Day 4 of My Internship with Emily Larramore

Day 4 of My Internship with Emily Larramore

This morning I was going to ride for the second time, but this time ride correctly. And...and hopefully trot.

I had been working on squats and other exercises that Amanda had told me to do to improve my balance and this was the test to see if my hard work was . 

I started out with playing on the ground, doing things I would get ‘yes’s to, which meant games we didn’t have trouble with. The good news was with a horse like Vanna, you really don’t need to play a lot before you can get on and ride.

Emily had me on the 22 ft feather line and I was riding on a bareback pad (Love those Parelli Bareback pads! <3)

We worked on walking, stopping and backing up with my body language and energy. We also worked on pedaling. Emily told me to really exaggerate the movement so I could get the hang of it easier.

I got the hang of it quickly, but my fluidity at the walk hasn’t really been a problem in a long while. (A year.)

When Emily suggested the trot, I tensed for a second. It passed as quickly as it came but I still said “Let’s wait a moment.”

Don’t get me wrong, I couldn’t wait to trot. But I didn’t want to be nervous as I have always had problems with that.

The first time we trotted it took a while for me to get the hang of it, but it really helped that I didn’t have to worry where Vanna was going. But when I got it...I felt...flowey. I was flowing with her. After that  I got it quite easily.

I stayed on the line for about another 15 minutes before I felt ready to go out and ride by myself.

I walked around a bit, making sure she was still listening to me (of course she was!) and finally...this was it.

I was going to try and trot Vanna and stay balanced and fluid, to breathe and relax.

At first Vanna went Right Brain. But instead of stopping her, I had to ride it out. And that is what I did, and it worked! She slowed down and lowered her head.

We trotted and trotted and my confidence grew and grew! We even jumped a small jump a few times! Then towards the end of our riding session she began turning more and more to my body language and where my belly button was pointing instead of me having to go up in phases. 

I ended  on a good note- weaving at the trot with using barely any rein. 

After the barn we went down to Clanton to see Amanda and go to Tractor Supply to buy feed for Emily.

As it turned out we spent at least 45 minutes in the HUGE Bass Pro Shop and then we went on an adventure to explore, nearly getting caught in a bad storm. 

Amanda had never driven down a certain road so we went down that road. As we were driving through ‘the sticks’ as Emily called them, I looked out the window and couldn’t help but love this.

Loving just going off plans, taking an extra half an hour to explore. Not worrying about time, gas, money. Just taking the time it takes to live your life.

That evening there was Rachel and Katie out at the barn riding. I decided to ride again, despite it being terribly muddy. 

Vanna and I jumped some more (On a horse like her, how could you NOT love it?) and trotted alot more.

One time, coming up to the jump Vanna picked up the canter. I had a mini freakout before bending her to a stop. I wasn’t quite ready for it yet!

The evening was so much fun, it wasn’t too hot nor was it raining. This day made up for the other times we had missed. :)

Sorry it’s late guys. I had written this HUGE long beautiful post but it got deleted (ugh) so here is a shorter version. Sorry, but I’m feeling lazy.  I really am sorry!

The post about today (Friday) may take a while. I had a lesson with Amanda and I need to reflect before I write about it (Sorry Em)

Please remember to vote for my “We Are Parelli Because...” video on the Parelli Facebook page! <3 We would benefit so much from a day with Pat & Linda!

Gonna go see HP and the Deathly Hallows this evening with Emily’s friends. (Gonna be the little kid of the group. lol)

Cheers

Julia