Update on Largo

 I mentioned last week that my trainer had found a horse, Largo, that would be perfect for me. He is a 20-year-old 17.3 hand high warmblood that is trained in upper level dressage, which means he can leg-yield, change leads, and half pass. With those skills he could teach me a lot about dressage. There's nothing better than learning dressage on a trained dressage horse! I could take him to small local shows, and Meghan said I could even win several ribbons on him. I've been discussing the possibility of owning Largo with my parents. While we all agree that he would be a great starter horse, and even my mom would like to have him and start riding again(she rode a lot when she was my age) we decided that it wouldn't work out to have a horse right now. I'm disappointed, especially since this seems like a great opportunity, but I realize that there will be other horses. I hope we will find a horse like him when we are ready for owning a horse.

Ouch! I Fell off During my Dressage Lesson + an Opportunity with Owning a Horse

 For this week's riding lesson, I worked on dressage Intro Test C with Ginger. I warmed her up with walk-halt transitions riding around the arena twice before entering the portioned off dressage court. I trotted around it several times. Ginger needed a bit of encouraging sometimes, but she was otherwise great.

Next, I went through Intro Dressage Test C for the first time on Ginger. I trotted down center line, halted and saluted, then continued toward C, turning right and riding down the long side of the arena. I rode a 20 meter circle at B, then another at A, skipping out the canter part. I then rode across the diagonal of the arena, turned left, then made two more 20 meter circles, one at E and another A. At P, I slowed to a walk and rode to H. Finally, I trotted down the long side, turned down center line, and halted and saluted at G.

After that I rode Ginger on a long rein around the dressage court to give both of us a break. When I was ready, Meghan said I could do some cantering, something I hadn't done with Ginger before. I rode toward C and began a 20 meter circle in the trot. At the S-R line, I began cantering. I did only a few times on each circle.

What Meghan noticed is that my heels weren't down, so when Ginger stopped, I would lose my balance. That is what caused the next event. When I was cantering near M, Ginger slowed down, and I went somersaulting over her head, landing on a wooden ground pole the marked the dressage court. Unlike last time, this fall hurt. The part above my right hip hurt a lot, and I knew at once that it would lead a terrible bruise. Meghan ran over to me and told me to take deep breathes and up slowly. Once one my feet, I walked over to the mounting block, limping slightly. I'll probably be very sore tomorrow.

I remounted, and Meghan led Ginger back over to C, where I began circling to the right at the walk. I trotted around once, then slowed to the walk and changed directions and trotted to the left. Then I rode Ginger out of the arena and rode around the barn and dismounted by the entrance. I untacked, brushed her out, and put her away. I'm still a bit sore, although not badly injured.

In good news, Meghan found a horse that would good for me. He is a 17.3hh warmblood, Largo, who is trained in high level dressage and can leg-yield, half-pass, and do lead changes. He is a 20 year old schoolmaster and Meghan said he would be able to win some blue ribbons. Largo would be able to teach me dressage and give me skills I will need to move on to other disciplines, such as eventing, something I want to do someday. We haven't finalized anything yet, but my parents and I are talking it over.