Despite it being April, it's still quite chilly. Last week, I went to Okinawa, so it's been two weeks since my last ride.
I was worried about riding in the rain, but by the time I started, the sky had cleared, and once again, the lesson was enjoyable.
I took some time to review each element.
- Whether I was able to mount and dismount immediately. (Questionable)
- Whether I was able to give the horse enough propulsion within the first 5 minutes after mounting(Definitely not possible within 5 minutes.)
- While it's good to tighten my sides and bring my shoulder blades together, was I gently holding the reins at the same time?
- (I ended up focusing solely on tightening my sides.)
- When starting a canter and maintaining it, I managed to keep my abdomen tight and my hands holding the reins steady without moving them up and down. (This was achievable.)
*For this to work, the horse needs propulsion; merely tightening the abdomen without it is ineffective.
- When transitioning from a canter to a walk, keep the body in a leaned-back posture, never leaning forward. (I managed to do this midway through the lesson.)
- To slow down to a walk, use a leaned-back posture and tighten the abdomen to lower the force, without relying on the reins.
(I practiced this several times and was able to do it by the end.)
- Once at a walk, lift the feet that are on the horse's sides away for a few steps, then gently return them to the sides of the horse, squeezing it between them.
*This prevents the horse from speeding up from a canter to a walk. Apparently, if the legs are too far from the horse's body, the horse might stumble. (The horse stumbled because I didn't touch its body with my legs after a few steps, leading to imbalance.)
Combining these various tasks smoothly is the rider's responsibility.
So, how did I do?
The only thing I managed to improve significantly was keeping my hands steady without moving them up and down too much.
It was my first ride in two weeks, but I felt good about the canter.
The exhilarating feeling of the horse cutting through the wind is incomparable.