Saturday Lesson Recap!

And Checkers makes a return appearance! I was so happy to see my name next to hers on the board - I really like her and she is defintitely my favorite ride at the barn.

Looking deceptively sweet here. She's super reliable and good at her job, but I love her for that opinionated chestnut mare thing shes got going on..

In other news, I seriously have no idea how the barn schedules lesson horses - I think I've ridden all of them (except the little ponies) by now and it's never the same horse back to back. Part of me is happy because I am constantly having to adjust to a new horse and probably am becoming a better rider, the other part of me really misses having a bigger connection with any of them.

So, while it was super nice to have a forward thinking horse again, I had a bit of adjusting to do to get where I needed to be for that over enthusiastic jump of hers. Honestly, I even have trouble getting in the right place int he saddle on the flat with her - it's OK, but I feel like I'm on the verge of tipping forward always, where on the other horses I feel solid.  Checkers is funny, the little warm up cavaletti gets jumped the same height as the 'big' jumps in the combination (about 2'6" tall and equally wide, so not big at all for people braver than me! :) At any rate, if you can ride one nicely, you're good to go for all of them, she'll give you the same jump every time.  First round was not my best - instructor said last line was optional as I was riding to it, so I considered circling, then changed my mind at the last minute and went for it without planning overly well and ended up on a funny stride in. We got seriously lost in the middle of the combination, ending up too deep the second part, where Checkers saved the day, but I got jumped out of the tack and ended up on her neck and almost minus a stirrup or two. Regrouped somewhat for the third jump, and managed to ride out looking somewhat together. Since I scared myself a little and also felt bad for poor Checkers dealing with me, I opted for a 'safe' round the second time and left out the last line. Not my best effort, but I'll take it. I'm such a perfectionist it's going to drive me nuts until next time, and even though Splash and I had a couple of good trips through a similar line a few days ago, I'd love a 'do over' on Checkers - I feel like we rocked the flatwork, but I owe her a  better ride over the jumps.