Today marks the last day I'll have Ai-chan drive on the Joban Expressway. Ai-chan, thank you for everything until the end.
I safely had a riding lesson at my home base riding club. Recently, the instructor seems to be shifting back to the previous style of lessons, little by little.
After a year-long break due to poor health, I'm finally shifting to lessons that use the entire riding arena.
Perhaps from next year, I'll start practicing the course again.
Course practice is difficult, but I've experienced and understand that overcoming it and participating in small competitions leads to
significant growth.
A few years ago, I obtained the A3 (formerly 1st grade) qualification, but I have no intention of acquiring any higher qualifications. If there's an opportunity to participate in a small competition, I might join, but now, I'm focused on navigating the course carefully and beautifully.
The instructor taught me things like bringing the shoulders in, foreleg pivoting, and diagonal leg yields,
but whether I can do them well in the future is uncertain.
Considering my physical strength, I think it's good enough if I can navigate the A3 course carefully and beautifully.
Once, an instructor challenged me.
"You are at the entrance of Mount Fuji now.
Your gear is perfect. The weather is good. You have the strength. Yet, you refuse to climb Mount Fuji?
It's all about your courage now. What will you do?
Will you turn back again?" they said.
I answered, "I will do it."
Since then, I have continued with hard lessons that may seem trivial to the average person but were difficult for me for about half a year.
Eventually, I changed to be able to ride horses with a strong reaction and those with some power.
And so, I was happily set to take the A3 exam.
"Just ride as you always do during practice," a different instructor told me. I was able to ride just as I did in practice.
And today, as I rode at a canter, keeping a three-beat rhythm, I was there.
Using a metronome, with a three-beat rhythm,
I reconfirmed that it's important to ride without disturbing the horse's natural rhythmic canter.