Horses & Other Interests
The aroma of lavender wafts from the fields of France into my office. This was my prize for playing.
Tails From Provence (then Halt, Salute and …) offered an unspecified gift to the first five folks who commented and made the same offer in Creative Pay it Forward. I responded with Pay It Forward.
Next year, ever more forward!
After a reasonable successful lesson [On Task], my homework was to ponder body control through the transitions. Rider body not horse body. Getting control of the former is the only way to get control of the latter.
Not only am I used to taking breaks during a ride, I tend to take mini-breaks between each gait. ‘Okay, stop cantering. Whew, that was a lot of work. Time to get reorganized. Okay, let’s trot.’ All of this takes less than a second, but that is long enough for the horse to collapse into a heap. Instead of maintaining energy and momentum from gait to gait, I find myself reinventing the wheel each time.
Consider cross-country versus show jumping. In the arena, the rider is always approaching a fence. Landing from one jump leads immediately into preparing for the next. The horse is always in a canter suitable for jumping. OTOH, a horse can’t maintain that type of canter for an entire cross-country course. Gallop between fences, set-up, jump, back to gallop. This is why event horses need go-forward and come-back buttons reliably installed. And yes, I ride jumpers exactly this way. ‘Gee, that was a big fence. Aren’t we a slick pair. Huh? What? Another jump? Already?’
I think the issue is going to turn out to be mental rather than physical. After this many years in saddles, I have reasonably good proprioception. My body goes basically where I tell it to. Now I just have to tell it the right things. A much harder task.
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Gratuitous Cat Picture
Years ago, I was told that dressage means riding every stride [Square Horses]. Color me mystified. Previous Horse and I shared the foxhunter mentality. I tell you where to go and at what gait, you sort out the bits in between. As I’ve said earlier [Fifth Leg], it turns out that saddleseat is similar to dressage in demanding constant focus. Get on. Get to work. Do what is needful and get off. This is what the horses expect. If I drop the reins on an ASB neck for a walk break, I get back an equine ‘WTF?’
My goal for last week was to stay focused for the entire lesson. As soon as I got on, I picked up my reins, lifted my hands, and marched off with a sense of urgency. Whereupon Sam put on his lesson-horse hat, flung his head about, and said, ‘I don’t work like that.’ I insisted. By the time we trotted, he decided I was serious. We weren’t anywhere near show horse gaits, but I did step it up a notch from what we have done.
Sometimes I had to take and give with my hands. Sometimes I had to keep my leg on. Sometimes, I had to nothing and let him get on with his job. So, riding every stride does not mean doing something every stride. It means being ready to do something every stride.
I think.
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Gratuitous Cat Picture
“The Winner Of Haynet Blogger of the Year 2013 is Frances Taylor!” Full announcement here.
My Shetland: Everything Shetland
Well, I am firstly a mother and secondly a photographer. I live in Shetland, Britain’s most northerly outpost.
I have ridden ever since I can remember but got my first pony when I married, had 2 children and was in my thirties.
Now, a decade later, I have *** cough *** “some” Shetland ponies, Icelandic horses and a Welsh Section A. About Me
Shetland Ponies in Cardigans
Dance Pony Dance
Advent Calendar, for December 2013
Didn’t even get on the podium. Ah well, it was fun to be nominated. Seriously. After almost two years of daily posts, I welcome any subject on which I can write at length.
On a side note, I woke up a few hours before the voting closed and was nervous until the announcement was made. Therefore, horse show nerves are not physical fear, nor fear of failure. Apparently my upset stomach is a manifestation of my competitive side. Must win. Everything. Now.
After last horsekeeping adventure [Windbreak], we instituted a new barn rule. We will always have one full bale of hay for use as a horse prop. Voila:
Instead of remembering not to open the last bale whenever we got low, I decided to dedicate one to the purpose. On the next hay run, I asked for a bale of their cheapest. It was likely to be smaller and lighter, but that would be okay. It would only be for that rare occurrence when we had a crisis AND were low on hay. It turned out to be a foot longer and 10 lbs heavier. Win!
The plastic tape is a reminder not to feed it by mistake. We would use up our spare bale and our picky pair probably wouldn’t eat it.
I hope it sits there until it rots.
Voting closes midday Monday 9th December in the UK. That means 11pm Monday in Sydney and 4am Monday in California. So, you still have parts of Monday, but today is the last full day.
For those of us who can’t do clock math in our heads: Time Zone Converter
Flag images: CIA World Factbook
One more time:
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VOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTE
Accessing Jedi mind control.
Go here: Haynet. (No need to join to vote but you might wish to consider. Nice place)
Click this icon on the sidebar:
Vote. (In the interest of fairness, nominees listed here. If you vote from there, use the “HERE” link not the “VOTE” link lower down.)
OR use this link directly: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Z9JTZCD.
You can go about your business.
Move along.
Releasing Jedi mind control.
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This is more in the way of a non-progress report. Since you have been slogging through this adventure with me, I figured I should let you know why nothing is happening.
After Nationals [list of posts here for those just tuning in], I had a bit more free time and a lot more free mental space. Time to GET ON this project. Troops mobilized (thank you). Candidates located. A trip to Lexington KY floated on the horizon. You can imagine my despair at the prospect of a KY road trip [Lexington, Sorta].
While December was looking crowded with family & holiday commitments, January loomed. Not an ideal time to horse hunt, but barns big enough to be worth the drive would have indoor rings &/or decent footing. Bubblings of enthusiasm shifted under the bedrock.
Then my barn help pointed out how hard it would be to introduce a third horse until winter is over. Our barn and pasture are perfect for two. Three horses would be doable if they could all hang out in the pasture 24/7. However, since Mathilda has no sense of self-preservation when near her boy toy, the two we have now are kept separate. When one goes in, the other goes out. Vice versa. A three-horse shell game would get seriously annoying while dodging bad weather. If we start in the Spring, we will have months of warmth and daylight to learn a new juggling routine. As for the obvious question, smart money says that Mathilda ain’t going anywhere anytime soon. LW&TCDR.
Do I like this? No.
Is he right? Yes.
Sigh.
So, unless someone drops Gem Twist at the bottom of my driveway with a bow on his nose, no new horse until spring at the very earliest. Oh well, gives me time to get fit.
Double sigh.
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Gratuitous Cat Picture
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VOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTE
Accessing Jedi mind control.
Go here: Haynet. (No need to join to vote but you might wish to consider. Nice place)
Click this icon on the sidebar:
Vote. (In the interest of fairness, nominees listed here. If you vote from there, use the “HERE” link not the “VOTE” link lower down.)
OR use this link directly: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Z9JTZCD.
You can go about your business.
Move along.
Releasing Jedi mind control.
_______________________________________________________________________
Almost there …
Virtual Brush Box 