Calm, Forward, Straight

Calm, Forward, Straight

Saturday, December 11, 2010

In the Arena #39 - You're not the boss of me...

We're having a brief window of warmer weather - from mid 20's to the 40's - so Friday was the time to ride, because it's not expected to last. A coastal storm is on the way. Apologies to those folks who live in the frozen north... I know you all have it much worse.

I stopped in at the barn yesterday for a mid morning ride. It was one of those days when Val challenged my leadership under saddle from the get-go. I caught myself (early) getting frustrated, losing refinement in my aids and generally making things worse. I took a deep breath and focused on correctly aiding, making sure to escalate the aid until I got an answer. Val reacts to stronger aids (dressage whip) by making an audibly shocked gasp - which I interpret as "holy cow - she really means it!". This always makes me laugh, which probably helps as much as anything else.

Once we re-established leadership, the rest of the ride went really well. We got some nice halts off of my seat. Maintaining steady / consistent contact with the outside rein is getting easier, and Val moved out well off of my leg with good energy. I rode without gloves and again the contact felt great. I guess I need to find some different gloves that don't interfere with sensitivity in my fingers... any suggestions would be welcome. We finished the ride with the best on the buckle work we've ever done - steering well in both directions and even some turns on the forehand.

When Val and I have started a ride with this kind of disagreement in the past, I have often let my emotions get the best of me, and struggled just to salvage the ride. I'm really pleased with Val, and myself, that we moved forward and even broke some new ground. Yea team!

                                 **********************************

Today (Saturday) is our village Christmas parade. Val and I are not riding - the weather won't be fit, I'm sacred of noisy fire engines + kids on tiny motorcycles, and he still needs to break in his Simple boots. Next year Val!

For most of the last seven years my parade mount was Ginger (Virginia Dare), the coolest ever Banker mare, who reintroduced me to riding. She is the reason I'm here blogging, that I'm learning dressage and that I found Val as well as my little farmette. I can't imagine how my life would be if I hadn't met her.

Sadly Ginger passed away this spring as a result of a choking incident, at 34 years old. She participated in every Christmas parade we've had - 15 or so. No matter where she started out in the lineup, Ginger would make her way to the front of the herd before the end of the parade route, passing horses way bigger and way younger. She understood parades, and knew where her rightful place was. We will be missing her terribly today.

6 comments:

  1. Ginger sounds like she was an exceptional mare. I love that she always made it to her rightful place in the front. I'm sure it's where she belonged and I'm sure she knew it. It's so hard to lose wonderful horses like her.

    You and Val ended on good notes. I'm guilty of losing my focus at times with Dusty too. She can be exasperating at times. When it happens I try to just stop and take a deep breath and regroup. Hope the weather holds for you and you get in another ride this weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I just found you, through "A Year with Horses," and really appreciate your blog. I came to horse ownership later in life and really enjoy learning how to be a better "horsewoman" through the experiences of others. I'll be coming back soon.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh very good ride, best of endings.
    That Ginger mare sounded to be a true friend and lovely horse. She will be missed!I love that she blessed you and many in so many years here...sweet mare.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am sorry about Ginger and how you must be missing her. :-(
    Thank you for writing about how you worked out the moments of needing to lead strongly at the beginning of your ride. Dream tests me, too.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for telling us how you got a potentially frustrating ride not just back on track, but excelled with it.
    I love the picture of you and Ginger. It's so great that you met her and she got you back into riding.

    ReplyDelete

I love, love, love my readers, and knowing that you've stopped by - it really makes my day.

However, to avoid the new illegible blogger word verification, I've added comment moderation. Lesser of two evils.

Please don't let this stop you - keep those comments coming!! :)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...