Fifth Lesson!

Apparently, the best and fastest way to teach me is to:

1. Teach in fluent English
2. No lunge ropes

Today, my trainer took me to a ring where using a lunge rope is not possible. It wasn't a round ring, but a sort of rectangular ring with curved ends. The middle is another rectangular ring with curved ends, but filled with grass and a couple of trees. A small grazing area xD

I learned faster than any of my previous lessons today. Rode Mamat again. He's so pampered. <3

Anyway, since Mamat wasn't on the lunge rope, I had to act fast and at the snap of the finger in order to ride him. There was no trainer standing next to me and controlling the horse with the lunge rope. Trainer stood at one corner of the ring and stayed there, shouting reminders and guidance at me. I have learned to use the reins well. Still need practice, but I can now turn the horse around, guide the horse to where I need to go, slow the horse down and of course, stop the horse. I tried being gentle and not jerking the reins, but I don't think it can be helped sometimes =/ Mamat is very stubborn, I had to be really firm with him. It took real effort to make him slow down, and many times, I had to pull the reins so hard that he stopped completely... *sigh* Silly Mamat.

I was also given a whip to hold today. Damn, those things are hard to hold with the reins and everything >.< Don't worry, I never whipped Mamat. I find that I don't need to, just wave it around where he can see it and he speeds up XD I must say, much easier than kicking his sides. I'm still having trouble with the stirrups and keeping my heels down =/ I keep tiptoeing... And everytime I kick a horse into moving, my boots goes right through the iron! Thank goodness for my heels! -.-

More good news though! My rising trot improved a helluva lot! I didn't even think of my butt and knees today. I landed softly everytime, rose nicely everytime. My back was straight. Only thing I concentrated on today was my shoulders and my heels. Rising on the trot is starting to become natural! :D

Walking is improving too. Really need to get it into my head that my shoulders need to be back, chest proud and heels down D:<

Still have a lot to improve with the sitting trot. Apparently, once the trot starts, my torso stiffens like a branch and I start bouncing hard, which causes me to lose balance. I gotta let go and relax the way I managed to do in walking. Trainer says I'm definitely softening and I could feel sitting trot getting easier, but I have quite a while to go yet.

I really like today's trainer. His English is fluent enough for me to understand without needing to think and he gave me a whole lot of tips that the other trainers didn't bother giving me. Like the softening of my torso, the other trainers would just say "Relax"... Who doesn't know that! >.>

He also speaks in a REALLY loud voice :D Which is good! Mumbling can't be heard when you're on a horse, guys! I definitely had fun today. It was an excellent ride. For me that is. Two girls fell off their horses today :( Ouchie! Luckily, no serious injuries. Also, I have pics!




Hmm. My toes stuck out quite a bit here. Was concentrating real hard on heels lol.

No Pain, And Definitely Gaining!

So it's been 2 days since my ride on Christmas. I felt a bit sore on my thighs from the saddle an hour after finishing my ride. But guess what? The soreness went away about 8-12 hours later and until now, I still don't feel sore anymore! Woot!

Now I really can't wait for the next ride on Saturday! I'm finally getting fitter, yay! :D *celebrates*

Fourth Lesson!

First of all, Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it! :)

Today was a different trainer. I like him. He speaks English, damnit XD Which is a good thing because I think in English and if the trainer speaks in Malay, I have to pause to translate it in my head... And today's horse was Siti Mas again. I find that she's a bit on the lazy side... or way too gentle for my liking? Then again, I feel like she's grumpy too... Or fussy... lol

So today, I learned more about balance. My rising trot was no longer in sync with the horse as compared to the first 3 lessons, but that's because this trainer didn't help in counting the 1,2 beat for me. (As well as Siti constantly slowing down >.<) Which makes me think: I've become dependant on the trainer to help count my beats, which is bad. But I'm new at riding, so I guess that's normal. I hope I can get it right in time, afterall, this is only my 4th lesson. But I'm certainly improving in my sitting trot and balance. Not perfect, and still a long way to go, but getting there :D

I also learned to do more with the reins than making the horse stop. I tried out what I know about English style of riding and found out that I have to pull pretty hard to make a horse turn O.O I still have a LOT of work to do with the reins. I kept pulling on the reins to keep balance... That might even be why Siti kept slowing down o.O And I can't seem to multitask well enough. Not only do I have to concentrate on my balancing, I have to concentrate on keeping my damn heels down, on leading my horse, on sitting up straight... Oh dear. I might have been having a wrong sense of balance even when standing on the ground. I keep leaning forward and slouching. I thought I got rid of my slouch finally, but I guess I'm also not standing straight up and proud (shoulders back).

