Jim Graham

I've learned quite a bit. Like, for instance... I have problems keeping my thumbs up, like you would hold your hand for a handshake. I have problems staying quiet in my saddle; I move around too much. I need to remember to ride how I know how to ride. ;) haha. I need to be less afraid to make mistakes - the more mistakes I make, the more chances I get to make things better. There's four stadium positions: two point, middle seat [Kim calls it half seat], three point, and posting trot. And, it is dang hard to ride when your feet are so cold you can't feel them. Or your stirrups. That was just the first day! :P My dad came the second day with the video cam, but of course... [my luck] he doesn't have a cord to hook up the camera to my computer! Very disappointed about that, but maybe if I bug him enough he'll get one. ^_^ The second day was CROSS COUNTRY! yay! haha. The natural obstacles. First day was stadium, the poles. I learned that jumping down banks, I'm kind of lopsided. My left foot comes up when my right doesn't. Also, I should NEVER stop counting strides to my jumps, or I ask Dakota to jump a stride too early. Poor thing, he always listens when I tell him to do THAT. I learned what a single/double bridge was with my reins. And how that can sometimes save you from falling. There's the four cross country positions: galloping [or cruising] position, two point, middle seat [half seat], and three point [or sitting down, for the non-horsey people. ^_^]. There's also different instances when I need to rotate my shoulders certain directions. The line to my jumps should always be where my horse and I can both see the other side, not just trees. Jumping down into water is a LOT scarier for my horse than jumping down onto grass. And jumps without height [bank downs, ditches] has a different approach to each one. Haha. The second day, before we really started out, Jim came up to me while I was sitting on Dakota [the second day there were only two in my class, one horse had been injured, the other woman had something wrong with her... dog? Think so.] and talked to me a bit. I was so excited that he remembered my name most of the day! lol. I was wearing my pink jacket, so most of the first day my name was "Pinky." Or, "Pinky and the Grey." [Hmm.. We need to change the lyrics to the Pinky and the Brain song. haha.] He basically told me he was proud of me for not crying after the first day's lesson. Nicole, Kim's youngest, cried after hers. She'd fallen off, but she was crying because, "I just really really wanted Jim to LIKE me!" How sad was that? But I did have a bet going with the other barn girls that she'd cry.. Sorry, Nic. Apparently, he saw a few others either upset, close to tears, or crying as well. Then he asked me if I'd had any questions and I said, "Not really. It takes me awhile to process things, and I sorted some things out myself last night." And he said, "Thats fine. Just tell me if you have any questions." Then he was like, "How old are you, like twenty?" And I just went, "Ummm... sixteen." "Well you're very mature for your age." "...thank you.." I decided I was glad my dad was taping this, because I heard some of the things Jim said when I was out of his earshot. It boosted my confidence a bit when he told Kim I was a good student, and she was like, "Oh, very good." He only got mad at me once! haha. And frustrated once. He yelled a lot both days, but I could tell that's just him. He'd also say, "You know I'm not mad, right?" On the way home the first day, Nicole was like, "Were you nervous at all?" "A little bit at first, but then not really." "But... he was yelling at you a LOT!" haha. Then I told her about my insanely scary Russian figure skating coach for my power classes when I was still skating. Much scarier than Jim Graham. And the second day, Jim told Stacy and me [the other lady in my class] that we were both doing stuff much higher than beginner novice, and next time we should sign up for the novice class. Like the bank up, two short strides, jump, two short strides, bank down. That was fun. Scary, but fun. I think thats why eventers love cross country. The adrenaline, and the fact that you're jumping things that would scare a hunter/jumper [sorry Jillian, if you're reading this. ^_^] or dressage person out of their breeches. lol. My horse is so great. He could probably feel my nervousness, but he did everything anyway. Overall, it was a very productive weekend. And... its Monday morning now, and I'm so stiff and sore I can't describe it. But it was worth it! Looks like my long posts also came back, but this warranted a very long post! Hopefully, eventually, I'll be able to get that footage of me on the internet. Some day. Until next post, God bless! Tina