Riding Lesson # 8: MUCH better day!

Thanks so much for the encouragement. I am all about being positive, but sometimes we all get a reality check right? I guess mine just bounced yesterday. It happens to all of us doesn't it?
Today was a better day. I went out and asked Sensei for another lesson this week, not something I can really afford to do very often but I needed a boost and I wanted to know we were moving in the right direction.
I wanted to have him help with some issues with Corrie, he has never seen me ride Corrie. She, of course, was on her best behavior. I was almost begging her to do some of the behaviors that we have been struggling with, not that we were perfect and Sensei found some key points we need to work on, well I have to work on. Which I honestly think is a positive reflection on the bond we are forming and improvements we are making. Both of us are getting in better shape. I still feel a bit uncoordinated and so does Corrie at times.

I mean looks at her, she is a bit of a hippo right now. lol

I really have a lot of you to thank. Your blogs have encouraged me and opened my mind to new ideas. You guys have shown me all the fun riding is which was really motivation to get back at it, I have lived vicariously though so many of your blogs. Not to mention all the positive and encouraging comments. Thanks guys!

Riding Lesson # 7 : Could this be the one?

Today I rode Corrie. She is the haflinger I normally drive. She is not much of a riding horse, but I figured that if I was going to start looking for a new horse I should be riding more than just Drew. Not that I am looking yet, not seriously (okay ya all are all going to call me a liar in a few lines but honestly I am not seriously looking, sometimes things just happen). I still get nervous getting on a new horse and Abby is still not sold (but lots of inquires). Anyway Corrie is also for sale, just as an aside.

Corrie is a, umm, heavy set lady like myself. To say she is an easy keeper is beyond an understatement. I think if I didn't feed her for the next year she would still be fat. She was used as a brood mare for several years and has the shape of one. Her last foal, he is 4 I think, is at the barn and is her team mate. So Corrie can be driven single or double. I actually enjoy driving her. She is a bit of a lookie lou, but honestly she has helped me get over a lot of things already.

I was nervous getting on a new horse, but with each new thing that makes me nervous, I am a little less nervous and it goes away more quickly. Actually I want to brag that I have been on 4 horses since my fall. Anyway Corrie started walking, s . . . l . . . o . . . w . . . l . . . y, I mean this girl made the walk into an eight beat gait. lol. Corrie's default is as little work as possible. I used to buy into this until we were driving one day and heading back to the barn. When properly motivated she can move her little buns. Today, not so motivated.

Yet, when I finally got a half way decent, okay maybe more of a 1/4 way decent, walk out of her, we had some fun. Steers like a cow, but has a really nice trot, once we get into it. Talk about the bottom tier of the training pyramid. She needs to work on rhythm. She does kind of know how to move away from pressure. Sort of gives her head, a little, if you really mean it. lol

So why do I say this could be the one? As I am getting her to trot, and she has this wonderfully rolly trot, I was laughing. I mean she needs so much work, but she is not taking off with me. I mean I have to MAKE her go faster. I think I could feel comfortable going outside on a trail ride with her. She just isn't going to say, "screw you I'm bolting." Her attitude is more like, "Really, it means this much to you? I guess, I could try, a little. Or not" Now she has spooked in harness, but really was easy to bring back. I just thought riding her, although hard work, was fun. And not scary at all. She is only going to get better.

Plus I can work with her for awhile. I have already driven several times, but I don't have to make my decision any time soon. I'd only be worried if someone came out to look at her. I honestly don't want to go looking for horses, only to find out that I saw them on a good day. Or that they are not the same when in a new place. I can work with Corrie at that barn for as long as I like if I buy her. And I would board her out there for a few months, taking driving lessons, and working on her issues. Once I get her home, we will already have a bond established.

I say I want a forward dressage type horse, but what I really want is a dependable, easy going, level headed horse. I know she can move forward, I just might have to ride with a whip. I know that she can learn, she is 12, but she can still learn. This the horse I can ride now. Is she the one, I can't say for sure yet, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Riding Lesson #6: a milestone

Another mile stone! I wanted to move my lesson a back an hour so it would not be as warm. I knew that I might have to get started on my own. Toby the dog was the only one in the driveway when I got there. He barked, looked and the house, and looked at me. It was obvious that he knew his dad should be around.

I greeted the black lab and headed to the barn. Now when you work with haffies, they tend to looks a lot alike. Drew is unique that he is a roan. I was pretty sure that I could pick him out if there were not too many in the barn. Mostly horses in training stay in the barn so along with a paint, a gray welsh pony, a big chestnut were two haflingers. Between the two one was roan and a gelding and the other was not.

