Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Until Further Notice

The title of this post sounds rather grim, when really I'm feeling anything but :) I had a GREAT lesson today on the lunge line, and holy mother of God am I sore. I'm not talking any easy ol' lunge lesson, I'm talking 50 minutes of nearly constant WTC work in the dressage saddle, sans stirrups. The title of my post of course refers to my recent decision to take the stirrups off of my dressage saddle indefinitely. To kick off this time of torture, I texted G a few days ago and her actual response was, "sure, I'll torture you." Not only was today the warmest day we've had this year, but the weather has been so crazy that it went from low 30s early last week to 85 today... not enough time for my body to adjust and Limerick used it as an excuse to be lazier than usual!

However, the warm weather makes me soooooo happy. Limerick is now shedding his wooly mammoth coat, it's warm enough to hose him off after a ride if necessary, and I can now ride until 8:00 if I feel like it :) I don't have much else to update other than we have another lesson on Saturday with S! I've been riding consistently and had a great conditioning ride on Monday, involving an hour or so of work out in the expansive fields behind the barn. Limerick was once again lazy, but we cantered and cantered and cantered around the uneven terrain, which allowed me to practice slightly leaning back as we went downhill, something that used to terrify me. I'll update after my lesson and will hopefully have some videos or pictures to share, as my parents and sister are coming to visit/watch!

Here are the videos from today (if you only have time to watch one, watch the last one... you'll see why):













15 comments:

  1. I recommend turning the volume down prior to watching vids. The wind was loud! Limmers was great on the line. That much time on a circle was a work out for him too. I don't think when I had my lunge lesson that I was on the line the whole time - breaks between. Anyways looked good! Glad that you have had good rides this week and that Lims is shedding out.

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    1. Ps I love your new banner ;)

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    2. I mean, we took a few tiny little breaks so I could drink some gatorade, but that was about it! Thanks, wonder who took it ;)

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  2. I actually don't ever think I've had a lunge lesson! Maybe I need to remedy that :)

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    1. Haha you should definitely give it a go! It was surprisingly fun! Grueling, but fun :)

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  3. Lunge lesson looks great & sounds like a great idea - but ye-ouchies...no stirrups = torture alright.
    You're a braver woman than i!
    Great to hear that all is going so well in Limerick land!
    Looking forward to the next update! :)

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    1. Haha it was quite ouchy, and my thighs were so sore at the end that I could barely hang on anymore, hence the last video where I almost fall right off of his side in a downward transition!

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  4. I've never had a lunge lesson but I think it looks seriously beneficial, especially for no stirrup work. I find no stirrups physically brutal, not just on my legs, but my back and core, which is probably a good indication that I need to do it more! I also CANNOT post stirrupless, at least on my horse. He's too slow and I've spent way too much time trying to learn to sit the trot instead. I just look like I'm flailing around when I try to post without stirrups.

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    1. It was seriously beneficial! And yes, back, abs, legs, etc. are still sore!

      Haha I used to flail around too, but I definitely got better at it with practice. It also helps that Limerick has a pretty expressive trot that propels you out of the saddle..

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  5. Ya no stirrups, I gotta get back into that myself.

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    1. It's pretty rough, but it'll so be worth it in the long run!

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  6. Dang I haven't had a lunge line lesson since I was in college and they were torturing us... looks like lots of good work was done :)

    btw it's been SOOO windy here too! Weird!

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    1. Haha you should try it again! It was insanely windy here all last week... It was nice on this particular day though, since it got so hot so fast!

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  7. Looking good!! Man its windy there!

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