Hello everyone! This is a supplementary blog that I am doing for personal benefit about my experiences on the Penn State Equestrian Team (PSET). I was debating between doing the Disney blog and the PSET blog, and in the end I decided to do this one just for fun.
So where to start? I suppose we can start with tryouts 🙂
On Friday, the 11th of January, I went to a meeting about the tryouts and filled out A LOT of paperwork. There was everything from insurance papers to official IHSA (Intercollegiate Horse Show Association) entry forms. I thought I would be writing my name, address, and phone number forever.
Ok maybe I lied. It didn’t take forever, just the better part of an hour. When I was done, the older members divided us into tryout groups based on level and drivers available. So I was in a small group with another freshman (Maclain), a junior (Patrick), and three other Asian girls who didn’t really intermingle all that much.
The first thing that we did once we got to the farm was wait. We watched the upper level girls tryout and learned the name of the horse that we were to ride. Mine was Maestro 🙂 When they brought him out of the lower barn he was magnificent. His hair was a deep brown and he had a white marking on his head. I am not sure how big he was, officially, but I know that he was one of the bigger horses in the coral during tryouts.
When we walked out into the ring (we were in the indoor ring because the paddock was too muddy for riding) it was freezing first off and secondly it was intimidating. There were six horses in a circle, each with its own staff surrounding it to help out since my group to try out with was for beginners. So we were all helped onto our horses. Maestro was very patient with me and our staff (they had to keep lengthening the stirrups because of my cursedly long legs!). Then we were being led around the track.
Now this doesn’t sound too hard right? Well let’s just say it got interesting when they taught us the fast version of how to ride two point. Two point riding is where the rider supports his/her body using his/her legs and the stirrups, keeping the heels down, closing the hip angle, and lifting the buttocks out of the saddle while keeping head and shoulders up. This position allows the horse to move easier on the flat ground and in jumping.
This is an example of the proper execution of 2 point riding. Looks wonderful, but is (literally) a pain in the butt…and calves and thighs. I eventually got the hang of it at the end, but I was clutching on to Maestro’s mane and kept falling back in the saddle. I thought I looked ridiculous, but Malinda, the coach, said that I had my butt high enough out of the saddle, so apparently I was doing it well enough for a beginner.
We went around the circuit a few times, changing direction, and going back and forth between 2 point and full contact riding. Lastly we had a test on listening to directions. Malinda told the group how to get off the horse properly.
1. Reins in the left hand and left hand placed on the horse’s neck
2. Right hand on the front of the saddle
3. Take feet out of the stirrups
4. Rest all weight on your arms
5. Swing right leg over without touching the horse or the saddle
6. Keep weight on arms at all times
7. Lower yourself down, landing on both feet at the same with knees bent
These are pretty simple instructions, but some of the people in our group didn’t understand them, or were confused and Malinda was quick to call them out on their faults. To me Malinda is the American version of a scary Russian ballet coach. I have been told by members that I will never get a compliment unless I perform something exceeding a miracle.
After all the fun at the farm all I could do was wait. And wait. Sleep. And wait.
On Sunday the list of new riders was posted with one minor problem. There was a Rachel Stein and no Rachel Streib. I am exceedingly grateful that I am used to having my name misspelled otherwise I would have missed out on this wonderful opportunity.
This Friday is my first lesson so next week I will regale you with tales of grooming, tacking, and befriending whichever horse I am assigned. *I really hope that it is Maestro!
“Riding: the art of keeping a horse between you and the ground.” ~ Author Unknown
Song of the Week: Unwritten – Natasha Bedingfield