Consider me ecstatic to be riding again, and at the new stable... even though I rode the most neurotic, hyper horse in my life today. Ruby's a lovely chestnut, reminds me a lot of Tennessee... except she spooks at everything, tries to anticipate your every move and fishtails like a 2 wheel drive truck braking on ice. I was absolutely certain I was going to fall off within the first minute of being on her - Davee did warn me, but being told "just let her do her thing, she'll wander around for a minute, trot, canter, walk - just let her have her head at first" didn't sink in until I nearly bit the dust when she wheeled around at a quick trot after a brisk walk out and then hit her canter... all while my feet were still out of the stirrups. Yikes. She's amazingly responsive, but apprehensive and touchy about aids. Apparently, when 3D Farms was negotiating for her, another potential buyer rode her and beat the hell out of her - yanked her mouth around with a harsh bit, rough aids, the works. And that's why she's so mistrustful now. She tries to foresee what you'll ask for, and is afraid that you'll hurt her if she's wrong. Rough handling will set any animal back a damn long ways. Grrrrrr... I'd like to get my hands on that bastard.

Anyway. I figured I'd pretty much shown Davee and Diane my incompetence in the saddle today, when I couldn't even guide Ruby in the beginning of the lesson, much less post gracefully. I've lost so much muscle in my legs, it's not funny... my legs, shoulders and back are gonna be hurting tomorrow for sure. But Davee sent Yussanne and I an email detailing what she saw in our lesson today, and what she'll be aiming for with each of us:
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You both did really well.

Yussanne - Moncho is a good judge of character on seat position - you
did exceptionally well on him. Next lesson, I want to work on making
your leg much more steady. Your upper body did fine, but I could see a
"brighter" upper body - shoulders more back, chest out, lighter hand
carriage.

Kirsten - you did fabulous on Ruby - she is a hand full!!! The fact
that you remained so steady and quiet while she was being a poo-head
tells me a lot. Next time I want to put you on either Swiss or Danka -
lets get you back into shape before we tackle Miss Red-Head Rubylicious
again. We gotta get your body to understand contact and hold-release -
I know your mind gets it, but your body was confused. (Hey, that's the
nature of horseback riding - getting the body to agree with the mind)

I was very pleased with both of you.
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Davee's awesome. I feel better about the lesson, anyway. Though I don't think I looked so calm and cool-headed... I sure didn't feel that way over half the time. -shrugs- Oh well. I'm still proud that I can now keep a horse from spooking into a gallop and sending me to the ground, and stay on when a horse cuts to one side quickly. I know I couldn't have handled Ruby last year. I'm definitely still learning, but I feel that I've come a long ways from where I was when I began riding with TES last spring. And that's always a nice feeling. =^)