Starting From The Bottom

[Deleted]

Drew was a little sad that he only had one student in his beginner western class and in his opinion more students should have at least taken the intro class even if they did ride English. It made them a well rounder rider. If students were going to equine based colleges which he knew most of them would try to riding both English and western would look better on their application rather than one or the other. Although he was also glad that the students who did ride western were more advanced and were testing what they liked as far as disciplines went.

He walked to Roscoe’s arena, which was where he told the single student to meet him for the class. From what Drew understood the student did have his horse and so there was no need to bring one of his. He set up some cones and a few ground poles for the student. He didn’t really know what his riding level was but cones and ground poles were the easiest thing he could think of to give him an idea of his control and riding level. Drew hoped that the student at least knew how to tack up his mount, it wasn’t a problem if he didn’t though.

Calling:
@don

[Deleted]

While academic classes were a breeze for Donalbain, he was getting close to a nervous breakdown about his riding classes. Well, on the inside at least. From the outside, he seemed confident in jeans and slightly worn Ariat boots. He strode towards Genie's stall, and the Mustang popped his head up at the sound of someone approaching. Donalbain gave the horse a nervous smile but quickly tied him up inside the stall. After some practice, his grooming procedure had grown much smoother.

Next came the large Western saddle. Donalbain was glad that Genie wasn't such a tall horse, and that he himself was tall. He didn't think he could have heaved the thing onto his horse's back if he had to reach up any higher. Donalbain rubbed his arms at the effort, but leaned down to cinch the pinto up. When the saddle was reasonable secure, he grabbed his helmet and the Western bridle. Thankfully, bridling went without a hitch. At last, it was time to make an appearance.

Donalbain made his way towards Roscoe's arena. "Good afternoon Mr. Rhodes." He said, remembering the name from the brief correspondence about where to meet. He went through the gate and found a spot to re-tighten the girth. It took more effort than he would have liked, but at least it was only the instructor watching. He glanced around at the cones and ground poles, and back at the instructor. He began to reach for the stirrup to mount up, but hesitated, unsure of whether or not he was supposed to get on just yet.

[Deleted]

Thinking about some things that Drew would have liked to cover in the duration of the class with the boy as Donalbain entered the arena. ”Good afternoon Donalbain.” The man smiled as he saw that the tack looked great. ”Your tack looks great.” Then a nod as the student tightened his cinch nicely. He had seen some beginners yank the material through the latches and give their horse obvious discomfort.

Knowing nothing about his riding background he needed to know where to start with him. As he saw Donalbain move towards mounting up, Drew stopped him with the questions, ”Before you mount up could you tell me what sort of riding experience you have and you level of comfort with horses, being on and around them.” It was a three part question, hopefully shedding some light on the equine of his student.

It was always helpful; he asked all of his students even in the higher level classes. Even if the experience level was nonexistent he would still ask the boy to ride around the cones and over the poles. They would tell Drew about his control and balance, two things that were extremely important in the world of riding. The man waited for his student’s answer to his question.

[Deleted]

Donalbain gave a quick smile at the tack comment. "Thank you." Looks like his secret practice had payed off. While he might not have had experience with Western riding back home, he was most definitely not going to show up to class and make a fool of himself by needing help to tack up. Hence the memorizing of how a Western mount should look, all tacked up.

The young teenager turned toward the instructor. He cast a swift glance to the gate before answering. Fortunately, there was nobody else in sight. "I have some, ah, limited experience with English riding and none with Western." He said haltingly. Only to an instructor and only with no peers within earshot would he grudgingly admit the truth. "Concerning my comfort level on horseback, well, I prefer going slow at this point." His voice dropped to a mumble towards the end of his sentence, and he drew another breath before answering the third part of Mr. Rhodes's question. He made sure that his voice was clear when he answered.

"As for on the ground, I am quite comfortable with Genie." Donalbain wondered how familiar this man was with the school mounts. If he did, he would know that it didn't take much to be comfortable leading the Mustang around. If he didn't, well, Donalbain only had to work with Genie so far anyway.

[Deleted]

Listening keenly to all the boy had to say. Nodding when he said about no western experience, ”That’s perfectly fine, that’s why the course is named as such.” Quieting himself once again he listened to Donalbain explain the pace he would like to take. ”The pace is up to you at this point.” He gestured around to the empty arena. ”You should be happy to know you are my only student in this class.” Drew smiled.

