Riding Lessons

Yesterday I had my first horseback riding lesson. I have wanted to do this for a very long time and have finally decided to just do it! I am learning how to do dressage and event jumping, so it is totally different from any riding I am used to. I grew up riding Western style where you want a lot of slack in the reins and you sit deep in the saddle. Dressage, or English, style requires tension in the reins at all times (always in contact with the horses mouth) and sitting as lightly as possible in saddle. I have always loved to watch the cross-country eventing on TV and thought it looked very exciting! My instructor is younger than me by about 15 years, but she seems to know what she is doing! She has competed in numerous events. She was pleased with how naturally I sat a horse and has great faith in me that I will be able to master this! The hardest thing for me to remember was to keep my heels down and my toes pointed slightly in with the most pressure on my big toes! It was exhilarating to be back on a horse again! I wasn't sure who's heart was beating faster...mine or the horses! If you are familiar at all with English riding, you know that they "post" at the trot. That is where you rise up and down in the saddle in rhythm with the horse. My instructor, Maggie, said that I should be using my calf muscles, not my knees or thighs, to rise up out of the saddle. I must have been doing it right, because my calves were pretty sore afterwards and my knees and thighs didn't bother me at all. Usually it is my knees that hurt after riding for any length of time. Today, the front hip area that connects my legs to my hips is kind of sore. I suppose from the constant rise and fall of posting. I have my lessons in an indoor arena that is heated to about 40 degrees, so it is not bad at all for riding in the winter. I was actually getting warm half way through my lesson.
I will be having a lesson twice a month for 30 minutes each session(can't afford anymore at the moment). I will probably up my lesson time to 45 minutes once my body catches on. Hopefully that way I will keep myself from getting sore after each lesson. I would love to have a lesson every week, but I don't think that will ever happen. It just isn't in our budget. I am hoping to compete in some events this next summer if things go well. I can use one of the lesson horses and they will haul the horse to and from the event for me. I can't wait!!! I am sure I will be competing against little girls, but I have to start somewhere! Maybe some day (hopefully soon) I can actually get my own horse!