I had my first ever lesson with Harry de Leyer (riding with Connie) and I can say this for sure: DAMN!
Usually, when you ride with a trainer who knows nothing about you, you end up on their dead broke horse, walk, trot, canter, and then do some negligible jumps or trot poles. This is exactly what I expected...and it is not what I got!
After a few minutes of warming up (and I mean literally, a few) we did a small corssrail (oh good, something I am good it). I figured that we would stick to about 2 ft practicing and getting used to the horse. Well, what-do-you-know, then all of a sudden Harry says "okay do that line of 4 jumps on the diagonal." Doesn't sound too bad does it? Wrong. Okay, who cares about the number of jumps, the lines, the distances- all that I can do since I have been practicing so many gymnastics with Ruby; it's the height that gets me! You have to understand- I ride Ruby pretty much all the time, and she is a "squirrel-y" 14.2hh pony that I usually only jump about 2'3" or 2'6" ish right now. When I told Harry this, he simply said "eh, it is only three and a half feet, go!"
I did go. I had a death grip on my reins (so sorry Cherry!), my helmet fell over my eyes from looking straight down at the ground, and I think my lower leg swung back so far that I was baffled that I didn't kick myself in the ass. But I did go.
It took a few tries, but I did get a little better towards the end. That line became my friend, and out the the 9 jumps he gave me to do, those four quickly became my favorite. Although this lesson was difficult for me (I was a little out of my league), I am still proud of myself for finishing and pushing myself out (way out) of my comfort zone.
Here is what I learned:
1. I ride defensively. Well, I guess that happens when you ride a pony that tends to do everything but go OVER a jump!
2. I get nervous. I don't mean the butterfly nervous- I mean major panic. I have done gymnastics with more components than I could keep track of, but once the jumps get big, it's like the world falls apart...and I rush (just get it over with). Maybe I should bring some liquor with me next time!
3. I hang on my left rein. I don't have a reason for that one, but apparently I do!
4. There is still hope! Harry must have liked something- maybe it was my snarky remarks I made at myself when I messed up, or the fact that I just keep trying. He seemed to think that with a little work (5 lessons, actually) I could do the big jumpers (with a nice horse and not a pony) haha. We'll see! I will go back in a few months for another lesson, after I practice my automatic release.
Harry has a very interesting story, and is most well known for his horses Snowman and the training of Sinjon. Check out information about Harry and Snowman here: Eighty-Dollar Champion. I am in the process of reading this book, and it amazes me what a fantastic horseman Harry is!
For those of you thinking about pushing your boundaries and trying out some bigger jumps for yourself, I highly recommend taking a lesson with Harry at Nederland Farm (near Charlottesville)!