His plan was quite simple, giving Donalbain and Genie simple tasks that were easily controllable from the ground. Of course they would take it very slowly probably not asking for the trot until the third or fourth class, from what it sounded like the student was very cautious in the saddle, which was a good way to be. Listening to the last part Drew nodded, ”That’s great.”

”Would you like to mount up?” He asked this was completely up to him, ”If not that’s fine, I have another idea if you aren’t comfortable right now.” Drew would definitely take it slow, since Donalbain was the only student; the time for this class was pretty infinitive. Waiting for the answer Drew looked around and gathered his thoughts.

[Deleted]

Donalbain nodded, his ears tinged ever so slightly with red. He wasn't sure whether he was more embarrassed by the the fact that he was the only beginner (which meant at the bottom as far as he was concerned) or that he was being treated like he wasn't comfortable enough to actually mount up (too close to the truth). He told himself to shrug it off and be glad that no one else was around to see him struggle, which he was certain he would do.

Yeah, you should be happy that Mr. Rhodes is so accommodating. He scolded himself. He erased the scowl that had been forming on his face and instead put on a small smile suitable of a student comfortable in their own incompetence but ready to move forward. "We can start on horseback." Donalbain said, taking care to keep his tone from sounding pompous or commanding. He turned towards Genie and set his foot in the stirrup. He bounced twice before launching himself over.

It took him a moment to settle his feet and stirrups into the correct orientation. He was about to take one rein in each hand before he remembered that they were held in one hand. He summoned to mind the image of how the internet had said to hold the reins and did his best to match that. He ended up with a fist. The reins came out the top like limp vines, each one flopping to one side. Donalbain flushed, knowing that it was most definitely not correct.

[Deleted]

Clapping his hands Drew nodded and smiled, ”Great, go ahead and mount up.” He saw the reins running through Donalbain’s fist. Walking over to the horse, he looked up to the rider, ”May I see the reins?” When the boy handed the reins to him Drew held them in his right hand with the main part running through his pinkies and out through his index finger and thumb.

”There are many ways to hold reins. I think there should be no difference between English and Western riding, but there is. The reins should be in your dominant hand, this is the closest way to hold them; it is similar to the English way but with one hand instead of two. Your other hand can rest on your thigh or wherever you feel it is comfortable. Drew handed the reins back to the boy.

After the rein holding instruction, Drew asked Donalbain to go around the rail of the arena. ”Please take a lap walking around the arena. Please hit the four ground poles on the rail.” He had the poles set up in the middle of the long and short sides as well as two across each diagonal, totaling in eight ground poles. The cones were set up done the middle. He was glad that he was working with a fresh student, meaning no riding experience, as there was no way he could have picked up bad habits or any habits for that matter.

[Deleted]

Donalbain sighed inwardly. Good thing there's only you in this class. He thought. He had a feeling that he would be telling himself that quite a few times in the next hour or so. As he gave the reins to the instructor, he turned his eyes to Mr. Rhodes's hands, refusing to make eye contact with the man. He studied the way that the split reins looked in a live pair of hands, and adjusted his left hand accordingly. Only when he was certain that he had it did he accept the reins back. There. That looks much better. "Thank you." He mumbled as he looked at his corrected reins.

As Mr. Rhodes gave the next instruction, Donalbain eyed the path that he planned to take. Easy enough. His mouth twitched in amusement at the words but he suppressed the smile until he had begun walking away from the instructor. "Do not take that literally, Genie." He murmured as they neared the first pole. With a lazy swish of his tail, the Mustang extended his stride just enough to avoid knocking his feet against the ground pole. Donalbain felt the difference as his horse began dragging his feet a little, and gave a light squeeze with his calves. Genie moved out obediently, walking along the rail at a purposeful pace.

So far, Donalbain found it easier to maintain a half-way decent riding position in this Western saddle, except that he couldn't seem to settle his right hand. It jumped from the horn to his thigh to the pommel and back to the horn again.

[Deleted]

Drew wanted to shake his head, he wasn’t being himself. Letting people do what they were comfortable with wasn’t him, he liked to push people to their breaking point. Although that isn’t the best way to put it, it was what he was good at and it was how he acted. He watched Donalbain move with his horse, though Western was more relaxed, it didn’t mean lazy. Drew still liked to see medium amount of movement in each gait.

Watching the boy walk over the poles he nodded when he saw the slowly horse pick up his pace. ”That was great, you felt him slowly down and you did something about it.” Slowing down was good if you were coming off of a faster gait, but not in the same gait. The word slow to Drew meant a lazy rider. A smart horse would test their rider to see how little work they could get away with doing, which was why he was glad that he wasn’t working with a lazy student.

