Horse Girl Problems

Those are more general ideas, but a great way to make money is to think about what specific interests/skills you have and see if you can create a job out of that. For example, my younger sister is really into photography and started an informal photography business at 15-- she posts in local facebook groups and offers to take family portraits for various occasions. Maybe you’re crafty, and want to try to sell some jewelry or something else you make. You’re a little young to tutor, but that’s something to think about as you get into high school (or possibly now, if you feel comfortable in a certain subject and want to try reaching out to families with younger kids who would maybe want some extra practice). Good luck, hope this helps a little!! 

However, if that doesn’t excite you or you try it for a few weeks and still feel "stuck,” it’s really helpful to take a break for a little while. Sometimes when you’ve been doing one thing a long time (like riding) it’s natural to start to feel a little burnt out. This doesn’t mean you are or that you should quit, but honestly I strongly believe that it’s very healthy to take short breaks occasionally from whatever it is you love doing, to prevent yourself from burning out and to just get out of your bubble and explore new hobbies/facets of your personality. Take a couple weeks off (or however long you want), and then when you return to the barn you’ll probably find yourself refreshed and ready to start again. And if you decide to prolong your break and explore another hobby more, that’s 100% okay too. It’s good to get new perspectives, it doesn’t make you less of an equestrian, you’ll always have your love of horses/experience riding. Best of luck figuring everything out! <3 

Also, I’m sure your trainer has already told you this, but to keep your horse from trying to switch leads, try to bend her head slightly to the outside of the new direction (or think of it as bending to the inside of the old direction, whatever works better in your mind) as you come across the diagonal, and keep your opposite leg on, almost as if you were going to ask for a counter-canter in the new direction. Then a little ways across the diagonal, bring her down to a trot, switch your bend, and ask for the transition again. Good luck! :)

Hey, no worries! Definitely not a stupid question haha. I assume by “half canter” you mean “half seat,” when the rider lightens their seat/goes into a little two-point? If so, then no, it’s not required for hunter jumping classes. At the higher levels, you’ll see more half seat as a way for the rider to show off the horse’s movement, but you should ride according to whatever suits your horse and your own balance, as finding distances are more important. If you were to do a flat class at a competition, you would want to ride in a half seat at the canter to let your horse’s stride flow nicely for the judge. So you may want to experiment with it during lessons, but don’t feel like you have to do so for jump courses right away if your eye/balance are better in a full seat. Enjoy Massachusetts, as a born and raised New England-er I think you’ll really enjoy it!

Transitions are difficult mostly for that reason, it’s really easy to focus just on the “gotta go faster!” aspect of it and then let little parts of your position fall to the wayside, like your heels or your hands or something like that. However, I’ve noticed that my position during transitions always improves when I don’t try to make a split-second decision to ask for a gait change. When you know you want to transition to the canter, bring the horse to a walk or sit the trot for a few seconds and set yourself up for success: stretch through your calves to sink into your heels, sit up tall, lift your hands, etc. Slide your outside leg back slightly while still at the walk/collected trot so you can make sure your heel stays down, then ask for the transition. I think that taking more time to set up always works out better in the end. And if the horse starts to get away from you a little bit and starts to rush (which almost always causes a rider’s heels to fly up, understandably as they try to save the transition), just bring him back down to the walk/trot and try again. Don’t be afraid to use a tap of a crop or nudge of a spur if you feel like your leg needs reinforcement, just so you don’t have to sacrifice your leg position to get a response (and it’ll help your horse respond to more subtle leg cues over time). Hopefully this helps a little, I know it’s frustrating not to have a quick fix but over time you’ll start to form muscle memory which will help. And if needed, play around with your stirrup length a little-- make sure you have room to stretch your leg, but also check that they’re short enough that you have a definite anchor. Good luck <3

Hey, welcome! Have you taught your mare how to lunge yet? If not, I highly recommend doing so, and if she does know how to lunge, try working with her on the ground so that you can practice the transitions and solidify the cues, which will help you replicate them more easily in the saddle. Frankly, even having someone lunge her while you’re riding may be helpful: it gives you a change to practice the cues you want from the saddle, but having someone holding the lunge line gives you a little extra control over her reaction. Eventually you’ll be able to work with her on your own, but if her impulse is as strong and immediate as you’ve described, then it sounds like ground work may be the best solution for now (taking one step back to take a bigger leap forward, that sort of thing). Let me know if this doesn’t sound possible for you/her and I can give different advice, but that’s where I’d start! :) 

If you feel comfortable, try dropping your stirrups for a portion of your canter– it automatically sets your leg in the correct position and forces you to use your thigh and calf as opposed to you relying on pinching with your knee. No-stirrup work also has the added benefit of making your legs stronger, so that you have more muscle control, which helps with things like your leg sliding back over fences. Even when you ride with stirrups, every lap focus on elongating your entire leg (not just jamming your heels down). Stretch through your calf so the weight is in your heel-- think of your heels as anchors, sinking you down. Also take care also that you’re not leaning too far forwards, causing you to lose leg contact and grip with your knee more-- you want to stay centered over the saddle. Doing a few laps in two-point (or even full-on jumping position) on the flat may also help with your leg position and your hip angle over fences: doing it on the flat helps give you a feel for how long your leg should stretch and for what a closed hip angle feels like (when you anchor your heels and push back at the waist slightly) so that when you go to actually jump, you have some muscle memory to work with. Good luck, hope this helps!

