2022 Riding Journey

#39 First Ride on Romeo

Well, it turns out that I didn't get to ride Riggs again for my lesson, but go plopped right on Romeo.  I don't mind.  I think part of the reason was that my trainer wanted to give James a break from Cordell, so she put him on Riggs.  And Vivie was on Mariah again.

Romeo is looking lots better but is still kinda chubby.  However, he's been introduced into the lesson program, having done his first lesson the day before.  I wasn't sure what I was going to be doing with him, though I didn't think it'd be any jumping.

As soon as I mounted, I felt just how round he is lol.  Mariah is so skinny compared to him.

I wasn't sure just how much contact to have with him, so I struggled with my rein length a bit.  Turns out that he's really good with contact, so I needn't have worried. 

So, we just walked around the arena a bit, and I also added in some circles to see how he'd turn.  He was pretty good about all of it, and he wasn't quite as dull to the leg aid as I'd expected, although he was nothing like Mariah.

My trainer told me that he likes to put his head down, so we want to keep our rein length short enough he could only let his head hang level at most.  Of course, he's still not as fit as he needs to be, so if he really started to lean against me that was a sign that he was getting tired and probably needed a break.  

Then it was rising trot time.  Now, my trainer wants a good, steady rising trot on any horse, but especially for Romeo to help build up his fitness.  She also wanted me to keep doing circles in the corners.

His trot didn't feel too bad.  You did have to push him through the circles, as he'd want to slow down on those. And yeah, everything just went on basically as it should. 

So we went around one direction, and eventually Romeo started to breath a little heavier, snort, and even cough.  Now, I've experienced this before, and in my experience, you just need to let them 'cough it out' and then they'll be fine.

My trainer was not concerned, she had me bring him down to walk and change direction, then it was back to rising trot again and he was fine.  So I went around and did some more circles until I felt it was time for a break for him. 

We had a walk break, and then my trainer wanted me to do some cantering on him.  Just canter around like I had in trot, with circles in each corner.  She warned me the circles were probably going to have to be larger because he was still building up fitness.

The first round I went was to the right, or clockwise.  I did a circle to help him get the right lead when I asked for canter.  Sure enough, he got the right lead and on we went.  His canter felt like it was pounding, but now I realize that it might've been me pounding on him as I tried to sit it.  You really had to push him through the circles, and I think I should have made them a little bigger.

So we came down to walk, and then started cantering the other direction.  My trainer was happy with the transition, but then she said, "If it'd make it more comfortable for you, you can get into two point...  You're pounding on him right now, get in two point."  

Now please note, I have not cantered around in two point.  I've cantered in two point while jumping, but that's it.  So this was a new thing to me.

The first round of it was horrible.  I pushed myself too far up and forward, and felt like I was about to fall flat on Romeo's neck half the time.  Other times I fell back down into the saddle.  All of this was made harder by the fact that I had to push him through the circles.  Looking back, I needed to not push myself so far forward, and use my lower leg more to stabilize myself, and not let it swing so much.  

We cantered more this direction than we had the other one.  I assumed after that we were done cantering, but my trainer had us go the other direction one more time.  I think this might have been so that Romeo got worked equally on both sides,  but I'm not sure.

This time, I was a little more careful in how I did my two point.  I used my core more to support myself and keep myself up.  I also didn't thrust myself so far forward.  I could feel that I'd be touching the saddle at points, but I was never banging down into it.  So things went a lot better.

On our last circle, it was in the corner by the two telephone logs that are set up in a line.  I determined to make my circle go in between these two logs.  It was a tricky line to make, and I didn't have any help from Romeo, he didn't want to go through it.  But at the last moment he was like "Ugh, fine" and did it.  So my trainer had me bring him to walk and give him a long rein, because he hadn't wanted to do it but he had, and that was the end of our cantering.

We walked around for awhile on that longer rein in a lazy walk.  Then, to finish off the ride, Trainer wanted me to walk him around at a brisk pace until I felt like he was keeping that pace himself and I didn't have to nag him for it.  This was to help build up his fitness.  While doing that, she also wanted me to do a serpentine or bending lines along the rail. 

She also said that if she and James were going to leave the arena before I was done with that (Vivie had already finished her lesson and gone back), then she'd let me know so I could leave with them.  Apparently, Romeo is not comfortable yet with other horses leaving him alone in the arena. 

So I did that for awhile.  I wasn't sure how fast of a walk my trainer wanted, so I just pushed him about as fast as it felt like I could.  I had to resist the urge to grind my heels into him, that does not help keep a horse sensitive to the leg.

James was done with his lesson before I was quite finished with Romeo, but that's alright.  So, after that I dismounted and that was the end of the lesson.  It was a very basic one, but it's good to have simpler lessons every once in a while.  And I was right in my guess that I would enjoy riding Romeo. 

No lesson happened this week because it was too cold.  I don't know if I'll be on Romeo, or Riggs for my next lesson.

Also, I saw my trainer jumping Cordell as I was leaving.  Man, you wouldn't think he'd be that great at it with his conformation, but he is actually quite athletic!  Sure, it don't look the best, but he gets it done.

Actual lesson 11/8/2022