OK, I haven't really seen many pumpkins since I've been here in Merrimac (truth be told I haven't seen much besides horses), but I like this photo.
Last year during our trip to Merrimac the weather was cold and drizzly and generally unpleasant. This year the weather has been great. We've been riding in the outdoor arena, which is ringed with trees turning all kinds of lovely colors -- and yesterday it was warm enough for just a t-shirt. Aaahhhh. I could get used to this.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Another (finally) awesome day
I rode Numenor again this morning. He's a bit of a lazy bastard -- at least at the walk -- so I ended up poking him a lot with my new big-ass spurs. I'm not used to riding lazy-ass horses, so I was kind of nagging at him until Vitor told me that if I kept doing that, the horse would buck me off.
My morning lesson started OK -- not great -- and then went downhill from there. Vitor was yelling at me a lot because I couldn't keep the horse straight. Finally he put me on the long lines to help me out. We mostly worked on keeping the horse straight, with Vitor correcting my position. We did a couple of flying changes which were so smooth that I could hardly tell they'd even occurred. We did some half-pass at trot and canter. Finally Vitor just put me on a circle -- still on the long lines but with him in the middle of the circle -- and helped me find my own balance and balance/flex the horse and work on (for the horse) getting the hind legs stepping under and (for me) lengthening/shortening the stride with my post. I don't remember how it happened, but it all culminated in a canter pirouette that was so amazing. So light, so effortless. At the end I burst into tears just as the onlookers burst into applause. Amazing. Really amazing. All day, every time I've thought about it, I've cried. Amazing.
I hope I never forget it, although knowing me, I probably will.
In the afternoon I rode Niquel, who is a much more forward horse. It was a beautiful afternoon -- sunny and warm enough for shirtsleeves (for those of us who were riding, anyway) -- so we rode in the outdoor arena which is set back among the trees (all fall colors). I had a semi-private lesson with Vitor, who alternated between me and Debra. He kind of turned me loose to play around with Niquel but also coached me on my position and on bending the horse and the importance of the circle in getting the horse to load the hind legs correctly and set up for half pass. My left hip did not want to cooperate most of the time but it was fun anyway.
I have to find a way to come here more often. There's no way I can do this only five days out of the year. It'll take me a million years to progress at that rate.
My morning lesson started OK -- not great -- and then went downhill from there. Vitor was yelling at me a lot because I couldn't keep the horse straight. Finally he put me on the long lines to help me out. We mostly worked on keeping the horse straight, with Vitor correcting my position. We did a couple of flying changes which were so smooth that I could hardly tell they'd even occurred. We did some half-pass at trot and canter. Finally Vitor just put me on a circle -- still on the long lines but with him in the middle of the circle -- and helped me find my own balance and balance/flex the horse and work on (for the horse) getting the hind legs stepping under and (for me) lengthening/shortening the stride with my post. I don't remember how it happened, but it all culminated in a canter pirouette that was so amazing. So light, so effortless. At the end I burst into tears just as the onlookers burst into applause. Amazing. Really amazing. All day, every time I've thought about it, I've cried. Amazing.
I hope I never forget it, although knowing me, I probably will.
In the afternoon I rode Niquel, who is a much more forward horse. It was a beautiful afternoon -- sunny and warm enough for shirtsleeves (for those of us who were riding, anyway) -- so we rode in the outdoor arena which is set back among the trees (all fall colors). I had a semi-private lesson with Vitor, who alternated between me and Debra. He kind of turned me loose to play around with Niquel but also coached me on my position and on bending the horse and the importance of the circle in getting the horse to load the hind legs correctly and set up for half pass. My left hip did not want to cooperate most of the time but it was fun anyway.
I have to find a way to come here more often. There's no way I can do this only five days out of the year. It'll take me a million years to progress at that rate.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Bliss
Almost exactly one year after I took this photo*, I'm back at Vitor Silva's riding school in Merrimac, MA. I rode this horse, Numenor, today. It was so incredible -- I can't even begin to describe it. For those of you who know dressage, you will understand how cool it is that I PIAFFED on this horse today. It was so amazing, I cried. ACTUAL TEARS AND EVERYTHING. Of course, getting to that point wasn't easy -- I was doing a lot of stuff wrong and the horse was objecting -- strenuously -- in some cases, to the point of rearing and bucking (and me without my stirrups!). But SO AMAZING once I got it.
For those of you who don't know about dressage, please understand that piaffe is one of the most advanced movements that a horse can do. Not many horses advance to the level where they can do this. So not many people get to experience this, although most of us dream about it.
Tomorrow will be a huge disappointment, of course. That's just the way these things go. There will be ups and downs the rest of the week. But today was incredible.
*I have to post photos from last year's trip because, like a dumbass, I forgot to bring the cord to download photos from my camera.
For those of you who don't know about dressage, please understand that piaffe is one of the most advanced movements that a horse can do. Not many horses advance to the level where they can do this. So not many people get to experience this, although most of us dream about it.
Tomorrow will be a huge disappointment, of course. That's just the way these things go. There will be ups and downs the rest of the week. But today was incredible.
*I have to post photos from last year's trip because, like a dumbass, I forgot to bring the cord to download photos from my camera.
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