Another Set of Eyes

When I got to the barn on Wednesday, Debbie’s daughter, Sam, told me Debbie was sick, but that she would be glad to give me a lesson.  Since a fresh set of eyes can often see things that become “normal” to my usual teacher I was happy to take her up on her offer (after checking to see that giving me a lesson would not put her behind for her other work at the stable.)  As we groomed Bingo, I was able to tell her some problems I had noticed when the little girls…

Two-Point Makes Me TIRED!

Most of the past two weeks I have been really, really tired.  This started when I finally got my whole seat out of the saddle when I went into two-point.  First the muscles on the front of my thighs started burning, and I stood it for as long as I could.  Ever since I bought my new saddle I have had fewer problems getting up into two-point (I no longer have to hoist myself up) and I have had no problems sinking down on the horse’s back (I often plopped…

Increasing My Stability in the Saddle    

When I got my new Pegasus Butterfly jumping saddle, I noticed that the saddle leather was more slippery than the leather in my old Stubben and Crosby saddles.  My riding teacher, Debbie, started getting after me more about the position of my lower legs.  Where before, when I was riding in the Stubben or Crosby saddles, she was pretty much content with the stability of my lower leg, she changed to correcting my lower leg several times each…