Truthful Tuesday

 

Hahaha.... Guess what. I broke the rules again. And again I did it on purpose. But this time, I changed my expectations. And you know what? It was a lovely ride! Imagine that. 

Let me elaborate. Today, similarly to last Tuesday, winter has returned. We got a lot of rain overnight last night, so the outdoor ring was too wet for riding. Also, it was low forties with wind gusts to 40 mph, so riding outside was just zero percent appealing. Okay, maybe like 2% appealing. 

Here is where I faced a decision. Do I lunge inside so as to not break the rule I deemed so important last week? Or do I try again without it and see what happens? I decided to try again. But rather than expecting to have a "normal horse" type ride, I instead planned to just get on and see how things go. Start out at the walk like normal on a loose rein. Then pick up the reins and start asking for some shape and more forward. If all goes well, move on to the trot. Again on a loose rein, then adding a little more pressure via asking for shape and more forward. Wash, rinse, repeat, until satisfied. And it was a nice ride! Canter proved to be a little messy, but the trot work, especially at the end of the ride, was SO great. Forward, with impulsion, while still relaxed. It was lovely. And the biggest difference I think was my expectations. I went into this ride thinking we might just walk today. (The wind was really rattling the end doors and whistling around the entire indoor.) Really just going slowly and breaking things down into tiny steps forward seemed to help keep him relaxed and with an ear on me. I don't know if that will be the case every time we have to do something Al doesn't like. But I hope it continues to work for him. 

This horse has been a real lesson in patience for me. Also a good reminder to be a thinking rider. I can't rely on my instincts with him. Instead I have to be thinking ahead and constantly having a conversation with him. Not like actual chatting aloud, but rather always using my aids to keep the communication sort of turned on. And by that I mean seat and leg. Not hand so much. I can feel him get tense as soon as I start using too much hand. Gives him the angst! He really holds me accountable and reminds me when I start making mistakes or falling back on old habits. 

So my confession today is that I broke the rules, on purpose, two weeks in a row, and I learned something completely different each time. So here's to breaking rules and keeping the conversation flowing!

Truthful Tuesday

 

So apparently, it takes two to pull? My trainer growing up always told me this, and it seemed true enough, but I grew up riding thoroughbreds and tb crosses, and they aren't all that interested in pulling. So I never really thought much about it. But now that I have Eros The Torpedo, I realize how true that statement is. 

I jumped him last week and was having a bit of a struggle with him dragging me around again. He rides well to the jumps it's after that's tricky. Trying to contain that enormous stride is a real challenge and it makes me want to pull. 

Exhibit A: Me pulling.

Because that's where the brakes are right? So I figured maybe it was time for a school in the Pletcher bit which happened to be on his figure 8 bridle. In the past, one or two schooling sessions in this bit tends to lighten him back up.  But it wasn't working this time. And then I thought back to how he was so strong at every lesson before we moved home and I had a small epiphany. I think he hates the figure 8. So this week, I switched that bit over to a regular noseband bridle and I had a different horse. He still wanted to be a little strong and get excited after the jumps, but he was much lighter. But that's not the only thing I noticed.

Exhibit B: Me not pulling

If I would use my actual half halt, that is take and give back, he actually was listening to me. He doesn't mind if I pull back as long as I release. And the softer I an in front of the jump, the softer he is when he lands. I am not such a good rider that I can achieve this if the distance is one I need to shorten for. That's still a work in progress. But the first step is acknowledging a problem right? So now I know what we need to work on. And pulling isn't it! Because as it turns out... the pulling problem is me.