Ridgway 2

30th May 2010

Ridgway Stables, Wimbledon Common

Finally, being in the saddle felt natural again! Hurrah! I first rode at Ridgway in March, and since then have ridden just twice - both times have been lessons at Chessington. I wasn't sure what to expect this time, as I wasn't the nervous 'I haven't ridden in 6 years' person that I was last time here, but neither had I progressed much further. We arrived in good time, but not too early, so this time the yard was open and we didn't have to wander about trying to find a way in. The first issue was that I was wearing a vest top. Apparently health and safety means I have to cover my shoulders when riding, just in case I fall off and get gravel rash. Having had gravel rash from falling off a bike, and nearly ending up in hospital with septacemia, I understood the implications but was not convinced of the risk. Chessington didn't have a problem with the same outfit on Thursday. Anyway, I was happy to comply, but that would have meant wearing my coat, which would have been uncomfortably hot. Steve saved the day by stripping and lending me his t-shirt. And got a phwoar from the YO for his efforts. My hero... I had been worried about riding in a group on the hack, as I've only ridden with one or two others at a time in the last 15 years. Of course, being the anti-social type, it wasn't the riding in a group I was concerned about, it was the prospect of having to make conversation with my fellow riders. In the event, there were only two other riders and the escort, Kat, and as the horse in front of me was a moody mare kicker, I had to keep my distance so no conversation was required. The other two riders were regulars at the yard (one had ridden the same horse yesterday) and I think they were reasonably new riders but competent, so I neither felt like I was holding them back nor being held back myself. I was riding Wallace again, as I'd requested, and I was quite happy to be back in my short stirrups again, as there was no-one to tell me to lengthen them. I must get into the habit of riding longer though. Today felt much better on the horse - my leg position felt unforced, even with heels down and knees out. I was sitting comfortably, and overall, I lost the alien feeling that I'd had each time previously. I must keep remembering to pull my shoulders back though - Leon kept commenting on it during my lunge lesson, and when we had individual canters today, Kat commented on it too. The walk over Southside Common was fine, then when we got onto the common proper, we had a trot to warm up. This was the first time that things really fell into place, and everything felt natural, comfortable, and effortless. On the other three rides, I've quickly tired in trot, but today I could have carried on all day. Hands fine, rising was instinctive rather than forced, and I was able to squeeze my leg on when necessary. Although as the picture below (Steve was lurking on the common - if I'd known I would have been more vigilant with my position!) shows, tipping forward is still an ever-present issue. After a short walk, we had out first group canter. This was lovely, Wallace had a lovely forward canter, and I was able to just relax and enjoy. It was very dusty though, as the thick sandy soil on the track was so dry - even leaving a big gap to the horse in front meant I was riding through a dust cloud. Then we stopped and had individual rides - canter out for 50 yards or so, then trot back. I was a bit nervous here, as I felt I was being watched (I was!). My nerves made me tense up and my position went to pot. The first time was awful - Wallace veered off to the side in trot, and so I was trying to straighten him and transition at same time, got myself into a mess, tipped forward and eventually we fell into canter. The second attempt on a different path was much better. Having seen the horse before us have 3 attempts as the horse was taking the mick and just trotting fast, Wallace thought he'd just get on with it and do as I asked. Conscious of sitting up and shoulders back, I got a lovely trot-canter transition, but Wallace fell back into trot before I was done. We got a lovely turn though - the closest I've ever (unintentionally) got to a half pirouette. The thrid time was fairly close to home, and all three horses were playing up a bit by this point. Wallace was napping and walking backwards, so I was expecting the canter out to be messy. Once I'd got him forward, it was actually another nice transition, but the canter kept breaking into trot. Once we reached the end and turned round, he had a little spook and shot off, then was all over the place trotting back. This actually felt good for me, as it was the first 'challenge' I'd had since riding again, and I didn't get in the slightest bit nervous, which is what used to happen with Oscar. As he was a spooky sod, I spent most rides clinging on wondering where he was going to explode next. I really enjoyed the ride, and knew I would from the first few minutes - didn't feel it was too challenging, and in order to try and extend myself a bit, I played around by hanging back, and instead of trotting to catch up when the others did, would try and catch up by pushing his walk on. Little things and all that... We were all praised by Kat, and I was told afterwards that I had done really well on him, as he's stubborn at the best of times, and all of them were a bit difficult today. That helped my ever-growing confidence. I had planned that once I'd used up my gift voucher (one more group hack), I wouldn't come back here, but I'm not going to rule it out yet. I do really like Wallace - he's big and makes you feel safe, with with a stubborn enough streak that you need to keep working on him, you can't just sit there as a passenger. And whereas with Chessington, I'm out of the house for 3.5 hours for a 30 minute lesson (thanks to stupid train times and long walks either side of the train journey), here it's 30 minutes either side of the ride, including walking there and back. I can still try out WVS too if I want a bit of local variety. I really feel that riding Thursday and then again today has been so beneficial and the main reason why it's start to feel natural again. I did consider trying to fit in another lesson at Chessington before my next one Tuesday week, but with one evening free until then, I really need to start chopping other stuff out if I want to fit more riding in. Work?