Lunge Lesson

This morning I rode Hawk again. Given that there is some hope that at some point I may be interested in half leasing him (and that he's the largest of the horses available for non-advanced riders), I think it's safe to say that I will always be riding him unless he's off at a show or otherwise unavailable.

Today was a lunge lesson, so I could concentrate on my position without worrying about steering.

The reason Hawk is considered suitable for advanced beginners and not real beginners is that he tends to go rather fast, and is difficult to slow down. I've been told I seem to have a calming effect on him, as I can barely get him to go, and there's no trouble with slowing and stopping. That's not a high energy trot in the picture above.

We did get to canter, although I had a very hard time keeping him in a canter (and apparently he normally loves to canter).

Heel is not down here. In my defense, my legs are rather long, and Hawk wasn't listening to my legs, so that's me trying to use my heel on him without losing my stirrup.

I've been trying to organize my Flickr photo's a bit, so pictures of my latest lesson should always be available here. And all my riding lesson photos are here. At least, I think that should work.