Well, I did it. I rode Zapa on Tuesday! It has been more than 6 months and needless to say, I was very nervous. What made me even more nervous was that I did it bareback and in a rope halter! I went for another lesson with Julie (gosh I love her) who helped me with some round pen work. She asked me if I was ready to get on him and in a moment of braveness I said 'Sure!'. I grabbed my helmet and after some swinging around, I sat on him.
I WAS SO NERVOUS!
But I relaxed and we got moving around the round pen pretty nicely. I was told to move softer and ask nicer. I was trying to keep him unstuck in the hind end, moving off of my leg. Once we both relaxed, it was a beautiful thing.
Since we don't have a round pen, I'm going back to Julie's tonight to use hers. She told me my goal was to ride him in her trail competition in August. OK!
3 comments:
Right on Jerri!! I think it is so great you are doing the rope halter. It is a great way to start out even if it seems a little scary at first. I don't know if I will go back to using a bit at this point, I may be turning into a hackamore girl.
Seems there's nothing in the riding world like working your mount bareback. They feel you and you feel them.
Nice to see you on my blog. I'm coming up to Corvallis later this summer. My sister teaches at OSU. Go Beavers!
Zapa has never been ridden in a bit. It is very common for Paso Finos to be started in a bosol and not the thick heavy kind you might think of. I can ride all of my horses in a rope halter or a bosol, no bit necessary, but for higher levels of refinement and communication, I use a bit. Precious actually prefers a bit to a bosol and she absolutely dislikes the rope halter. Zapa is so light though that the rope halter is such a good choice for me to be softer!
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