Virtual Brush Box

Practice two-point! Ride without stirrups! Sit the trot! Build balance and leg strength! Awesome exercises!

Maybe not.

Last week, I joined the group lesson for suit-level equitation riders. All the fancy riders were mounted on amenable lessons horses such as Freckles, Bingo, & Fido instead of their own enthusiastic equines. I rode Natalie. She enjoyed the lesson immensely. Since I was all wrapped up in my leg and seat, she had her head to do whatever. At first this meant jogging around slowly like a Western pony. Then during the pattern, she decided that galloping down the longside back to her friends was more fun than a horse should be allowed to have. Most of the horses behaved similarly, hence the use of schoolies rather than performance horses.

I reverted.

Ask me to two-point. I slide into hunt seat. Ask me to two-point at a canter. I start hallucinating jumps. Ask me to do a sitting trot. I slide into a dressage seat. I could do that all day long, particularly on a smooth-moving American Saddlebred.

At my next solo lesson, Coach had to remind me to sit to the back of the saddle and to get my hands out of my lap. It’s been a while since I was that blatantly non-saddle seat. These leg lessons are meritorious. I do not deny. However, my legs are not my weakest link. Exuding the air of an elegant saddle seat rider is. I’m not convinced that the benefit to the former is worth the damage to the latter.

Trying again today. We shall see.

BTW, what happens if I am riding hunt seat &/or dressage on a regular basis and having saddle seat lessons once a week? I should have such problems.