
The big white horse with the dinner plates for feet is Mercedes. I have been riding her for three weeks now. She's a at least partly Irish Draught, with a sweet disposition, who loves to jump. The other part is reputed to be tank, with no brakes.
Since I started to ride, I have had troubles with keeping my legs on (ie heels firmly clamped to the sides of my horse for control). When I started, there was so much focus on keeping legs on to steer, while not pulling on the horse's mouth, that I have simultaneously suffered from loopy reins. In the last couple of sessions, my instructor has been trying to teach us that we need to push our horses forward with our heels, while maintaining control with the reins so our horse would stay collected. Mostly, that sounded like jargon and I just couldn't do it. This may have been partly because I had been riding the same two horses for quite a while, and they were very forgiving of my mistakes.
When I fell off my horse over a jump at Christmas, I suddenly understood the consequences of not fixing this. I re-did the jump and stayed on, and tried for eight weeks to remember how it felt to hold the reins tight and have my legs on, until I could sign up for riding again. Apparently it sank in, because with Mercedes, I understand what my instructor is asking for. She is responsive to leg commands (and goes like stink!) at the same time as having a really strong mouth and neck, so I'm not afraid to use the reins.
There is still an element of Fear Factor with Mercedes. Today was my first time jumping her. I needed a lot of control to keep her from running wildly out over the jumps. In fact, she jumped all of them, even the little one she could have easily stepped over. It wasn't my best jumping session ever, but I learned a lot about technique today and am very satisfied with my progress.