20th riding lesson (offset)

Annie offset my one extra lesson today, so I'm still left with one next week. Yay. =D

Was supposed to get Jasmine today. But since I'm the eldest (and thus the biggest sized) in my class (the rest are all in primary school), and Rachel was extremely hesitant in getting Chico, so Irwin not-so-subtly cajouled me to change horses. Since my goal now is to improve and improve, I didn't mind so much that I rode Chico again.

So anyways.

Irwin took our class today since Helen had to go settle some stuff. And I heard that Helen might be moving to KL, which means she won't be teaching us anymore. Okay. Irwin's an extremely competent instructor, and even though he is quite sarcastic, and quite stern and strict, he's so good that I actually like him as an instructor a lot more.

Speaking of him, I spoke to him today about going on to the intermediate. His reply was this, "I don't care what colored shirt you wear (red for basic and maroon for intermediate). As long as you can ride."

Which, I agree. But I want to be stricter with myself, so he told me to make an appointment through the office for an assessment. Maybe next week. Hm...

Anyways.

I decided to focus on correcting my posture today. So, I relaxed my grip in the reins a lot, while still keeping contact with the bit, and made sure I consciously always keep my toes pointing forward, instead of pointing outwards. That made it easier to grip with the knees and to have my knees remain in contact with Chico's body.

I actually took the lead in going around the arena, but even with my corrected posture, Chico still refused to move forward. So Irwin decided to put Charlie in front, and Chico second, with Jasmine last, since she kicks out a lot. And because Chico and Charlie are very good friends, it seemed as if she was finally more willing to move.

That's why I'm not sure if it's because of Charlie, or because of my conscious correction of posture (and thus, techniques) that I thought I handled today's lesson well, even better than my previous lesson had been.

I'd originally slid my boot too far forward in the stirrup. I've always had that problem. But after Irwin corrected that again, I decided to really focus on my posture, and I actually managed to keep my feet on the stirrups at the positions where it really mattered: the balls of the feet.

Good lesson. Good (albeit sharp-tongued) trainer.

I'm contented, at least for today. =)