VCBH: Chock full of advice!

Another Magical Blog Hop by Viva Carlos!   What *would* I do without them?   :)   I suppose I could write about my riding life - which is fairly slim pickins these days, given I'm working 10 hour days - but there's not much to report.  My horse is amazing, outstanding in his field (wokka wokka), and charms me to death every time I see him.  :)

Meanwhile, Viva Carlos asks: What is the best advice you've ever gotten from a trainer or another rider?  What is the worst advice you've ever gotten from a trainer or another rider?

The answers are pretty easy, at least for the Best Advice column:

* Keep your chin and eyes up - MT and ORE.  I didn't realize this applies to dressage as well - but omg.  When I stopped looking at Apollo's head and neck while practicing dressage, things got WAY better, WAY faster.  Huh.  Talk about your simple mind-blowers!

* Don't give up/you give up too easily - MT, TW, everyone!  This is self-explanatory, really.  I have to accept that I'm not in a position to be a high-level rider right now.  Especially right specifically now. Big changes coming, and trying to work as much as I can to get caught up on and out ahead of my bills, which means I don't have a lot of time.  The best time for riding right now is early morning, and having to be at work at 8 makes that almost impossible for me.   Anyway, I'm not giving up.  I'm getting out as much as I can, riding on the weekends, etc., and I know this won't last forever.

* "Get your spurs."

Worst Advice?

Try Parelli.  ;)  That, or any jumping advice that doesn't start with "keep your leg on, and keep it securely under you - don't let your lower leg slip back at all.  Keep your weight over your hip and leg."  (Unless it's into water or down a bank, in which case the advice is sit WAY in the back seat.)

VCBH: Interested Parties

What made you interested in your current horse that led you to buying them in the first place?

What would we do without Viva Carlos' Blog Hop?!  :)   Good question!

Honestly, I saw Apollo's ad a couple of times before I responded to it.  The picture was of his owner at the time riding in a nice dressage seat in a Western saddle, and the terrain was kind of rough.  Apollo looked nice, but he was maybe a little tall, and I wasn't sold on it immediately.   However ... the thing that attracted me to him was his kind expression, lovely neck, and relaxed trot.   That plus the fact that he'd gone Novice once before with redheadlins spurred me to email about him.

When I met him, I watched his owner tack up and ride, and he was just a cool, calm customer.  I got up in the saddle myself, and I just had this feeling that we spoke the same language.  It wasn't just astonishing love at first sight, though it was click at first sight.  His attitude and willingness and general ... well, self-ness attracted me to him, and I asked to take him on a week's trial to see how he jumped. (There were no jumps at his owner's place.)

After that first jumping lesson when I forgot how to heels down and ended up on his neck, I was sold on him -- he didn't flinch at my mistake.  That was it - I quoted TSB and said "Yup, she's not getting this horse back.  I'm buying him."  :D

And the rest is history ... and love.  :)