I Shall Learn!

Do you ever feel like you can't do anything right? That's how I felt at my riding lesson yesterday.
I feel like I forget everything I know as soon as I need to use it. A few things I did totally wrong:

• I had too short of reins. 
• I sat way too far forward.
• I had my foot too far in the stirrup.

Do any of you know how to fix those? Because I have no clue how to stop. 

On the bright side, we put Tuesday on the walker for the first time, and she did great! I also cleaned and polished all my tack so now it's all shiny and new-looking! >-<

Also, sorry for the lack of pictures in my posts but it's hard to take photos AND do everything I need to do with my horse. Maybe I can show you my grooming supplies or something? I don't know. What would YOU like to see? A few options...

• Grooming supplies

•  What's in my tack box

• Pictures of Ruby Tuesday (my horse)

•  Videos of me riding

Or anything else you think of. :) Comment down below your advice for what I'm having trouble with, as well as what you'd like to see. Thanks for reading! Bye!

~Tenley

 

Am I Scared Of My Horse?

Hey!
So, I'm with my Dad for 3 weeks, and he's only taking me to 1 riding lesson within that time so yeah... My apologies for the lack of posts. I am going to ride on Tuesday, so I'll probably post then.  
           I'm going to try to convince my stepbrother to come to my riding lesson, because I've been to SO MANY of his baseball games and practices. (Every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, Fall and Spring.) Going to one of my riding lessons wouldn't kill him, would it? Now, what I'd like to talk about is this: I think I'm scared of Tuesday. (Not the day, my horse's name is Tuesday.) Here's why.

     The first time I rode Tuesday, she broke into a gallop and threw her head down. Which obviously freaked me out. Long story short, I flew over her neck and hurt my ankle pretty bad. Luckily, it wasn't  broken. So, even though I wasn't hurt horribly, I was terrified. Now, I can't help but hold the reins a little stiffly and sort of freak out when Tuesday does anything different then a simple trot.
      Am I scared of my horse? I think so. How do I fix this? I have no clue. It's like I totally forget all I've learned when I get on Tuesday. Don't get me wrong, I love her, she's a wonderful horse. I love going to see her and I will talk to her and pet her in her stall for hours, but riding her? That's a little more difficult.

      I'm going to have to at least canter her at some point, but how? What do I do to get rid of my fear? Let me know any advice you may have in the comments. Bye!

~Tenley
Have you ever been scared of a particular horse, or just horses in general?

What I did at my riding lesson yesterday

Hi.
Sorry I didn't post yesterday, I was rather busy, but today I'll tell you how the riding lesson went. I tried 3 different saddles, because we're looking into buying one so I don't have to borrow one anymore. Here's a picture of one of them in the store:

We also tried the one behind it. The first saddle was too big, the second one too small, and the third one too old. So, at my next lesson I get to try out another saddle. *Sarcastic Cheering* Nobody stayed to watch my lesson, so I didn't get any pictures of me actually riding, but I did get a picture of Tuesday in the cross-ties.

Sorry it's not the best. I think she's looking at the feed-truck lol. At my lesson we lunged her, and then I just did some basic work at the trot in each saddle. She was pretty good being lunged, she only bucked a little. For those of you who don't know what it means to lunge a horse, it's when you have the horse on a long rope, (A lunge line) and you put them in some sort of an arena or enclosure, and basically let them run some energy out. You also use a whip to pop the ground if the horse doesn't move. That was a really bad explanation, but at least you sort of know what lunging is now. Sorry for such a boring post, I may show my grooming supplies later today. I have the pictures ready for that. Anyway, bye!

~Tenley

I Still Need Practice!

Hey!

As promised, here are things I need to work on in my riding.

•Keep my stinkin' heels down! 

I have way more trouble with this than I should. I REALLY need to keep my heels down! TOES UP HEELS DOWN TENLEY! HEELS DOWN! 

•Keep only my toe in the stirrup!

I always have like, my whole foot in the stirrup... And that is NOT GOOD!

•Look up!

I seriously don't even look where I'm going. It's like driving with your eyes closed... And I NEED to stop doing it! 

•Sit back!

I keep leaning forward when Tuesday advances to a faster gait, this is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS, because I've already toppled over her neck and been run over by her at a gallop.

•Stop flinging my legs around!

Okay, so I know that sounds weird but when I kick, I use my whole leg and end up flying around if the horse is cantering or galloping.

•Just fixing my equitation and position in general.

Yep, I need to work on a lot. If you ride, can you help me fix any of these? I'd love to hear some tips. I'll try and post tomorrow, I have a riding lesson at 9:00 tomorrow morning. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks for reading! See ya' later!

~Tenley

P.S: Shout out to Maddie... 'Cause you're awesome, don't forget that. 

My Riding Story

Howdy!
This is my first real post on this blog. Here I will explain the story of my riding journey, and how I got to where I am today.

This picture is REALLY old! It's from when I took my first riding lessons, on an Appaloosa mare named Dally. I barely remember taking lessons there, I was around 5 years old. Then we moved... and I didn't take riding lessons for another 5 years.

Yay! Now stuff I remember! This picture is from my first lesson at the place I ride at to this day, I don't even have proper riding boots or pants in this picture! This was in early December 2014, 7 months ago! The horse's name is Lyric, she is a dartmoor pony who I rode until very recently, this month!

That's me just a few weeks ago, on my own horse, Ruby Tuesday! I have improved so much since I started, but I still have stuff to learn! In my next post, I will share with you what I'm working on in my riding! Thanks so much for reading! Bye!

~Tenley

Hello!

Hi!
I've decided that since I'm really getting into riding, I'd make a blog for it. I'm looking forward to posting here and I hope you'll like my posts. :) I'd love to talk to fellow equine fans! Even if you've never ridden a horse in your life, you're welcome hear to here about my horse crazy life. I'll create an "About" page soon so you can learn more about my horse life. Thanks for stopping by!

~Tenley