Western Riding & English Writing

It's been a long time since I've last posted.  Hello, blogosphere and you so very few readers and thanks for coming back. :)

To catch you up-  a few months ago I quit taking lessons at that terrific stable I started at (which I still very much like) and started taking them at a new place!  This new stable teaches Western riding, however, where before I was doing English.

What's the difference, you ask?

Well...

This in English riding! :)

Notice theeee-

• Joined reins (the reins are the things the rider is holding to control the horse.)  In English, the reins are connected.
• The relatively short stirrup length (the stirrups are the metal ring-type things the rider's feet are in.)  In English, they are usually closer to the rider's torso than in Western.
• The small saddle (the object the rider is sitting on [not the horse, the thing between the horse and rider :) ] )
• The many many straps on the bridle. (There are just more straps on the thing on the horses head.) In English you have such pieces as the crownpiece, cheekstrap, noseband, and such.

This is Western! :)

Compare it to the English above and notice theeee...

• Longer and unconnected reins, also sometimes held in a single hand.
• Simpler looking bridle
• Bigger saddle, complete with a saddle horn in front of the rider, originally used to hold a lasso loop, and the higher cantle (the back part of the saddle).
• Relatively longer stirrups.



And so, let me say, that the switch was not amazingly simple, nor was it amazingly hard.  I do like that at my current Western stable, there is no pressure to show and we work on new things just about every week.  I recently started loping (the Western term for canter- trot is jog, as well) and am still trying to get my footing with this new gait in the Western style.  Tonight, my instructor even had me and my classmate try barrel racing- though at a jog.

Barrel racing at a gallop! :O

 I'm having fun with my new lessons and can't wait to see what happens next.  I might even join the local 4H club! :D

Meanwhile, since summer is now upon us, I have been trying to write more.  Only thing is, I feel like everything I'm trying has already been done.  I'm not completely awesome at being original. 

I really want to try writing a boarding school type thing, because I'm not too great at writing adult characters, and a boarding school would be more focused around teenagers.  But I can't think of any spectacular plot or anything.  I mean, a boarding school with a horseback riding focus would be cool, but that has already been done by quite a few people.  So I continue to struggle with finding new and interesting plots and trying to make dialogue sound as if it hasn't been forced out of a character's mouth against their will. 

I hope summer's longer than it looks.  This could take a while. 

Guess what? Betcha can't!!

Am I right? Am I?
Well, I'm sure I am, 'cause truth is, I have no big, huge, "OMIGOSH MEG, NO WAY!!!" announcements for today.
Other than the fact that, uh... I might start writing a new story? Yay!
But not right now. Probably not for a few days.
Anyways, other than that (get excited now, because this is the most amazing story you're going to hear today- so I guess I lied, maybe I do have an "OMIGOSH MEG, NO WAY!!!" story after all!! :)

Today at my horseback riding lesson, after we warmed up circling the ring at a walk and posting trot, my instructor told me to canter. So I did. Cantering, like I said before, is raaaaad. Really, really awesome. But apparently I wasn't steering very well, because we were headed straight toward the corner of the ring that has a board broken off the very top, so it's a little lower than the rest, and I (*facepalm*) wasn't paying enough attention, as one of my feet had come out of my stirrup. So, the horse feeling wild and wonderful by now, (and no, I don't think he's from West Virginia) must've thought "Hey, ya know, I haven't jumped in a while, I think now might be a good time. Any takers?" I was grabbing his mane (don't worry- they don't have nerves there) so I wouldn't slip right off the saddle while trying to jam my foot back in the stirrup iron, which ended up being a good thing (me holding his mane) because before I knew it, the gelding, who normally needs pretty strong urging just to get him to trot, springs up and over the corner fence. I would've slid right off the back of that saddle if I hadn't been holding on to his mane and leaning pretty well forward. And, suprise suprise, we even landed pretty well, all balanced and in nice form (except for my foot which was still hanging out of the stirrup). The instructor was pretty amazed, me being a fairly new rider and having just landed that unexpected jump so well. Although she did start reprimanding me when she realized that I could've stopped the whole thing if I had been paying attention.
So.

