when I was 5 or 6, for a pony ride at a fair. I loved the feeling of just being on a horse, and I found it really ‘cool’. I started taking riding when I was 7. I had gotten into it because a friend of my moms found this barn about 20 minutes away from our house. He called us to see if I was interested, and I was! Before that, I had never thought of riding horses as a weekly thing, and actually learning to do things! 

(The barn that I started riding at – this was around a year later. the barn switched locations shortly afterwards. I look so little next to a horse like Roy!)

When I got to the barn, I remember being given a helmet, and I remember being shown two ponies – Gypsy (the little grey one), and Troubadour (a 20+ year old appaloosa sport pony).  I asked the people (Amanda and Scott) “which one is the fastest?” Gypsy was the faster pony (being a former barrel pony), so I chose her. That lesson, I learned how to make Gypsy walk, halt, and turn. We did some figure eights, and that was enough to satisfy me. Our lesson was only 30 minutes, but to me, they were the best 30 minutes of my little life!

(Gypsy – this was my last lesson with my coach, Amanda, around 3 years after I started riding.)

(This is the Challenge – if you want, you can mention my blog, and contact me when you do it as well!)