Riding straight

[glenatron]

Last night I set about riding my mare- I got her saddled up properly, took her out into the school and after some preparation went to get on. Then we went back to the stables ( Iris was pleased that the session was over so soon ) and I fetched a mounting block because I am out of practice at hopping onto 16hh+ horses from the ground. At this point the plan had to change because mare wasn't keen to line up on the mounting block ( probably annoyed because the session had turned out not to be over ) and I wasn't keen to move it over to her. One can move the inanimate object to the animate object, of course, but it is more practical in the long run to teach a horse to line up on things, especially if one is planning to get on them using the scenery when riding out.

It took a while to get her to line up and then longer to persuade her she didn't need to move off the moment my weight was in the stirrup, a habit I noticed she had when I went to ride her with her previous owners. We worked on those two for a while- just at the point it seemed good, I bounced up to lean over the saddle and the block made a loud cracking sound and we had go back and work on things again for a few minutes. I couldn't make the block repeat that sound, it only happened that one time, so that was a bit annoying. By the end of the evening I could line her up on the block and step onto the saddle with Iris standing steadily and I called it a day at that.

I was realising at the time that in spite of the fact I've been having lessons steadily in the last year and riding horses for other people, having hit the deck a lot ( and painfully ) with Cash last summer has affected my confidence with my own horses a little. Not so much in that I back off from doing things, but it has made me more cautious and maybe lead to me expecting the worst more than it happens. I will need to change that with Iris, because she is really steady and if I'm to ask her to trust me, I'm going to have to trust her too.

Anyways, this morning we tacked up and headed out to the arena. A couple of minutes of preparation, we lined up nicely on the block and I got on. After a brief pause to get used to the feeling of me being there, we set off. The day's riding was no more than a bit of walking about, working on steering. I have to say it was a tiny bit like riding a plank- when I asked on the rein it was quite challenging to get any discernable bend and mare was very tense from front to back. I'm sure she hasn't been ridden in a halter before which may not have helped, but she was similar with a bit when I rode her before and she can bend just fine on the ground, so I think a lot of it is that she's just not very relaxed about riding yet. That won't come quickly, but it will come.

The entire ride was about ten minutes around the school. I'm just happy to have ridden a horse of my own for the first time in well over a year without anything bad happening. That is a good feeling.

Comments

[clevortrevor]

Sounds like good progress :) As you know, I'm well-versed in the 'expecting bad things to happen' department. And I'm learning how important extending that trust to the horse is. I look forward to reading more about your process.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

I tend to endeavour to take a "I'll worry about it when it happens" approach, but then it did happen a bunch last summer and it's easy to expect trouble any time you feel the horse tense up. Practice will make it easier, of course, and help her to take comfort in my company.

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you're back in the saddle!

...it has made me more cautious and maybe lead to me expecting the worst more than it happens... I don't think there's any harm in taking your time and letting the trust come with mileage - as long as, as you say, you're not backing off.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

Indeed. My real goal is relaxation for our foundation, and that is just going to come along very slowly through calm and patient persistence.