a lesson on Whirlwind -- Fantail's Kid's Riding Board

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Subject: a lesson on Whirlwind

Author:
Jonathan (Dana)

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Date Posted: 11:08:29 10/09/02 Wed

"Jonathan, come here!" Dana called.I(Jonathan) ran over to her & said "what is it?" My mom(Dana) smiled & said "did you completely forget about your lesson or something?" Jonatha said "oh, yeah." Mom smiled again.Mom told me "now its good to get experience riding lots of different horses & ponies, so instead of having your ride Thunders, I'm going to let you ride a horse today." I said "really? who am I riding!" My mom said to me, "you are going to ride Whirlwind today." I said "okay, I'll go get her ready," & ran off.My mom called to me "she's in the mares pasture on the right to the geldings stable!" I ran on, & quickly grabbed a lead rope."Why are you in such a hurry?" my 15 y/o sister, Arianna asked."lesson!" I called.I got to Whirlwind's pasture & opened the gate, closing it behind me as I went in.Whirlwind was in the pasture with Firefly, How About This Time "Ava" , Sterling Beauty, Summer Breeze & Sunny.I patted Whirlwind on the nose & clipped a lead rope to her halter.After leading her inside the mares barn, I put her in the crossties & ran to the tack room.In 2 trips, I brought my english saddle, Whirlwind's bridle, a grooming tote, my chaps & my riding helmet.I quickly groomed & tacked up Whirlwind.Then I led her to the indoor jumping arena.My mom was already there, waiting for me.I waved hello, then led Whirlwind inside the arena &led her over to the mounting block & mounted her."It feels weird, being so much higher off the ground than usual," I said to my mom.She said "you'll get used to it soon enough, besides, if you worried about falling off, there isn't THAT much of a distance.If you think falling of a regular sized horse is bad, you should try falling off a horse that is NOT regular sized!" I nodded.I was glad that I wasn't riding a big horse like mom was talking about."okay, get her moving," my mom said.For an answer, I squeezed Whirlwind into a walk.My mom let me walk Whirlwind a lap before finding a fault in my riding position.I think my mom actually likes telling people that there is something wrong with there riding postion.I ran the idea past my mom & she said "I just want to make sure that your riding position looks good.Now keep those heels DOWN!" I sighed, mom was like her normal self.I shoved my heels down & only 5 seconds passed before my mom said "come here." I rode Whirlwind over to her.Suddenly, she grabbed my leg & pulled it off of the saddle.She said "I can see daylight between the saddle & your legs.You have absolutly NO contact right now.Grip the saddle with your legs.You need more contact, otherwise your riding position looks sloppy." I nodded & tightened my contact on the saddle."Much better," my mom told me."now lets see a posting trot," mom said.I squeezed Whirlwind into a trot.Her trot was very smooth.I started posting.I knew my mom liked to see a little speed when trotting a horse, so I posted faster & made my posts smaller."Jonathan, when you try to find your diagonal, just glance down for a second.You don't want the judge to see you checking your diagonal." I nodded once.After a few laps at a posting trot in both directions, my mom called to me "now lets see a canter." I cued Whirlwind to canter, & she sprang into a light, rolling canter that was very easy to sit to."Whirlwind is so smooth," I said to my mom.She grinned & said "I only wish that some of my warmbloods had such easy movement to sit to." After a while of cantering, my mom said "you can walk her for a little while, since she needs a break, & because I'm setting up some jumps.I watched as my mom set the jumps.When she finished, she said "this is a very easy jumper course.Were going to do this in parts before we do the whole thing." I grinned & said "were doing a jumper course? Awesome!" My mom smiled to herself & said "I guess this is your lucky day." Then she said "lets start with the green oxer, jump that, then make a wide turn to the coop, then continue on straight to the purple single.Now don't do this real fast, just keep at a controlled canter.Its nothing fancy, but were just working on getting used to not doing a hunter course." I nodded excitedly & squeezed Whirlwind into a canter.We headed toward the green oxer.3,2,1 jump! Whirlwind lifted off the ground & easily cleared the 2 foot jump.I made a wide turn with her to the coop.She jumped that easily, & I let her go just a bit faster to the purple single.We jumped that, & I slowed Whirlwind down to a walk.My mom said "you know what, you did that so well that I'm just going to have you do the course now.Keep your turns medium sized, & you can go a little faster." I nodded & walked Whirlwind while my mom told me the course."start with the blue single, then do the purple oxer, the fake wall, the liverpool, the green oxer, the purple single, the coop & the natural jump." I squeezed Whirliwnd into a canter & headed her toward the blue single.I timed the approach perfectly & Whirlwind easily got over the jump without chipping her stride.I imediatly looked over the purple oxer & turned Whirlwind to it.She took the 2'-3" purple oxer & cantered on to the fake wall.This time, she chipped her stride, & ended up knocking the rail.my mom called "that was Whirlwind, not you!" I heard her.I turned her to the liverpool & she took the jump without spooking.I headed her to the green oxer, & jumped that, the purple single & the coop like before.Then I turned Whirlwind to the natural jump.It was 2'-9".3 inches higher than any of the other jumps.I had never jumped that high before, but I was willing to try.I let Whirlwind speed up some, & she lifted off the ground & over the natural jump.She jumped perfectly, & I heard my mom call "great job!you looked perfect riding that course." I smiled proudly at the praise from my mom.She only gave out praise when she knew that you had done a good job.Otherwise she would tell you your mistake(s) say that it was ok, & tell yout to try again, but this time to do so and so.I slowed Whirlwind down to a trot, then a walk & finally a halt.My mom said "I don't have any more time left, so were going to have to end the lesson here.You did a great job today!your a natural rider.I am very proud of you.now why don't you walk out Whirlwind, then you can put her away, & then you can exercise Thunders & maybe one of the other lesson ponies if you want to." She waved bye & walked off.I waved back.Then I walked out Whirlwind, untacked her & turned her out in the pasture.I decided to pass on exercising Thunders & one of the lesson ponies right now.I would exercise them later.Then I walked over to the stallions barn.Arianna & Jewel were already there, doing barn chores.I said "can I help?" Jewel said "well, we've got the mucking out part handled, but we need someone to sweep the aisle & empty & fill the water buckets.I nodded & got to work...

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