Day fifteen

[glenatron]

This morning began with some extra chores as the cows had licked their way through their feed sacks (left on the lorry in their field overnight ) and we needed to rescue the feed we could and get it bagged up again. After that and our regular chores we ended up starting a little late with Martin working the black horse who arrived yesterday. Today Arlene was crash-test bob and sure enough at just the moment I put my camera down because they were going along fine she had a bit of a sproink to deal with, which she did absolutely fine. She got bucked off her horse a week or so back in a freak goat-chasing accident, but that was after a serious run of bucks and this was no problem by comparison- an advantage of being crash-test Bob when Martin is starting horses is that he is very good at controlling another horse while riding- while the black horse was being turned loose, Martin was working him in the round pen, getting him to make small circles away from the side of the pen around and back to the side in the same direction- he was doing this from the other side of the round-pen just by moving his horse around a little and maybe gesturing with the flag slightly.

After that we packed some of the experienced horses into a float and went over to another training yard to meet some horses there ( people who know quarter horses have heard of some of the ones they have) we met Gunner just as he was starting his shower and he pulled some very funny faces when his nose was washed. We have one of his sons here actually, who is very sweet and also tiny.

Anyways, we got to ride in their huge arena and I was absolutely made of fail- I couldn't find my horse's canter at all and just kept being knocked out of the saddle the whole time, I wasn't going to fall off but it was uncomfortable for everyone involved and really no fun. So we had a session where everyone else was building up their lead changes and I was just trying to sit normally in canter. It's not even like it's something I can't do on most horses, but the horse I was riding ( Boogey, by name ) just had a really powerful movement that threw me out of the saddle and kept me there. I really felt like I was letting him down. Not a good feeling at all.

We also got to watch Jack Brainard ride and do a little talk with us about getting control of the parts of the horse and then show some of the things he was working on with his horse. They may have been things he was still working on, but the cantering in place, transitions from canter pirouettes to reining spins and spanish walk were all very impressive. Being Jack Brainard he also showed some of his lead changes, which are quite something. I can see why he is such a legend in his field and being in his eighties doesn't seem to have slowed him down at all.

I spend most of the rest of the afternoon working on straightness and getting a clean stop, but I did get to experience a few proper reining-horse spins ( if you ever did that thing as a child where you sat on a swing and wind it up and up and up and then let it unwind and get really dizzy, the sensation is similar ) which was really something. I just ended up feeling like a total n00b - which is fair enough, relative to everyone else here I am one; I've just managed to keep things looking OK up until now. Still, onwards and upwards, hey.

Comments

[ownedbyhorses.livejournal.com]

I think you are doing great ... you've thrown yourself in at the deep end but I can tell you are learning a lot and doing what you wanted to do. It's truly a lot that you are asking from yourself. Chin up.

Tonight a cold front coming in which is rotten. Seems to happen every weekend. :(

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

I heard the wind blasting around the building last night. It sounded like someone was playing the "North Pole Sound Effects" tape right outside our room all night.

[ownedbyhorses.livejournal.com]

Yeah it was definitely picking up. GRRRRR the last two Saturdays both have turned cold which, when you want to be outside getting stuff done is massively frustrating. Hey but no tornados!

I don't think you would be up that late, but in the Virgo constellation is a comet that is visible to the naked eye. I think hubby said it won't be visible on the horizon until about 2-3 a.m. It's supposed to be visible for the week and getting the best view in about 2-3 days.

Don't be so hard on yourself... if I was in your position I would be going through massive Cabin Fever by now and would be climbing the walls for privacy and literally getting off the ranch.

[oifonly.livejournal.com]

Ooo, we have that sound effects tape here, too....

Yes, chin up. It's a pretty incredible thing you're doing, when you think about it. :)

[penella22.livejournal.com]

I'm curious at the end of all this to hear whether you're glad you went now...or whether you wish in hindsight you had waited another year or two before doing an intensive experience like this. I think no matter what you will get a lot out of it, but again, some of what you get out of it may be very different from what you had in mind...

I think it's great you're doing this and in your present company, looking like a complete noob is not so bad! I mean, you're hanging out with some of the best horsemen on the planet, and their very lucky students who have probably looked forward to something like this for years...*most* of us *would* look like noobs in those circumstances.

I think it's so cool you got to sit a couple spins...something I've certainly never done and have wondered what it feels like. I have done the swing trick though. :]

Sounds...windy.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

I'm a bit less emo about it today- the stuff I couldn't do yesterday, that's all things I can learn anywhere. The stuff I'm really learning here I would be hard pressed to get anywhere else and talking to someone the other day who did this course a year or two back, you learn more on the course than you think you did and for literally years afterwards you will suddenly "get" something you needed to know.

I think this will turn out to be a very valuable experience for me, I've certainly learned a huge amount being here and I think I've changed a lot.

Looking like a noob

[tom909.livejournal.com]

Ben, as you know I am very aware myself of how I often/always 'look like a noob'. I have consciously taken the decision that I am not going to care about that, and that I am not going to let it 'dog' my horsemanship. I often feel like I am crucifying my ego and maybe I should stick to stamp collecting. But I actually think that the freedom that comes from not worrying about that side of things really helps and actually liberates my horsemanship.
As to whether it's good to do the course - how can it possibly be bad to ride all those different horses and spend time with all those experienced horsepeople.

"we need help with everything"

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

I have consciously taken the decision that I am not going to care about that, and that I am not going to let it 'dog' my horsemanship. I often feel like I am crucifying my ego and maybe I should stick to stamp collecting. But I actually think that the freedom that comes from not worrying about that side of things really helps and actually liberates my horsemanship.

Yes. This. The more comfortable one gets with setting the ego aside and embracing the sheer magnitude of what one has yet to learn, the more space one opens up in which that learning can take place.

Re: "we need help with everything"

[dancing-crow.livejournal.com]

yes. what she said. And what he said.