I am ecstatic! We have made tangible progress! For those of you who don't know me or know me well, I am not patient. And not like I don't like waiting an hour for a cake to bake because I want to eat it not patient. I mean like if it (whatever it is) doesn't happen now I lose my mind not patient. The only way I don't lose my mind is if there is a very strict plan. I operate well with major milestones. So on my path to success I've had several. The first being getting back into riding. Next would be acquiring some legitimate prospects. Then teaching them to walk, trot, and canter. After that I would count getting the jumps as a big milestone and then teaching the boys to jump. Although we haven't worked on course work, and that is something that needs to be accomplished, I would say I'd hit a stagnate period. Not that I wasn't working toward anything, believe me, I am every day, but the hum drum flat work that I repeat day in and day out (because the jumps are being painted currently) was getting me down.
I appreciate flatwork as much as the next guy but my training plan was less of a plan and more of a fly by the seat of my pants thing. I know that Panda doesn't turn well and I aim to work on that. It's just that I don't really know how. We do circles, serpentines, I use the ever living crap out of my legs and it's all with very noble intent. It just isn't accomplishing what I'm really wanting to accomplish. And yet I do it. Over and over and over again. I don't know how life works for you guys out there but when I am trying to accomplish something and my methods don't work, trying the exact same methods again generally doesn't get me a different result. I'm not sure why this logic eludes me while riding. I think it's mainly because I have no other options or ideas and doing something is better than doing nothing.
With all that in mind, I'd been wanting to focus on improving (or just acquiring) my dressage skills for quite some time (who DOESN'T want to score 9 on the centerline?!). I don't know if it was a particularly awful ride on Panda, a frustration with Marvel's fabulous but not appreciated counter bend, some good nights at the bar (extra$$), or a realization that I will never score well on my dressage tests with a combination of my lack of knowledge (having only enough to know we're doing it wrong) and the boys' lack of skills but I bit the bullet and started searching for a dressage trainer.
If you think College Station isn't horse country, you're wrong. If you think College Station is only for barrel racers and cowboys, you're also wrong. If, after reading the above two statements, you are thinking that dressage trainers are a dime a dozen, you are 3 for 3 in being wrong. Congratulations. Dressage seems to be one of the few disciplines that is not as highly sought after in our area. And let's face it, who ever REALLY wants to do more flatwork. :) No but seriously, searching for dressage trainers was like finding someone here that will admit to you they are a die hard UT fan. It'll happen, and they'll be in your face when you find them, but you're gonna have to do some searching.
My first shot was our local dressage farm. Amanda was going to take with me and we wanted to ride a few schoolmasters to figure out what the right feel was. We were shot down. No schoolmasters for us to ride. But we were totally welcome to trailer our own horses in and take lessons on them. Super! Awesome! So yeah, about the whole trailer... We don't have one. We were going to call back and see if the trainer would be willing to come out and teach us but the way she was trying to sell me on dressage after I was the one who contacted her looking for lessons didn't sit well with me. I mean I was honest and told her we were new to dressage but I've still been riding for 13 years. I know how to keep my heels down and I also know what dressage is.
That was the beginning and end of my knowledge of dressage trainers in the area. Until I realized I have a friend who has a friend (who knows a guy whose aunt's cousin's sister... kidding!) who teaches dressage lessons and trains horses. After religiously stalking her web page and her facebook page I decided she was worth a shot. Email sent. Fingers crossed. At this point I was so excited to take lessons that I was checking my email every 10 minutes. My phone would just unlock to the email screen by the time I received an email back (not really, but I think it was getting close). SHE COULD TEACH US LESSONS AT THE BARN! AAAAAAHHHH. I think those were almost my exact words to Amanda when I sent her a text. SO excited!
So our first lesson was yesterday afternoon. I arrived at the barn 2 and a half hours early JUUUUUUUST in case. I was hoping Marvel was in a fantastic mood, which he always is, so we could strut our lack of stuff for our new trainer! I was also hoping Amanda was in a good mood so she would like our new trainer. We quickly got down to work and it was more than apparent that my personal assessment of Marvel and myself was dead accurate, we know nothing. However we are not a hopeless case! We worked on bending and turns on the forehand. Marvel decided to forget he knows how to get his leads and also started throwing a 5 year old temper tantrum near the end by refusing to bend but if that's the worst of his temper tantrums I'll take it. I'm working Marvel and Panda on the bends and turns on the forehand for the rest of the week and next week I'll be riding Panda. I can only hope he gets such rave reviews.
I am so excited that we've achieved a new milestone and I think having lessons with both Maggie and Sarah (our new trainer) will really keep my fire lit. Also, the warmer weather and longer days that are quickly approaching will make riding a lot easier. Or at least give me more time to do it.
The journey of 1000 miles begins with the first step. Sometimes I'm scared to take the step because I think it won't matter in the grand scheme of things. I guess I'd rather jump off the cliff and crash and burn. Foundation is everything. EVERYTHING. It's funny that the small step is scarier than the free fall jump. If you never start you'll never find out how far you can go. There's so many different cliché sayings but they're all so true. Just keep on marching toward your dreams one step at a time. That's what we're doing!
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