Sure that I had the right horse, I pulled Drew out. 9:00 I groomed him and picked out his feet. Except for a brief fight about his feet, it was quick work. 9:07. Finding the saddle and pad took a bit of doing, as I have not gotten all this together before. Plus I kept dragging my feet. 9:10. Saddling, getting the bridle, and finally Drew was ready. 9:15. Well, I was not going to just stand there with a saddled horse so we headed to the arena. That was rather nerve racking walk.

When I got out there I mounted, Drew started to back. What the! Not a normal thing for him. I took stock of myself and realized that I was a little nervous. But we settled in and started walking around the ring. I walked and halted, my new feel good maneuver. If I feel nervous, I practice halting. Once I have the horse halting nicely I feel much better about life in general. A lot of walking and trotting, a few new things to spook at. When R got there he just got a training horse and came on out. We had a really good ride. I mean it was so normal! A perfectly normal thing. I wish I could ride more than once a week though.

****

After my lesson I came home and waited. And waited. And watched Abby outside in the paddock for perhaps the last time. R showed up with a trailer to take her back to his farm. He is going to work with her for the next week or two so that if anyone wants to test ride her, they can. I am not sure if I will be able to ride her or not. After the training, I will work with her and hopefully find a really great home for her if she has not found one by then. So Abby may never come back to this property and that makes me a little sad.

Riding Lesson # 5 & Bad News

First of all I had a wonderful ride on Drew. He was a bit of a dink, but overall I am feeling so much more comfortable. I am taking more control of Drew, not letting him get away with as much. I was thinking of the rhythm and obedience a lot and although it was not perfect, in part because I am still getting my "sea legs" back.

The bad new came later. We took Kinsey out for awhile and I think I got the first honest opinion of her. She was not horrible, but she is just as I have been saying. Sensitive, very forward, and not as calm as I would like a horse to be. D.H., R's assistant, said that she acts like she just has not had a lot of handling. Just had a saddle thrown on her and gone. When she is asked to do things she has a bit of a temper tantrum and is just unhappy camper. They are going to start riding her on Monday.

After R and I talked. What kind of horse do I want? And the fact of the matter, Kinsey is not a good horse for me. I have worked really hard to get my confidence back. I have been riding a horse that is sensible, but not perfect. Drew spooks, but he just gives things the eye, not head for the hills. As the question was posed to me, do I really want to lose all that confidence with one big spook from Kinsey? No, I don't.

I know that there is a lot of talk floating around how we shouldn't sell a horse. That once we buy it it is ours for life. I think I own it to Kinsey to find her a good home, the best home I can. I don't think I would do her any service of keeping her around, not willing to ride her because I am afraid what what she will do.

Oh yeah . . . Riding lesson #4

Got up this morning and the sun was absent. Droplets of water collected on my windshield on the way to my riding lesson. Wind was blowing as I got out to the barn. I got Drew out. I ask him to stand and he walked off. Maybe it is just a cloud over my head?

Drew knows to stand when he is put in a place and told to stand there. Makes me wonder what the rest of the day will be like.

We fixed that minor problem and move on to grooming and tacking up. Out to the arena, I ask Drew to stand again. He looks around and walks off. Wondering what this all means I go and get him and bring him back. We do a little training session. Finally I can walk away to get the mounting block and he stands.

I have been thinking about why the trot all of a sudden freaked me out. It was a lack of control I had over Abby. I was afraid of that lack of control. Drew walking off was again a lack of control and was started to frustrate me. I knew that if I did not have control of this horse I would not trot.

I got on Drew and the first think we worked on was a good solid, "Whoa." Every horse is trained slightly differently. I worked with Roger and got Drew making a good solid, but soft "whoa." I don't want an abrupt harsh stop, but a solid one. We practiced that a bit.

Okay. . . I said I would trot today. Damn it I did. So without hesitation, I did. I think I took R aback a little.

"Your trotting." Then he paused. "Oh yeah you did that last time."

"Nope I didn't."

"Great!" Then "But that doesn't mean you don't have to keep him on the rail."

What a trainer. . .

LOL

Oh my gosh, then I just had fun. I was doing circles, quarter lines, figure eights, and on and on. I will have to admit that I was not doing them as well as I would like, but I have not really ridden in 3 years. I was so pleased with myself.

I think R said it best when he said, "last time you were just walking around, now you are actually riding."