Well yesterday I hauled Lindsay over to a friends house to ride. She has a Dressage arena and good footing, so it was a nice place to work...and make a new friend, the human kind this time. (Thanks Kim!!!) Kim is a horse person and has a very soft hand, so she was a perfect "Stranger" to introduce to Lindsay. Lindsay was quite receptive and let Kim rub her neck rather quickly.. we then thought it would be a good idea for Kim to lead Lindsay seeing as no one but me has done so. Kim asked her to step off and at first Lindsay seemed quite confused..just stood there...then kinda jumped forward abruptly..but after a few tries they were walking around. It was quite interesting though..after about 15 steps or so Lindsay would toss her ears back a bit...as if she was not sure this new person should really be the head horse or not...maybe she needed to step up to the plate! Kim did not "correct" her so to speak... but she did in a sense.. she started asking her for a halt after about 10 steps...before Lindsay would pin her ears..this worked well and it was if that added cue made it clear to Lindsay that she could trust this new "head horse" as well and she then willingly lead just perfectly. I've never seen quite that display before..and fortunately have not had her toss her ears back at me ever...but I feel like she is likely a boss mare in a herd environment (she sure was at the holding facility!) and she needed Kim to explain to her that Kim was the "Boss mare" or head horse so to speak in this relationship. Lindsay understood very quickly simply by the added cue, so it was a success...thanks to Kim's gentle, but clear approach.
After-wards we rode a good bit. Kim has some shade trees that have branches hanging down a bit into the ring..we took advantage of that and I pulled at branches and leaves as we rode by. At first it was quite the scary experience, but she really figured out quickly that it was all ok...this was a huge relief to me, because here lately it seems as if we were going to have to hardest time w/ me picking up stuff..or grabbing things while on Lindsay. I think I mentioned before I had a time where I tried to pick a water bottle up off the rail and it spooked her, she shot to the side and I unfortunately dropped the bottle..which of course reiterated to her that she should have been afraid in the first place...that plus the tick treatment has just made picking up inanimate objects a bit of a challenge. So grabbing the tree limbs was a good exercise and I was thrilled she took to it well...even though I suppose a tree is not really inanimate..that's probably why she took to it quicker! She's seen those in Oklahoma!...But it was still progress.
Even though the canopy of shade trees is nice..it does have it's disadvantages...primarily multiple little stinging yellow flies! Yuck! They really were aggravating Lindsay and I can not say as I blame her, but we still worked through it to be sure we ended on a positive note. Now that I have done so much canter work focusing her on letting me rate her speed and collect her up at the canter Lindsay has developing this new found (well new to me...not her) amazing ability to lift her front end and rib cage with each canter stride. This is a fabulous talent that I love, but it is something I need to be very aware of so that I do not allow the canter to become larger than I ask for it to be. When she gets agitated, as she was by the wonderful yellow flies, that lift becomes higher, if I request that her speed remain the same...it's like she wants to rush off, but knows she is not allowed so she sends her energy upward rather than forward...not as in a rear, but just very "airy" "scopey" canter strides. Well these strides continued to gain "air-time" until we were doing quite the fancy acrobats! I tell you I could so see her preforming those leaps the Andalusians do on the long lines! She is fully capable. There is no doubt in my mind that she has Spanish blood...especially after that canter. She looks like a cutting horse to just look at her stand...but her movement is so unique! I knew after feeling that continued upward movement that the next thing on our agenda needed to be back to long a low work...so onward to today....
We did just that..long and low..lots of stretching down, reaching for the bit. We did quite a bit of trot work, mostly a medium trot and working on rhythm and relaxation. I began counting strides to help her find her rhythm..and myself as well and she responded so well. I am going to continue to remember to use my voice to steady her as it helps both of us so. I only asked for a canter out of a very relaxed medium trot and that went smoothly. We rode in the big open ring and did lots of diagonals and changes of direction at the trot. I was very pleased at her willingness to work long and low again and stretch her topline. She did so in a soft manner and still remained her steady speed at the canter on the long sides. I do thing the collection has helped us with that, but it is almost to easy for her to collect..we can only do it so much without becoming to "bound up" at such an early stage in her training. Goodness to even be asking this type of thing of her and her understanding at just over 30 days riding amazes me.... It was a very productive ride that built on the previous ride well. I was so proud of her for working with me and changing her train of thought so well just by me changing mine...and I was thankful she showed me that huge air canter so that I knew to go back to long and low. She is teaching me well.
We also worked on meeting our new friends as well in the round pen. (Friends being my hat and a rope today)..I practiced taking my hat off and hanging it on the rail. The hanging it on the rail part did bother her at first, but she relaxed quickly...where-as had I tried to do the opposite and take it off the rail from the start she would have immediately spooked and I would not have had the opportunity to explain to her the hat is our friend. By having it in my hand first I could sack her out with it, then set it on the rail. She had the opportunity to see it was not scary..and if she had tried to shoot away I could have kept the scary object close so that she understood that when she stopped the scary object would stop bothering her. Also, I was able to move the scary object away from her towards the fence, as if she was chasing it away, rather than it coming at her. This seemed to work well and it made since to her. I think I will continue with the same idea of hanging our friends on rails from Lindsay's back before I attempt to take them off the rail and bring them in towards her. I am glad we still have a while to make this adjustment and for her to fully digest this. It is not something that can be rushed, but it did start to really click today, so I feel good that we are traveling in the right direction.
I have started braiding her mane on the right side of her neck too. It shows her brand on the left and I just like the way it looks better hanging to her right. It seems "bluer" on that side. The process of doing that has been good too b/c it takes forever to braid it all and I have to do tiny braids to get it to stay, so she has plenty of time with me up close behind that right ear. She is already getting so much better with that. I Pray to Never have to treat her again!! I am really in awe of her ability to forgive me. She certainly does not forget..she remembers everything, so it's not like she's erased it from her mind, but she is so willing to be open to my attempts to prove to her I do not plan on doing anything that provides her with discomfort at all...not to her ears or anywhere else.
So it was a great 2 days. I am so thrilled with the riding horse she is developing into and even more thrilled with her consistent degree of try and heart. She puts her all into every step she takes and is as smart as any horse I've dealt with. A different kind of smart almost. If I can simply do my job to explain things clearly she willingly obliges to every request. It can be a challenge to always know the best way to ask the question I need to ask, but I've said from the beginning she will teach me so much. There is no doubt she is teaching me more than I am her and I am trying to listen and learn! I do my best to remain a willing student and partner...and also try not to forget to enjoy the ride :) Life is a journey for all of us, it is these baby steps that make it all worth while, it is not the big achievement at the end of the game...or lack of achievement for that matter, it is the journey, the process...To ignore it and belittle it's value is to slap life in the face..and that will certainly NOT win any type of challenge. I am striving to remind myself to enjoy every step, every connection, every moment of clarity. Learn from the steps back so that one step in reverse will equal two steps forward and simply appreciate the gift of the entire process. Things are not always easy or even smooth, but there is always the ability in every situation to turn a right into a right and a wrong into a right. Appreciating the moment helps me remain centered and focused, thus more able to discover the right way to ask a question and to recognize when I am wrong. Lindsay is a master of communication. She is entirely centered in who she is and lives in nothing but the moment, appreciating everything given to her. She takes nothing for granted and wastes no time enjoying her journey of life by thinking about nothing but the future..or the past. I think a forward thinking mind is important, we all need goals, but I think so much can be learned from horses like Lindsay. If you want to learn "the Secret of Life" Just ask your horse, I promise she'll know the answer!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment