Lesson Review

On Wednesday, I rode Murphy.  There was a bit of confusion over whether Murphy was allowed to jump since the BO says yes and the BM says no.  L decided to go with yes, since it's the BO who deals with Murphy's owner, but we kept the jumps to cross rails.  I assume that's the reason I didn't get to jump verticals this week when the other girls did, but it could also simply be that I was riding like a drunk driver.

Murphy is wiggly, for lack of a better word.  And of course, my exaggerated crest release and long reins don't add to the situation.  Or so L tells me.

One time we actually had a run out.  Complete rider error.  Murphy didn't try to run out.  He was just so squiggly going into the jump that before my brain had a chance to decide how to correct it, my leg decided to save us and push him around the jump.

Oh, yeah, and Murphy's only English saddle is a dressage saddle.  The theme of the night seemed to be: let's put the beginner jumper on a horse who may or may not be allowed to jump, in a dressage saddle, and just see how it goes.  Oh well, I'm adaptable.

line, rollback, line, diagonal, line

After the lesson, I hopped on Walker and gave him a spin.  Nothing too exciting - a little work on the bit, a couple turns around the arena, some halt/reverse/canter transitions.  He was a good boy.

After two rides in a row, my back was killing me.  Lately, I've been having serious lower back problems which are worse than my normal back problems.  It's not the usual stabbing kind of pain that I get in my upper back, but more like I had little to no control over my lower body.  My massage therapist tells me it's almost like my spine is being compressed by all the pressure on it from the riding, which I feel is more of a dramatic explanation than a medical one, but it's probably something to keep an eye on.

Tonight I'm being lazy and giving Walker the day off even though he got the day off yesterday.  Sometimes on a Friday night, a girl just needs a drink and chick flick.