Hi there! I think I might have posted this in the wrong place - so copying it here. D'uh! It's taking me a while to find my way around.
I've found my way to EE after having a lesson with Damian Stenton at Smeltings Farm last week - probably the best lesson of my life! Gill (sandpiper) is one of my bestest friends - she's been gently nagging me for ages (years probably LOL) to give EE a try....so here I am (hi Gill xx).
What took me to Damian and EE? Well, I have a lovely (to me) 15.2hh horse called Beaver (no jokes thanks - I've probably heard them all...and some very embarrassingly over tannoys LOL). We've had a chequered relationship over the almost six years since we first met (long story) and although I love him to bits, we never really "clicked" until a few months ago. I don't know what happened - I just found a new confidence from somewhere, he drew on that and we fell in love LOL. I can't believe now that this time last year I had decided to sell/loan because I was too scared to ride him! I have also been lucky enough to buy Gill's lovely old horsebox from her and this opened up new possibilities for me and Bea.
I keep him on working livery at a riding school where he's looked after very well and doesn't do much work at all - 5 hours a week is the absolute max, and most weeks it's only 1 or 2 hours. It does mean that he gets ridden by lots of different people, but he's not a novice ride so he doesn't have complete beginners on him.
We went out over the summer to dressage comps at a local riding centre and even qualified for the championship (came last and in the biggest downpour I've ever ridden in - but hey, we had fun!). The judge's comments were consistently encouraging (lovely, obliging horse, good rhythm, nice paces) but every single score sheet had the same comment that Bea needed to work in a softer outline, and this I struggled with.
In my lessons I was being encouraged to use a strong contact and get cross with Bea to get him to oblige. The only result was that generally we both got hot and cross and discouraged. Bea did his best, and sometimes we produced some good work, but it wasn't consistent.
I poured out my worries and frustrations to Gill and she suggested looking for an EE trainer - so I did, and the rest is history. I feel more hopeful and positive now about my riding than I ever have! Looking forward to learning more and improving my riding so that I can help Bea to be comfortable and work to his best.
