Flying Dismount

It finally happened. I flew off Rusty tonight in a totally unplanned dismount. We were having a nice ride up to that point. He was trotting along, actually feeling relaxed and more supple than usual and then BAM he was going the other direction and I was on the ground.

I have no idea what he spooked at. There was nothing that I could see in that corner of the arena and nothing that Ellen saw either as she happened to be looking right at us when it happened. I hit my side and than my head. Luckily I had my handy dandy helmet on! I felt a little dazed, but also relieved. I've been waiting to fall off that horse since I brought him home. And now it's happened and I'm fine. I have a headache, but it's not bad. I imagine my neck will be a little sore tomorrow, but nothing I haven't felt before. So there ya have it, I can fall off of the big huge horse and be okay. Important lesson to learn!

We rode a little while longer, but I was feeling sort of out of it. Probably the let down after the adrenaline kick from falling. I think Rusty was feeling slightly embarrassed/guilty afterwards because we had some of the best trot work we've had so far right after I remounted. I don't think I'll utilize flying off of him as a training tool, but he did seem a little sorry for his actions.

I've really been working on pushing my hands forward. I suppose that's an exaggeration, but what I mean is not feeling the backward motion in my hands, but instead feeling like they're encouraging forward motion, while still supporting his frame. It's an interesting feeling and it's been hard to cultivate, but I'm liking what it does for his trot. I also had a mini realization tonight that I don't have to use my legs like vice grips, if he doesn't listen I should ask with the aid of the whip and he'll learn to move off lighter pressure. I think I've been feeling like I'm not asking right if I'm not squeezing the heck out of him, but squeezing the heck out of him hasn't gotten us anywhere. Tonight while I was working on suppling him up with some sidepass work I used a little whip reinforcement and surprise he moved right away from light pressure the next time. It's the little things...

I'm up to the barn tomorrow night, probably without Ellen. It'll be nice to have the arena to myself and just take things nice and easy. Saturday we are planning to videotape each others rides and watch them on the computer right afterwards. I'm looking forward to that, it's always great to see what you've improved at and what you still need to work on.