Wasn't that a good story?
You're welcome. It took all my imagnation to come up with that one.
Because it never happened.
If you fell for it, I'm truly sorry (not really). :) It was all in good fun.
What REALLY happened at my lessons is this-

It went about the same as usual, except at the end the instructor let me and the gelding (that part was true) walk around the outside of the ring by the edge of the woods like a mini-trail ride. And then she said that soon I might be put in a semi-private class so we can go on real trail rides!! YAY!!!
That's what I've been hoping for!
Along with a canter.
TADA!!!

That got me in a good writing mood.... hmmm.....

Whoopsies!

Oops. I haven't posted in a while, have I? Answer: no. My bad, my bad. It's been a busy summer since I last blogged (isn't that a great verb? Yes, I think so :) I've been doing homework (kind of. That's not saying I'm done. But only one thing left if you don't count memorizing a bunch of countries and geographical stuff) and writing a story with one of my best buds and taking... wait for it... horseback riding lessons!!!
I've mentioned it before, earlier this summer, I know. But it's getting much better. Because. On. Saturday. Past. For. The. First. Time. I. CANTERED!!!!!!!!!!!
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Go ahead, clap for me. I know you want to. And it's okay, I would clap for me too.
If I wasn't me. But, alas, lucky me, I am! :D
So lessons are getting better and better and I'm loving it. I've cantered in two lessons now and next we're going to try to get 3 quarters around the ring instead of just cantering one stretch at a time.
But lemme tell you if you don't know.
Cantering feels (wait, let me get a quote from my buddy....) AH-MAZING!!!!!
It's so smooth (at least on the horses I've ridden so far, which is two at a canter) and fast and, well.... it makes you want to smile and yell "WEEEE!!!!!" because it's just so wonderful!!!
*Sigh* I love it. And I am definitely planning on taking lessons during the school year. Sadly I have to go down to one a week until I get used to the schedule of school and schoolwork and all that wonderful stuff. Yaaay for school right? Right, kay.
Other than riding, like I said, I've been working on a story with my friend. We have about 13 chapters all planned out, more or less, and somewhat detailed 'cause we are just that good. I've been having issues writing in a way that makes sense and sounds good to me after I reread it a couple times. It might be normal writer things, I guess, but I don't really like it. Not that I guess any writers really do. Let's take a survey. Raise your hand if you like not liking your own writing.
Anybody?
Helllooooooo??
Yeah, I thought not.
But I do love to write a lot, so I'll keep working on it. Aren't you proud of me? Sure you are. :)
And last is homework, but seriously, you don't want to hear about that, I know. You don't even have to pretend for the sake of my survival, it's okay.
Thanks anyway.
I'll try to keep posting now, really!!
For all you faithful readers!
Which is... who??
Ah well. :)

