i had a talk to RI instructor today about my progress. She says i am no different to any beginner (ie - no worse) - i talked to another one of her ladies today and she said it was just like deja vu, that listening to me was funny because she had been exactly the sam and said the same things - and she had lessons for over a year before getting her own. She also watched my lesson and saw i was getting annoyed with myself - she was really reassuring - she said once i get the correct position and technique it clicks and i will keep it from then on. she watched my lesson, and i watched her lesson after mine. She gave me hope that one day i will get my position right and my seat and balance will get better.
i didnt think i was getting any better but RI says i am. Maybe i am just expecting too much too soon. She said she will video me so i can see. My position just goes to pot when i trot or canter but, it is getting better. She is correct in saying i need to develop balance and my seat - i have to keep re -positioning myself and i think i have put too much pressure on myself to be perfect. Sometimes i think im just trying too hard instead of just enjoying it.
Also RI said today she had been thinking about what i had said regards getting my own pony and she says im not ready - she thinks i would pamper it too much and told me horses have to learn respect and manners. But she will give me the nod when she thinks im ready.
today i tacked up and had a really good lesson. I was back on usual pony. She went way over the time i paid for to be honest, I also tacked up for 2 other lessons (with supervision)
i apologise if i have given the wrong impression - sometimes i have felt that she perhaps forgot that im there voluntarily and that im there because i want to learn more than just riding, but i was too quiet and didnt say anything. Now i just ask. She is very forthright and i just need to be the same and it is paying off - and i do really enjoy being there - ive just had moments where ive thought i was being an idiot and she was taking the mick a bit....but to be fair she only ever suggested i go in on Saturdays when she has all the other volunteers on the yard - the fact is i tend to help out on the day of my lesson as well, and sometimes other days too - in truth its those days that i learn more as saturdays are too busy. As soon as i go back to work i will be back on shift so means if i do go down to volunteer it will be just a day or so a week, when i have my lesson and likely wont be weekends.
I meant to ask about hacking out today, but completely forgot. I will also look at perhaps doing an intensive course somewhere (if funds allow) or even look into a riding holiday.
i do appreciate the advice offered. I am not ignoring it, but obviously being there has made a difference as i can now do a full muck out in 20 mins, i can do rugs, i can put on a head collar, tie up a horse using the right knot, groom, pick feet and now tack up.I know how to safely turn a horse out into a field, and how to catch a horse from a field, I also can tell the difference between differing hays, i understand what laminitis is and how to prevent it taking hold at the first signs (and know what those signs feel like) and a little about feeds. My riding is improving, but ive not got past that point at which it all clicks.
ive only been going in to help for a couple of months, and i know way more than i did when i started.
and ive only been riding 4 months,which when i was working it wasnt every week, so i think ive just been expecting too much from myself tbh.
im going to try and relax a bit about it all and enjoy it more, even when im not perfect.