If possible, have a friend help you by holding him for you while you get on-- if you both have the time, do this several times in a row to teach him what you want. If you’re by yourself, try leading him up to it as if you were going to hold him for someone else to get on by walking on the right side of the horse, then make him stand correctly by the block for a solid period of time (not just a few seconds) before coming around and hopping on. If he still tries to power-walk away before you’re ready, dismount and make him do it again. This time, try to test your weight in the stirrup before you mount, and if he starts to move stand back on the block and nudge him back into position. You can also use positive reinforcement: if you stand at the block and he stands patiently with you for several seconds, feed him a small treat (and be sure to withhold it if he moves even an inch). You can eventually progress to leaning slightly over the pommel of the saddle, and feeding him with your right hand by his right shoulder, so that he stands quietly in anticipation of the treat. Most horses are pretty food motivated, so it shouldn’t take him long to get the message ;) once he is standing consistently, you can downgrade to just a pat so that he’s not reliant on treats all the time. And remember, while you want to get on safely, try to swing up quickly and not waste any time. Good luck!

Aw, thank you so much for updating me! I definitely remember you and I love hearing updates like these, so happy to hear everything worked out and that I had a small role in helping you feel better. Best of luck at your show!!! 

Hi! You might need to replace your stirrup pads, sometimes when they get worn out it’s harder to keep a good grip on them. Your stirrups may also be a bit too long, so consider shortening them by a hole or so. Otherwise, it’s probably a matter of general leg placement. Make sure that as you ride your leg is stretched long so you sink down into your heels and anchor yourself on the ball of your foot. Don’t grip with your knee (that will make your toes point down which makes it easier for your stirrup to slide back), instead open your hips, stretch up tall, and let your thighs and calves do the work. Every few strides, do a mental check and see if you need to open your shoulders, elongate your leg, or stretch further into your heels, in hopes of catching yourself before there’s a problem. Good luck <3

I know the wedged stirrup pads were really your biggest question, but for what it’s worth here are a few other riding-related things to keep in mind that may help: check that you’re not pinching with your knee or thigh when you ride, that can also mess up your weight distribution (you could be putting *too* much weight in your stirrups as a compensation measure, and the added pressure may be what’s making your ankles go wonky). Drop your stirrups (if you feel comfortable) to feel where your leg should naturally hang and force your calf muscles to engage more. When you pick your stirrups back up, take care that you’re placing all your weight on your stirrups-- it seems counter-intuitive I know, but you really only want to use them as a light anchor point as opposed to sinking all your weight into them as the only thing keeping you on the horse (you actually want your core to be engaged enough so that you can balance more independently). Hopefully this wasn’t too confusing haha, it’s been a long day so apologies for the messy writing. Good luck!

As for just a general overview that might help, keep in mind you don’t necessarily need to bend your arms at a right angle, but you should have a soft outward bend and be able to lift your hands high enough so that 1). your balance doesn’t come from hanging on the horse but rather from you engaging your core muscles and anchoring yourself in your stirrups and 2). leg your horse is able to get round and come up into your hand when you add leg. So to help you get used to the position, strengthen your core as best you can out of the saddle, so that it’s not so much of a struggle to carry your hands independently. Unfortunately there aren’t any quick fixes, but good luck!

Hi! No-stirrup work is one of the best things you can do. I know it can be hard, but even a few laps of canter will force your leg to hang down correctly and prevent you from bracing it forward, and it also just generally builds muscle with helps with controlling position. In addition, make sure that you’re not depending too much on your hands/reins for balance– that tends to make your hands and shoulders stiff and locked in one position, and by supporting the horse that way if he pulls you down (like in a downward transition), your leg will shoot out in front of you. Don’t bury your hands in the horse’s mane and pull down-- instead, lift your hands so they’re independent, engage your core, and use your body weight to sink down into the saddle and anchor yourself in your heels. Take care you’re not bracing too much against the stirrup— you want your heels down, but think about sinking down into them as opposed to jamming them down. Keep your hips open to roll with the horse’s motion, but be careful that you don’t get too behind the motion as that will push your lower leg forward. Basically, you want to use your stirrups to balance on to counteract the bounciness, but you shouldn’t really be gripping on anything, like with your knees or by bracing on your stirrups– it’s counterintuitive at first, but your goal is to be as flexible and adjustable as possible so it’s more important to have your own independent balance. Hope this helps a little!

Unfortunately, I can’t help much with something like this. I don’t have a law degree (at least not for a few years haha) so I don’t feel comfortable advising you on your chances in court. From what you’ve told me, the situation definitely sounds sketchy to say the least, but I can’t tell you how to handle this from a legal perspective (especially considering I don’t completely understand the situation myself). My advice would be to contact an actual lawyer to sort this out and figure out what your best course of action is. 

Everyone handles this process differently, but I hope this post can act as a springboard to give you some idea on how to start moving forward. Best of luck with everything <33

What sort of price range are you looking for? I'll assume since you're saving up you don't want super high prices, so for moderate prices, I really like Ovation, Mountain Horse, and Ariat (Ariat has some on the pricier level and more moderate, but good quality all around).