My knees were killing me today. For some reason, I've been getting sharp pains in the middle of my knee joints. It started last lesson but was worse today. I felt it at EVERY rise when doing the rising trot. Seriously hurts. Sharper than last lesson too. Trainer says it's cause I'm not used to the constant movement yet. Told my parents that I might have to get knee supports ._.

I also find that I much much prefer breeches to jodhpurs. The jodhpurs wasn't body fitting. Although stretchable material, it was loose... and itchy... Meh.

Overall, today wasn't an excellent day. It wasn't bad (trainer iz aweshum!) but it wasn't excellent. Btw guys, do you think I should start being more firm with the horses? I've been quite gentle with them. Didn't want to make them feel like I'm underestimating them and have them dislike me! D: But it's as if gentleness doesn't have an effect on them, as if I'm one of the flies that lands on them >.>

Well, I hope you had a nice Christmas. My day wasn't the best, but it was waaaaaaaay better than the usual family meetings... which tend to be omgsoboring XD

No Pain, No Gain ~ Part 2

Oof! My muscles hurt! xD I guess an hour of riding does hurt. I don't feel horrible though, like I did after my first ride. But the pain is only telling me one thing. And that is: I am finally getting fitter. Soon, I shall be able to climb up stairs without much effort. Wheezing up staircases is horrible, I tell you!

Next ride: Tuesday! Yes, on Christmas! :D Some people would think this sad, that I'm not visiting family instead and exchanging presents. Honestly? Riding is the best present I've ever gotten. Ever. If my relatives wants to give me a gift, get me session tickets! XD Or heck, even cheaper, buy me a whole bundle of carrots and apples so that I can feed the whole stable LOL!

Third Lesson & A Scare...

Today was my 3rd ride. Today's trainer was the same as the first ride, so I didn't learn as much as I should've :( This trainer seems shy and nervous. As if he didn't know how to teach and talk to someone. He kept avoiding eye contact by looking at the ground and speaking. He talks too softly and is overall just awkward... *sigh* I really prefer the 2nd trainer :( Wonder if I could ask for him when I go for my next ride.

Basically, it wasn't a good ride today. And no, it wasn't because of riding for an hour this time. Mamat, the horse I rode today was super tall. Had a whole lot of difficulties mounting from ground up. Finally managed, but I had to grab hold of the saddle as if I was climbing a mountain D: Mamat is huge k! >.<

And then, I forgot to wear my gloves before riding and kinda scraped off my skin on my knuckles from chaffing against the saddle... I don't even know how I did that >.> Mum gave me my gloves halfway through though, so I managed to protect my knuckles from further scraping.

We went there late today. Or rather, on the dot. Had to rush to braid my hair and put on my boots. It's why I forgot my gloves... And so, no pics... sorry guys. You'll have to wait till Tuesday (Xmas lol) when I ride again :P

Well, at least the ride wasn't a waste. I DID learn quite a bit today. Learned to balance better and getting the hang of rising trot slowly. I was also taught to hold the reins properly. For the moment, all I know how to do is to pull back on the reins to make the horse stop.

Riding boots definitely make things easier, but I think I really need to learn how to prevent the stirrups from sliding back :( Everytime I kick the horse or do rising trot, my leg lifts from the stirrups and they slide back. It's really irritating >.< But at least my helmet doesn't stink from OTHER people's sweat LOL! :D

Oh yes! Also, I have now felt how it feels like when the horse gallops, bucks and canters. We shifted paddocks because the sun was starting to scorch. And I suppose Mamat wasn't used to entering a paddock with a rider on his back. Upon entering the 2nd paddock, he suddenly lunged into a gallop, then started bucking. When I finally got him under control, he cantered around a bit before stopping. It was a bit fun, but OMG SO SCARY XD I was so lucky that I was holding the monkey grip (strap attached to saddle) while we were switching paddocks. Otherwise, I'd probably be in the hospital with a whole lot more injuries D:

Second Lesson & Gear Shopping ~ Part 2

I MOUNTED THE HORSE FROM GROUND UP!!! And here I thought it was gonna be difficult...

