This is a picture of one of my students, Victoria, jumping her horse Aladdin. They jumped 4 feet today! That is a big jump, and they have worked very hard to accomplish such a goal. Victoria has been riding several years, but Aladdin is a green horse. Green means that he does not have a lot of training, and he is new to the world of hunter/jumpers. Victoria usually takes three to four lessons a week on him, and they have become quite the team. Most of our lessons include teaching Aladdin how to listen to Vicotoria's aids. Aids are the use of a rider's leg, seat, voice, or body movements in order to effectively communicate with the horse. Aladdin has learned to understand what certain aids mean, and this knowledge is what assisted him and Victoria over this big jump! Our goals for the future are to jump an entire course of big jumps. A course is a series of jumps, usually eight to twelve, jumped consecutively without stopping. Courses are much more challenging than single jumps because the rider must remember where to go next, and the horse has to keep his pace and momentum consistent the whole time.
2 comments:
That picture is so beautiful. Derek, my husband, wants to own a horse later in our lifetime. I would love to learn more about them, because they seem so mysterious and intellegent to me, and from that description of how Aladdin is learning, it seems like my assumptions are somewhat right. I was born and raised most of my life in Texas. I would visit my friend's homes (who always had a plethera of barnyard animals) and they would always say, "never stand behind a horse or you will get your face kicked in." So I kind of grew up with this mentality that horses had it in for humans. Even now, I will go and stroke the face of the horse, look them in the eye, and ask them if they had it in them to kick my face in. If so, I will walk away now. I would love to learn how to ride a horse like that, oh my gosh!! The few times that I have ridden them, my butt is sore for the rest of the day. You must have an extrodinary talent!
Most people are fearful that horses will quick them, but honestly it is very rare for this to happen, unless they are startled by your presence. Horses can not see straight ahead of themselves are behind themselves; they see only to the side. So, when walking behind a horse you want to walk very close to them and place your hand on their haunches (back of them) as you walk behind them. This way, they know you are there, and they will NOT kick you. A few exceptions to the kicking theory: 1) If there are a group of horses together, never get in between them as sometimes horses kick out at each other as a way to communicate, "hey, you are getting in my space." 2) During feeding times, horses get quite excited and can sometimes kick out because they are anxious about getting their food. Horseback riding does make you sore in many places, but your body adapts quickly with practice and continued effort. You should give it a try Anastasia!
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