I had my second dressage lesson today and I was on the horse for over an hour and easily spent 3/4 of that time out of the seat balancing with my thighs; you're not allowed to use the stirrups, reins etc for support, heels must be down, chest out, arms by sides, knees loose, back straight, pelvic forward, you can't use any of your muscles below the knee, you must have contact with your calves on the horse, shoulders back, grip those reins but don't use them! My instructor wont even let me look at the horse when I'm on him! All this at a trot and not even a rising trot as you only get to go back into the saddle when you cant stay up any longer. Count, count, count for how long you did it successfully then do it again. As you can imagine its a TOTALLY NATURAL state for your body to be in for an hour!
After the ride I watch some others do a trial and then went and visited my friend Justine to meet her adopted foal Elvis.
As Justine puts it, the real Elvis drew people to him in droves and apparently so does this little bloke, hence the name. Also he was born very small and his legs were wonky, he used to shake them to the side like he was doing the Elvis dance! Dare I say it... he was all shook up! God that jokes so bad I'm keeping it!
This poor Elvis is a twin but his mother rejected him and kept his sister. She didn't want the runt I guess. The mare's owners couldn't afford the time to raise a newborn foal so Justine took him on and an excellent job she is doing.
He has gained heaps of weight after r
ound the clock feeds every three hours and his crooked legs have straighten right up. Though he's still a runt wearing the dogs coat!I think the photos of him are great particularly the one with his little doggy play mate - at least they can share their wardrobe for now. Elvis also has the total run of the house inside and out!
Way to go Elvis!
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