Learned sitting trot, how to arrange the stirrups before and after riding, how to kick the horse :o and how to urge the horse to move. Also, how to lead a horse properly :D Next week, I'll be riding for an entire hour! Parents didn't let me ride for an hour on the excuse of overdoing myself... and then they get told by the trainers that what I learn sticks more if I ride for TWO hours every week LOL! I was like "I TOLD YOU SO AHAHAHA" >:3

So we went shopping after my ride :D The vendor kept running out of stock, so we decided to go find another tack shop in another club. Bought a new helmet, another pair of riding pants (breeches, first one was jodhpurs), new pair of ankle boots and a new pair of chaps.

Now we need to go buy more socks (my old school socks are dried up and no longer expendable XD), maybe a couple of bandanas and fix up my extremely long jodhpurs so that they can fit into my boots ^_^

I think it's safe to say that I have my bday and Xmas presents already, hehehe. Membership + First 6 Lessons + Pants + Boots + Helmet + Chaps + Riding Book: RM 1, 304

Not THAT expensive, now that I think about it o.O I expected to have to spend 5k+ lol. The boots we found were only RM160 :D WAY cheaper than the vendor who sells them at RM300 D:

Actual Riding Boots Maybe?

My dad has finally realised that I need actual boots for riding... Cause of safety reasons and all that. He told mum last night that 'simple canvas shoes' can't be used. And he's right, I have no idea where mum got the idea that shoes that can be bent in half is good for riding...

So they started looking online for tack shops in KL... and found one near dad's office... Good news, right? Not for my dad XD He decided to call them up to enquire about prices. A riding helmet costs RM200 min. That's children's helmet, btw. At max, they can go up to RM1k+. HOLYSHEETIT'SJUSTADAMNHAT!!! The vendor is selling helmets at RM180... (not children's)

So he figured that the vendor at the club is selling VERY cheaply already :D He didn't even dare ask what the prices for boots were. If the vendor is selling the ankle boots at RM300, that tack store probably sells them at RM500+. Note, I said ANKLE boots... Not the tall ones that reach the knees... You only really need those tall ones if you were going on a horse show or something.

I'm trying really hard not to get my hopes up, but I can't stop thinking about it. Theres a chance that he's gonna buy me those ankle boots now :D

Good news? Oh yes, but not for dad... muhahahahaha >:3

No Helmet...

:( The blue riding helmet that I wanted was apparently broken. So I'm not gonna get my own helmet until new stock comes in...

:(

Gear Shopping ~ Part1

Just bought a pair of riding pants :D Stretchable material, so I should be able to climb up a horse easily now! Damn jeans refused to let me lift my leg high enough to put it on the stirrup! D:

Tomorrow, dad is gonna buy the riding helmet that I want ^_^ They had the blue colour I liked but it wasn't with them at the club today, so dad reserved it for the moment hehehe.

Gonna look around at shoe shops to see if there are any similar boots. RM300 for a pair of riding boots is too much, unfortunately :( But good news is that dad found a pair of black gloves that are actually for riding bikes (not bicycle) and it's only RM5 XD I think it's pretty perfect for protecting my hands when holding the reins!

So RM180 (membership) + RM180 (3 hours lessons) + RM189 (pants) + RM189 (helmet) + RM5 (gloves) = RM743

I spent RM743 for my birthday :D That's not even counting the boots/shoes that I gotta buy! Muhahahahaha! Not counting the next 3 hour lessons I'm gonna buy after my 5 tickets left are used either >:3

Ow, ow, ow...

Ow. I just found a spot on my palm that hurts so bad... I must have held the saddle straps too tight :(

No Pain, No Gain!

*wince* When they say 'no pain, no gain', they really mean it. I can't even sit properly now D: My butt, my thighs and my calves hurt so bad...

But omg, it was so fucking worth it! >.< I can't decide if I like this pain or I hate it...

A Dream Come True...

SUCCESS!!!

I am now a member of DARC. Today, I told my parents, "Since it's my bday and we have no idea where to go, I wanna visit that horse riding club you were talking about... after lunch..."

I didn't say anything about paying the membership fee *ninja* But dad paid... AND I CAN RIDE HORSES EVERY WEEK NOW WHOOOOOOOOOO!

First lesson today was the rising trot and balance. It was awesome. Though my legs and joints fucking hurt right now >.>

Gonna go back there on Saturday to see if I can buy actual riding gear :D Might even go for another ride muhahahaha....

Recording my Riding Adventures!

Hi there!

So I've been spamming Facebook with updates on my rides and a friend suggested that I blog them instead. I guess it's worth a try? Dunno, we'll see :D

Have fun reading!

Feath