”Please weave in and out of the cones and then half circle to the left and come back through.” The task was easy but it showed the control of the rider.

[Deleted]

Hearing the man's encouragement, Donalbain gave a small nod. He was too far away for Mr. Rhodes to see, but a tiny smile had crossed the boy's lips for a few minutes, glad that he could do something right. He felt the Mustang's pace waver as they approached another pole, and pushed his horse forward with more confidence this time. Genie flicked his ears back but didn't slow down again.

When they had gone over the requested number of ground poles, Donalbain looked at Mr. Rhodes for the next task. He nodded and once more mapped out the ideal path. Since he had kept his horse moving, he now needed to make an about face in order to return to the first cone. Donalbain quickly ran through his head the concept of neck-reining and moved his hand ever so slightly to the right. Genie moved sideways a little but kept going straight. Donalbain made a more dramatic move with his hand, firmly laying the left rein on Genie's neck. His horse wheeled around at the strong command.

Donalbain was caught off guard by the sharp movement and lurched to the outside. His breath caught in his throat, but much to his surprise he stayed in the saddle. "Sorry, Genie." He muttered as they approached the first cone and he had recovered his breath. As they wove around the cones, Donalbain found the happy medium between his first and second attempts at steering, and on the way back he went through them as fast as one could at walk.

[Deleted]

Yes he was the western instructor but he did have some of teaching stolen from the English counterpart. Drew saw the horse loose his speed once again, but Donalbain kept the gelding at the pace he wanted, which was not the same pace Genie kept taking. Nodding silently he smiled as this showed Drew that the boy was more confident in the saddle than he led on, but that could be looked at as being humble.

Watching the boy and horse go in and out of the cones and then saw they abrupt turn from the horse. Drew took a few steps toward the pair, but then stopped when he saw the student found his balance once again. ”Though Genie is trained in neck-reining I would like you to use your legs. Yes that sounds like something an English instructor would say and yes Ms. Carr will say that many of times I want you to try that. You can use your reins to direct his nose. But when you are turning you need to use your inside leg and I know that sounds funny, but yes your inside leg, so when you want to right you apply you right leg and it is your calf not your heel or your foot and when you want to turn left the same thing but with your left leg. Try and go through the cones with your legs and not so you’re your hands.”

He smiled as he was done his explanation. Though he knew Ms. Carr would tell him the same thing when he got to her class he wanted him to learn this because not all western horses knew how to neck-rein and he would bet that a lot of only English trained horses didn’t know the skill either.

[Deleted]

The young rider's brow furrowed in confusion as the man asked for leg aids. He could barely figure out rein aids, but figured that at least Genie wouldn't be suddenly confused when Donalbain tried turning with leg pressure. He aimed his horse at the cones once more, but halted him as he went through Mr. Rhodes instructions once more, mumbling them under his breath.

Right calf... Donalbain gently turned Genie's nose like he had been told as he pressed his calf into the Mustang's side. At first, the horse obediently stepped sideways, almost running into the cone. Donalbain stopped him and moved back to where they started. He tried again, using a little more rein and a little less leg. It wasn't quite right, but the paint guessed what Donalbain wanted, and they wove through the cones again.

The boy found that they was not turning as quickly as they needed to be, for each time Genie very nearly ran the cones over as he traveled a wide arc. However, Donalbain didn't know how to fix it, and so they went on in their peculiar way. He kept an ear open for the comments that were sure to come, though he was reluctant as usual to ask for assistance without any prodding.

[Deleted]

The man watched his student try out what he had told him. ”You’re doing well, it is harder to use your legs in a western saddle as it is larger and bulkier, as opposed to the English saddle where your leg contact is what your equitation is based on.” Drew walked over to the cones and made more space between them.

”Alright so you saw how Genie side stepped when you applied just leg correct? Well I wanted you to do that until you pass the cone and then ride forward, do the same thing. So pretty much instead of rounded weaving, I want you to make it choppier, so you’ll make a corner.” Drew demonstrated by moving to his right side until the cone was no longer in front of him and walked forward, and then he went back to his left and walked forward again, until he had gone around two cones.

After he watched him complete his instructions, Drew called the boy in to him. ”Ok Donalbain, you did well today. We can call it a day and walk Genie around the arena once and he should be cooled out enough, you’ll need to get into the habit of cooling your horse out after working with him. After that you can head back up to the barn, and I will see you tomorrow with some more plans.” The man walked over and collected the cones and put them away.

OOC: I know I explained it a bit confusingly I hope you get it. Sorry.