Rocking Horses Don’t Care About Poor Riding Technique
by Eleanor - August 24th, 2009.Filed under: books, riding.
My First Palomino
Kicking Up My Heels
I recently ran across this picture of me as a young girl, riding my first “horse”. There are many pictures of my siblings and I with this horse in the background, so she was well-used and well-loved. Perhaps some fond memories of great backyard rides on this rocking horse burned into my brain a love of golden horses!
As a young girl on a metal and plastic toy, then later as a teen and young adult on the real live thing, I never thought much about riding technique. Well, that is until I got into Western showing, especially in the equitation classes where stiff body, heels down, don’t-move-or-breathe was the norm for me. All for the elusive blue ribbon; my poor horse!
Going Forward
Since I finally have Sage back on a track to health and fitness, after eight long years of trying to fix her, I can actually concentrate on getting on her back and riding her now. Before I jump on, though, save for a few bareback sessions, I have decided to concentrate on basic groundwork with her when I am out at the barn and read some books on riding when I am at home.
Sage is slimming down and toning up remarkably quickly at her new home, so she will be better able to carry me now than ever before. I certainly do not want to do anything up on her back to send her backwards in progress now that her spine and alignment are getting healthy. We have come too far, and I am in no hurry.
Riding Through The Pages
So, I picked up copies of Peggy Cummings Connected Riding and Connected Groundwork , Tom Nagel’s Zen and Horseback Riding, and I am re-reading Sally Swift’s excellent book Centered Riding. I also have a few more books on order from the library, but this is a good start. A goal of mine is to get some lessons in the near future, but for now the books – especially library books – are quite a bit more economical.