Since I’ve ‘officially’ started my journey towards the Mongol Derby 2020, I wanted to give an update on how the first few days went.
On the first day, Wednesday May 1st, I was at Gallop Stable, Singapore, riding Wax at 8.45am for a bit of groundwork. It went well, since we had time together to warm up before the lesson started. Wax is a very cute horse, although a bit lazy and happy to do anything if avoid exercise. We’ve all been there, so I’m trying to be gentle with him and wake him/warm up for about 20 minutes before we go work out.
I came back home, showered, ate, and left again to cross the border to Malaysia.\
In JB I ride at Horse Valley Riding Academy where, on that day, I had 2 lessons. During the first one I was on Legend, one of my favourite horses over there (more on this in a future post). We worked on flying change – or at least we tried and then decided to not insist on this too much, but rather work on the jumping technique. This is what I love about my instructor over there, Zahari; a kind, patient, smiley person who knows exactly when to push and when to give you slack.
The second lesson was on Coco, a super pony whose energy and willingness to jump is astonishing. She’s small, fierce, and strong. I like her spirit; she’s extremely smart but also very grumpy, a very funny character!
That week I had another lesson at HRVA on Saturday with Papa Bear and, since it was my first time riding him, we also did groundwork. He was teaching me to use my seat more as an aid while I was supporting him in flexing and bending on the right.
Additionally, that week I went to yoga (core and HIIT) and I went on a 6km run for the first time in many years. I do feel my plan to train for strength, endurance, and stamina is not totally solid, but I will get there eventually – any trainers willing to give me advice?
What do you think about my first few days of training?
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