Horse Sense & Sensibility

One thing never ceases to amaze me about riding horses. They are saints with hooves, their patience seems endless at times. The more I improve how efficiently I sit and move on my horse, the more willing he becomes. Behavior 'issues' become forgotten fights in which we used to engage. You would think that in a way they were training us. I behave and move more properly when you let me. That makes you happy, now always do it that way. Still we fall into bad habits and blame the horse for being naughty or spooky or just a jerk. How arrogant we are when we don't look inward. We don't look at what we are really saying with our bodies. Maybe it's complacency, I've ridden for X number of years I know how to do this or that. It amazed me though, watching a dressage clinic not too long ago, how many riders were only told to work on their basics. Riders I felt were way beyond that skill level. No upper level movements, just walk and trot centered and balanced.

My new instructor, as of late, half apologized because our first two lessons were so basic. I laughed and thanked her and said I NEEDED basic. I hadn't had a lesson since June when she came out at the end of October. She put me in a dressage seat, sat me up, stirrups dropped 3 holes. Boy, did I need basics. It felt like I had hardly ridden before. But I learned how to properly follow his mouth at the walk, make and keep him walking with lots of forward, stop clamping through my thigh, keeping my hands still and guiding/directing more with my legs. Simple. I knew this stuff, just didn't realize how ineffectively I was executing.

Last night I didn't make it out to the barn until the sun was almost already down. I rode anyways. While I was on him the BO's son came and did stalls, brought in the other horses and threw grain. I couldn't have done that before. He would have started misbehaving, I would have responded improperly and we'd have been in a fight that I would have given in for safety's sake. Not last night. Yeah, he looked, stopped at the gate once, slowed down another time. No spooking in the skeery dark. All from doing the basics with confidence, not engaging in the fights/naughty behavior, not just last night but for a few weeks now. He just behaved. He knew he was better off behaving because it might physically be the same person in the saddle., my responses and aids were more effective and consistent - he just knew it wasn't worth the fight either. That amazes me. And I have never been so happy on a horse (in my adult life).

So, I am going to continue to work on me equating to lots of saddle time. All he has to work on is doing what he knows, eating more so he puts on a few pounds and muscles up more too. His hay steamer has done amazing things for him too - NO cough even when he first starts trotting; that also makes me crazy happy. I would buy it again in a heartbeat and wish I'd have done it sooner! I recommend them to anyone with a heavy horse. Oh, and I plan to update this a bit more often... been awhile.