New Experiences

Well, I rode my youngest, greenest horse yesterday. A 3 year old, Appendix gelding, 15.3hh with 60 days under saddle. His owner, just got him back from training and was unable to ride him for 2 weeks because of an injury (tor his left shoulder blade wide open). So today she tried to ride him for the first time since he's been off and he was a little fresh. She hadn't cantered on him yet but he kept taking off on her which would result in her panicking, yell and yank on him. So when she gave up I asked if she wanted me to give him a go. So I got on and yeah he was pretty forward, but not unmanageable; At least to me. I walked him around a bit to get a feel for him. He was pretty unsteady with contact, so I work on that first. Once he was a bit more steady I tested out our half halts. He wasn't completely coming back to my seat, but he wasn't ignoring it either. I think it was just mostly him trying to figure out my specific riding style. Once I felt comfortable we moved on to the trot. I made sure to half halt right after I gave him the cue to trot, just to make sure that his first step of trot was going to be calm and not to forward. I had him working pretty good, nice and relaxed, with light contact with the bit and without to much tension in his back. I kept talking to him, telling him "easy" and "good boy", just to keep both him and I relaxed. We repeated the exercise on the other side and called it quits. When I got off I just gave his owner some tips on how to stay relaxed when you ride, cause she was obviously what was setting him off. She was so nervous and so tense, that it was making him so nervous and so tense.
My BM was laughing at me saying that two years ago, I was scared of just being led around on a horse and now I am helping people with their horse related problems lol.
I was just really proud of myself for getting on and riding him through his issues. Under saddle, I didn't even know this horse. All I knew was that the last session he had with his trainer, before getting injured, he had dumped her lol.

Life's Experiences

Since the day I was born, I have always owned horses. I would like to say that I have been riding for over 20 years, but that would not be completely accurate. I have been a passenger for over 20 years. I only started taking professional riding lessons two years ago. Discipline of choice: Dressage. I currently own an 11 year old purebred Arabian Gelding named, Alexx. I would say that this horse is the reason that I have dedicated all my spare time to learning everything I can about all aspects of training and riding these magnificent creatures. Three years ago, when I obtained my horse, he had only 30 days under saddle from when he was 3 years old, and had hardly been handled between the ages of 3 to 8 years old. He was a pasture ordainment and a lot more horse than what I could handle! I tried to get him going under saddle again on my own, but I was just not qualified enough for this task. He would buck, rear and take off without any given notice. I admitted defeat and hired a trainer to teach me to ride and rebuild the confidence that my horse had violently shattered! After taking dressage lessons for about a year, my trainer introduced me to one of her clients who specialized in training Arabians. I sent my horse off with her for two months of dressage training and was not disappointed! All though to this day he can still be a handful, he has made me the rider I am today. He is a wonderful teacher and I am grateful to have him in my life!