Trepidation
Riley and Blackjack hacking
Saturday morning for me was perfect, Riley and I had a super lesson with Laura Parkes and afterwards went for a hack with Rachel and Blackjack.
I say perfect, as it was a wonderful way to spend a morning, and I had a few small wins. That isn’t to say there weren’t things in my lesson that I was critical of, or that my hack wasn’t without a certain amount of trepidation, but certainly a tiny but significant step forwards.
In the lesson we worked on our canter, and I felt as though we cantered the best 20 metre circle so far. Not that we would be getting high marks for it, but it had some of the right elements. We also worked on accuracy and Laura had us trotting from various letter to various letter in the school and down the centre line. She was pleased with our center line and noted that it was fairly straight, but me being me, I still criticized it—I knew it had been a bit wobbly and far from poker straight
I said “yes”.
Riley and I on the long flat section at the top of the hill.
Rachel joined us in the manege part way through my lesson to school Blackjack for me. Blackjack is coming on really well and it was lovely to see him ridden. It’s still early days for him as a youngster but the potential is there and I’m looking forward to having a little ride on him again soon. At the end of the lesson, Rachel had planned to hack Blackjack off the yard, and asked if Riley and I would like to join her for a hack. The fact that I said ‘yes’ was progress, as to date she has only ever heard ‘no’ from me.
A couple of wobbles
The steep slope off the yard is starting to feel less daunting, and there was real progress when we reached the top and turned right up the next hill. Not only did I resist the urge to dismount or lean ridiculously far forward—the summary of my last two attempts—but I even managed to relax a little and made it all the way to the top.
I will admit to a couple of wobbles when we encountered a car: and I asked Kevin who was walking with us, to hold Riley’s reins. Rachel knew the lane very well, and confidently guided us to a place where we could let the car pass safely.
Success
Rachel and I with Blackjack and Riley. All smiles at end of hack
Once up the dreaded hill, the road flattens out and I became a different person: not the bag of nerves I was on the hill. We didn’t hack very far beyond this point and turned around to head back to the yard. Now, what goes up must come down, and coming down the hill is my real nemesis. Since the first part of the hill is gently sloping I thought I might manage it, but couldn’t. Instead I jumped off and Riley was led back in hand
When we arrived at the slope at the top of the yard, Rachel and Kevin encouraged me to get back on and tackle it, which I must admit I didn’t think was possible. I compromised by mounting part way down, and did enjoy the success of reaching the bottom. By then I was all smiles and asked the long-suffering Kevin to take a photo of the momentous occasion (even though I had shot poor Kevin down at the top of the slope when I thought he might suggest it).
As I said: a perfect morning.