My Riding Struggles

So I thought it would be good to put down what I've been struggling with most in my riding.

I think number one without a doubt is my heels. I have never been able to get those dang things down and deep, at least not like you see on those super equitation riders. I can maybe get them slightly below level, but anymore than that and its game over-I start bracing against my irons too much and my leg gets shoved forward.

Second, is "feel". This is part of the holy grail of riding because if you lack any feel, well, you can't really communicate effectively with your horse. I wouldn't say I don't have any feel, because I do, but I don't think its as finely tuned as it could be. Its definitely improved over the last year and a half with more consistent riding, but my reaction times to what I'm feeling can still be off. A lot.

And from that, comes consistency. I can have a totally awesome ride one day, and the next sucks big time. Arwen can have her moods which doesn't help, but on the whole who she is day to day stays relatively normal. Like, I can always expect her to want to run through lines. Like my trainer says, she will never back herself off, you have to help her fit strides in if that is your plan. But, while one lesson I may not have an issue "feeling" what type of ride I need to give her, the next day its like I've totally forgotten everything. Its frustrating, but I know its all part of learning to ride. And when you've basically spent your whole time riding schoolies and not a well tuned horse like Arwen is, its a very new experience.

There are other small, nit picky type items too, like my t-rex arms (big body, tiny little arms. And I do not kid, I swear I have the longest torso ever). The three things above have been my achilles heel for quite some time and I'm not sure how they can all be addressed, other than spending a lot more time in the saddle!