Ola pessoal! (Hi everyone! - Portuguese version)
Continuing the odyssey of my riding lessons, last friday’s lesson was a rather eventful one!
The lesson started with a few minutes walking around on the reins (still no saddle) as a warm-up. It was followed by half an hour of lunging, working on the balance (raising hands and looking up, doing "scissors" while trotting, etc), working the trot, canter and downward transitions. Afterwards I did some 15/20 minutes of exercise with the reins. This was when things got interesting!
I was doing canter on a left rein. I was having some difficulty doing everything at the same time, I kept going "Head up – shoulders back – back straight – keep moving with the horse – legs down – relax – keep contact with the horses mouth – keep asking with the legs - ..." over and over again. At some point I got too absorbed with posture and I let the reins get looser and I stopped asking. Catraia (Brat) started thinking in her head "Well, if ya’re not that keen on keeping this up we’ll just take a breather in the centre!". When we were going past E she just veered suddenly inside and stopped. When I felt her turning I had the excellent idea of pulling the outside rein by extending the outside hand and shoulder. As you are probably guessing the end result was: "Houston... we have lift-off!".
As I was going over what I felt could be translated as something of the kind of "What’s going on?? ... No wait, this is not happening! ... This is not happening! ... This is not happening! ... THUMP ... whhooooof ... OK... that... did... happen". It took me one or two seconds to get my bearings straight. I found out I was lying on my back, with the crop still on my right hand and the reins on my left, with the legs towards Catraia. I got up, got a proper hold on the mare, patted her and nodded to my instructor’s question.
Catraia was looking at me, and I could just imagine her saying "Ya know laddie... I’ve been around... I have a few years under the saddle and I tell ya – there are better ways of getting off!". It took me a couple of minutes to be able to speak again. It felt like someone was sitting on my chest and I couldn’t take a deep breath. I got up on the horse again with the single minded purpose of repeating the exercise. I was quite surprised (if not shocked) and I wanted to repeat it before fear or concern had time to creep up on me. We did a couple of laps at the walk while the instructor explained what had gone wrong. Then I did it again (paying attention this time) and everything went OK.
On the way home a just couldn’t stop smiling at my show (I would pay dear for a tape of the fall and my face). All in all it was an important lesson. On one hand it was a warning (when doing things I like, I tend to be fearless – or just plain reckless). It showed me how easy it is to fall if you’re not paying attention and also the importance of wearing a helmet. On the other hand it was reassuring! While I was not afraid of falling (it feels like it will never happen) I was expecting worse from even a simple fall (consequence of too little bike riding, and too few falls I guess). It hurt but it was no big deal – could have been better – but it can always be a lot worse. Just have to keep on going, be careful and hope for the best!
Pedro Fortunato
P.S.: As an end note here are the aids to the back-flop:
1. Get your horse up to the canter without saddle.
2. Don’t ask with the legs
3. Loosen the reins
4. When the horse decides to call it a day just lean to the outside
And there you go!
Continuing the odyssey of my riding lessons, last friday’s lesson was a rather eventful one!
The lesson started with a few minutes walking around on the reins (still no saddle) as a warm-up. It was followed by half an hour of lunging, working on the balance (raising hands and looking up, doing "scissors" while trotting, etc), working the trot, canter and downward transitions. Afterwards I did some 15/20 minutes of exercise with the reins. This was when things got interesting!
I was doing canter on a left rein. I was having some difficulty doing everything at the same time, I kept going "Head up – shoulders back – back straight – keep moving with the horse – legs down – relax – keep contact with the horses mouth – keep asking with the legs - ..." over and over again. At some point I got too absorbed with posture and I let the reins get looser and I stopped asking. Catraia (Brat) started thinking in her head "Well, if ya’re not that keen on keeping this up we’ll just take a breather in the centre!". When we were going past E she just veered suddenly inside and stopped. When I felt her turning I had the excellent idea of pulling the outside rein by extending the outside hand and shoulder. As you are probably guessing the end result was: "Houston... we have lift-off!".
As I was going over what I felt could be translated as something of the kind of "What’s going on?? ... No wait, this is not happening! ... This is not happening! ... This is not happening! ... THUMP ... whhooooof ... OK... that... did... happen". It took me one or two seconds to get my bearings straight. I found out I was lying on my back, with the crop still on my right hand and the reins on my left, with the legs towards Catraia. I got up, got a proper hold on the mare, patted her and nodded to my instructor’s question.
Catraia was looking at me, and I could just imagine her saying "Ya know laddie... I’ve been around... I have a few years under the saddle and I tell ya – there are better ways of getting off!". It took me a couple of minutes to be able to speak again. It felt like someone was sitting on my chest and I couldn’t take a deep breath. I got up on the horse again with the single minded purpose of repeating the exercise. I was quite surprised (if not shocked) and I wanted to repeat it before fear or concern had time to creep up on me. We did a couple of laps at the walk while the instructor explained what had gone wrong. Then I did it again (paying attention this time) and everything went OK.
On the way home a just couldn’t stop smiling at my show (I would pay dear for a tape of the fall and my face). All in all it was an important lesson. On one hand it was a warning (when doing things I like, I tend to be fearless – or just plain reckless). It showed me how easy it is to fall if you’re not paying attention and also the importance of wearing a helmet. On the other hand it was reassuring! While I was not afraid of falling (it feels like it will never happen) I was expecting worse from even a simple fall (consequence of too little bike riding, and too few falls I guess). It hurt but it was no big deal – could have been better – but it can always be a lot worse. Just have to keep on going, be careful and hope for the best!
Pedro Fortunato
P.S.: As an end note here are the aids to the back-flop:
1. Get your horse up to the canter without saddle.
2. Don’t ask with the legs
3. Loosen the reins
4. When the horse decides to call it a day just lean to the outside
And there you go!