The Second Riding Lesson :-O

I said I'd give riding longer- I mean, how can you decide if you like something when you only give it one chance, right?
So today I woke up early, put on my blue jeans, a t-shirt, my getting-dirtier paddock boots (isn't that awesomely authentic? :) , and grabbed my gloves and helmet. When Kate, my sister, and I pulled up to the stable today, there were a lot more people there. A group of girls was sitting by one ring, talking and watching another girl who was working a horse inside the ring. They all looked to be around my age. But they also looked experienced. Greeeeat. I knew that they'd be watching me, sizing me up, seeing how good (or bad) I was. Yay for me, right?
Well, apparently this made me try harder or something, because today's lesson went somewhat better than Monday's.
Let's see if I can sum up why.
I mounted without trouble again, and started walking the horse. We walked. The instructor, just like last time, instructed me (surprise, surprise right? The instructor, instructing me! Crazy!) to keep my heels down, toes out, hands forward, don't pull on the bit, shoulders back, back arched a bit, and HEELS DOWN!
And I think I'm getting a bit better.
I got the horse to trot today. :D Okay, true, it took a lot of kicking, squeezing, and clucking, but she trotted! She slowed down at almost every turn though, but we're getting somewhere. Especially since this horse has been used a lot lately at the stable's various camps and lessons and leases.
Now trotting while posting and steering is, like I said last time, kind of hard. Only this time, we weren't on a lunge line. We were trotting all around the ring. And I really didn't want her to go to the jumps, because... well, you know what would happen then. :-O
And I could almost (which is a relative term... or is it not? Huh) steer the mare. But there were two orange traffic cones at one end and I was supposed to steer around them. "Supposed" is the key word, by the way. Because half the time, the mare would go around one and cut through the other while I concentrated on the up, down, up, down, up, down beat of the trot, or my posting beat. So that was a slight minus. Oh, and the whole heel down thing, but I'll get that. Apparently my right side has more control (the instructor told me that) and looked to be in better form than the left side, heel and hand-wise. I could see the riders watching me too, trying to see how experienced I was or am. If any of them are reading this, I guess they found out- NOT VERY! :)
Overall though, it was a good day.
But it WAS really really hot. A foreshadowing of later in the day, apparently. Talk about boiling. *PHEW*
You might be happy to know I signed up for more lessons next week. One is at ten in the morning and one is at five o'clock at night. Hope it goes well.
Wish me luck again!! :D

Riding Lesson 1

After months of annoying, begging, and bargaining with my parents about horseback riding lessons, we finally came to an agreement. We visited a local stable a friend told me about. It seemed very nice and well-organized, with friendly and experienced staff, and right away I decided that's where I wanted to go. So we gave them our number and they said they'd call when they could.
They didn't call.
So we went back.
Nobody was there, so we left a note.
Maybe they never saw it. It was in plain sight, but, who knows, right? So we called them again. Someone answered, said they were very busy and things were chaotic and they'd call and schedule a lesson as soon as possible.
We waited. And waited. And thought about going elsewhere. And waited. And when I was finally realizing they may not want our business and starting to look for somewhere else, they called.
Unfortunately, we were out of the house. So we called back a little later and finally scheduled a couple lessons. *PHEW*
And so I started my riding lessons this Monday. I put on my jeans, paddock boots, classy polo shirt, and tucked my gloves in my pocket, grabbed my helmet, and climbed in the car. We pulled up to the stable, and I got out of the car with my sister, butterflies in my stomach. One of the instructors greeted us, introduced herself, and was off and running. We waited for the horse I was assigned to while she finished breakfast. I tightened her girth (the belt-like strap that holds the saddle in place) and led her out to the ring. I lead the mare to the mounting block and climbed aboard (I was much better than I had been two summers ago). The instructor adjusted my stirrups and commanded about 10 things at once the whole lesson. Shoulders back, heels down, hands forward, elbows relaxed, toes out just a bit, look forward, pull back rein and give with the other, and so on. I was getting severely confused. She asked if at my previous lessons (apparently she thought I was pretty experienced. On the info sheet I had put my amount of experience. Three lessons about two years ago) I had trotted. I said yes. She asked if it was on a lunge line (basically a long lead line used for training the horse or beginner riders) or not. I said not. It might, just might have been a good idea to tell her that it was a group lesson and people were actually helping us around the ring, sort of leading us, at my last lessons when we trotted in two-point and posting. But, stupid me, I didn't.
So after I walk the horse around the ring, change direction, change direction again, and so on, she tells me to trot. I squeeze the horse's sides with my legs. No response. The instructor tells me to cluck. Okaaaay. Cluck cluck. Still nothing. Kick, she says. I do, but it's kind of hard with the stirrups, you know? So I kick, cluck, squeeze. Nope, nothing. No response. By now I'm almost begging the horse to trot and I'm getting a bit embarrassed. The instructor leaves to get a lunge, looking a bit annoyed. Well, I'm sorry, truly. I wish I could've gotten the horse to trot. Lazy thing.
With the lunge line the horse trots, of course. She's too smart- she knew me, a beginner, wouldn't be able to do it. Clever mare, she is. The instructor tells me to post (rise and fall with the 1-2 beat of the trot). I try, I really do. I could do it before!! But Monday was just not my day. The instructor tells me my sitting trot is great, but can I post? Answer: Apparently not. I finally get it a bit, but posting, keeping my heels down, toes out, hands forward, shoulders back, head up, and not falling off was kiiiiiind of hard. And by kind of, I mean really hard, not to mention scary. And I was hardly steering. The instructor kept the mare going in a circle. I just had to keep pressure on the right rein to make the circles wide. So basically I felt like a failure. *Sigh*
And so we trot. Then we slow to a walk (my favorite gait so far!! :) and she takes the lunge off. I walk the horse around the ring and then over some low poles. I dismount and we head back to the stable. The horse was being used again a little later, but the instructor had me take the saddle off and put it in the tack room.
So the lesson was pretty... okay.
The thing is, I knew almost EVERYTHING the instructor was telling me. At least, I knew the theory of it. The theory of how you should put the bridle on, how you should post, how you should dismount, and so on. I knew why you should look ahead (the horse can feel the weight shift), why you lead and mount from the horse's left (it's said that knights had to mount from that side because they had swords strapped to their left sides, so they couldn't lift their left legs over the horses), why you keep part of the bridle or halter on when transitioning between the two (so if the horse moves or tries to run, you can grab it) and so on. I've read enough books and seen enough horse tv shows or horse shows themselves, plus played enough games to tell you these things.
But I don't have the experience of actually doing it. Yet.
And I don't know how long I'm going to keep horseback riding lessons, but I at least have to give it some time. The longer to do it and the harder you try, the better you get. The better you get, the more fun you have. Meghan loves fun. So I'll give it some time. Starting with tomorrow at 9 AM.
Wish me luck!!

