It only took 13 years

 I had every intention of being a responsible young adult and studying for my Series 7 exam on Friday...but when my instructor texted me that afternoon to say that the weather was great for riding, well...an addict can only resist temptation so long. I'd been cooped up in a classroom from 8:30-5pm all week, it snowed, and temps have barely budged over the 25-degree mark all week. I'm sure in some places that's just life as usual, but in Maryland it tends to bring all nonessential activities to a grinding halt.

Meaning that 40-minute commutes become THREE HOUR commutes. Ugh!

So I snuck away from studying to play--and I'm glad I did because I had a real riding breakthrough. Probably my biggest issue is that my body gets very tense without me realizing it (particularly in the knee and thigh). Of course the horse feels that death grip on its back, but I just end up fiddling around and getting frustrated at my complete inability to get a horse truly forward and round. Then when the horse gets nervous and quick from me simultaneously saying "go" and "stop" at the same time, I just tense up more. I knew the problem but not how to fix it.


Enter our group lesson on Friday. Pretty much everyone who rides at that barn came out to take advantage of the few hours of tolerable weather! After our warmup, my task was to practice some bareback work--something I've never really had a problem with.

"Let her movement go through your legs and into your hand," my instructor explained, just as my thighs were jiggling and loose, moving with the horse's back. Duh! All of a sudden I realized that's what I should be feeling when my feet are in the stirrups as well. Before I never really understood how your thigh could be relaxed and you could stay in balance just using your calves. But with this new jiggly-thigh seat, I was able to bend my horse easily, and she was suddenly forward and responsive (perhaps too responsive, since I don't think I was sitting 100% straight).

I guess that's why you see top-level dressage riders who look like they're getting jiggy with their saddle.
They're getting jiggly with it. And that's OK.

It's amazing how someone explaining things in a slightly different way will make everything click!