Since last year I have been trying to learn western, I say try, because in between lockdown, lessons have been on a huge waitlist and so far I have had 6! I am aiming for once and month at the moment and hope to increase this closer to when Django will need backing! It is definitely starting to feel daunting that I have a quarter horse who is only 18 months away from backing, and in the last 12 months I have only managed 6 lessons.... But fingers crossed for no more set backs!
My lesson before last felt really great, I had the honour of riding a horse new to lessons, still beautifully schooled and absolutely new her job, but just lacked a little confidence, whereas up to now the horses have all very much been riding school horses and knew their job inside out - even when I didn't have a clue.
It was nice to really feel my mistakes, and have to work harder and more accurately to get results, which I actually really enjoyed. Feeling her lope steady to the correct pace because of my commands and efforts was incredibly satisfying, oppose to the more experienced horse automatically loping at the correct speed with very little input. My last lessons was therefore very disappointing! And wow what an eyeopener! I had backache, yup just backache. We had been doing a lot of building work during the week, and I was feeling a bit weak and sore but nothing that had stopped me riding at home, but when I arrived I was on another newer to lessons horse and was really excited after my last lesson, however once we warmed up and started trot work I could not get this mare to turn right - not even a little. She was very sensitive, and due to my sore back, I just could not get the perfect balance in my seat, because my seat wasn't completely central, my commands through my hip and seat were then not crystal clear when I wanted to turn. I was really disappointed and I didn't even manage a lope, and was even finding walk hard work!
The next day I hopped straight on Ben and concentrated solely on my seat bones, sometimes when we have out hands to use, it is very easy to stop concentrating on our seat which fundamentally is the part most in contact with the horse. Western has improved my English riding so much, and I absolutely love every aspects from the training and horsemanship to the wonderful environment at shows.
I find this one of the toughest topics in the horse world, as everyone does something different. There are thousands of products on the market – all claiming they can cure everything – and nutritionists are often affiliated with a feed company, making any advice potentially biased.
I can say I’ve been able to tick something off my bucket list now: I managed to mount and ride a camel – a brilliant experience. I had great fun grooming my one, named Baxter, and I think the people running it were happy they had people that were used to dealing with big animals and weren’t afraid to get stuck in.
I thought in this first blog post I ought to tell you a little bit about my horses and me, and give you an insight into what you might see from us going forwards. Firstly, my name is Emma. I’m 29 years old and I’ve been riding for as long as I can even remember.
I am currently lightly backing my three-year-old American Quarter Horse before turning him away for the winter. In my previous post, I explained the setbacks this year, and frustratingly I had to start the process much later in the year than I’d anticipated. But things were going well, too well…