Equitation advice for rider returning to the sport
Hello everyone! I am very unhappy with the current state of my equitation. I used to ride and compete successfully on my own horses from the ages of 5 - 20, winning several rider classes and championships. For the past 6 years I have done very little to no riding as my own horses sadly passed away.
In the last 4 months have been getting weekly lessons to get back into the sport. Filming is generally not allowed at my school so only this week I was able to get my first glimpse at my own riding, and I am shocked by just how bad it has become. I used to pride myself on my good riding technique, and now I feel like I am a beginner all over again. I can see obvious flaws like my arms are too straight, I am gripping with my knee, I don't have enough weight in my stirrups, I need to create more impulsion so his hind end engages etc. If anyone can give me some other tips on things I could improve, or recommendations for exercises on exactly HOW I could improve these things that would be super helpful, because at the moment it seems doing laps of the arena isn't doing much. My hope is that after a few corrections my muscle memory might begin to return.
For a bit of context (not excuses), this is the first time I was riding this horse. He is very stiff, hence the wide hands and fiddling with the inside rein to encourage some bend. He is also very dull to the leg as a lesson horse generally is, and has the opposite of 'go'. The tack is not something I am able to change or influence.