Summer = Loads of Free Time!!

Okaaaaay, so it's not actually summer yet (in some places) but it will be in a *snap*.
And what does summer mean besides no school? More free time! Yay!

We no longer have to spend seven hours a day, five days a week confined in cinderblock buildings with classrooms that change temperatures faster than a bee stings and hallways full of shoving, yakking peers.

Now we can spend all day at our choice of various locations- the sunny, sandy beach; the dark, cool theater; the loud, bustling amusement park; the local mall; the comfy, worn-out, fits-ya-like-a-glove couch. What options!

And so what could we do with all this time and all these places to go?? The beach is perfect for tanning or cooling off in the salty ocean while licking a melting popsicle. The theater is great for seeing the newest blockbusters or (if you mean the the-ate-er:) seeing the local (or Broadway!) productions of Wicked, Les Mis, and much more. At the amusement park you can slurp down a cool soda while waiting in a mile long line for the brand-new coaster that everyone will claim is SO worth it even if it's not simply to justify why they wasted their time in that queue to begin with. And everyone knows that the local mall is the one place you can bet on seeing people you know while you shop for those trendy must-have items. But not everyone sees the glory of the good ol' sofa!

The couch is an option for those who like to relax at home in their spare time. You can sit on it while you eat. You can lounge classily while you peruse this month's issue of Reader's Digest (which happens to be a very good magazine:). You can stretch out and fall asleep watching reruns of oldies-but-goodies on television.

Sofas can even double as other things! They can be a bed, perfect for a mid-day nap or crashing when you were planning to stay up all night long for the first time in your whooole life. A sofa can be a trampoline- the bounce won't be as good and you just might ruin the sofa, but it CAN be a trampoline. A couch can be a landing spot when you decide to vault over the banister in a daredevil scheme (this is not recommended). A common sofa can be the boat for you and your stuffed animal comrades when playing your own little game of Imaginery Flood (this does not prepare you for an actual flood, by the way).

So, while you can drive out and spend money at the beach, theater, amusement park, or mall, you can also stay at home and use the couch for entertainment! But, it's your choice. Oh, and feel free to mix it up between the two. Like, you could stay home one day and go out the next! Or you could, if you so choose, take the sofa with you! It would be great to have something to sit on in those mile-long lines at the amusement park, would it not??

Note: Staying home, you may still spend money on electricity, television, food, and magazine subscriptions while using your glorious couch.