First of all, thank you and welcome to all the newcomers to my blog. It’s an inspiring thing to know that I am sharing my thoughts with real people, not just sending them out into space.
Second – the reason why my posts have become less frequent is because, as I have alluded to before, I am now studying for a Graduate Diploma in Psychology, and the exams are looming. The course is very interesting, but it is not a walk in the park, even with only one subject this semester. In addition, I have started a new full-time job two weeks ago – and, as in most new situations, I have to work hard to be able to “hit the ground running”. There’s a lot of learning involved there, too. The end result is that I am dog-tired by the end of the day and have little energy for anything other than watching TV.
Hopefully, though, as I get more comfortable in my new workplace, and as the semester draws to a close, I’ll resume more frequent updates.
Becky and I have had fantastic last few rides! Again, it seems as if we’ve made a significant step forward by finally getting the hang of the shoulder-in! Turns out that I was overbending her previously, particularly when we practiced it out on a trail ride. All of you who have been doing dressage for years and years might have forgotten what it was like the first time a “complicated” move like that worked for you. I hope you haven’t! It truly is a milestone and achieving it made me feel on top of the world. And it’s not just the association it has with competition and top-hats and ribbons, but because it highlighted just how far we have come from struggling to be able to walk a wobbly circle. The move didn't come easily for me – as I've talked about before. The main problem was that I felt I couldn't use my legs effectively. As it turned out, that was because my weight was not distributed correctly in the saddle: I needed to have it with just a tiny bit more to the inside which freed up my inside leg. It's funny to me that I have always previously thought that the two legs were meant to have the same sort of "freedom" of movement! They don't, unless you are going dead straight! The inside one always has a little more movement as it is meant to be the active one, with the outside being the "supportive" one, to stop the horse falling out with the shoulder. With the weight distributed correctly, that is exactly what happens.
When I finally got it happening, it really showed how much more willing Becky is to listen to my seat and reins, and bend to the degree required. She didn't struggle with the move at all really.
Another side-effects from learning the shoulder-in was the adjustment to my hands and arms. I finally realized just how much Becky was trying to pull my arms out of position when she loses the bend (which of course I was reinforcing by not being aware of it and letting her do it). Also, in order to be able to detect any loss of bend, my hands have to be steady and low – and what I thought was steady and low… just wasn’t!
All of these "tiny" adjustments resulted in Becky transforming from seeming to be in one of her “resistive” moods on Sunday, to a relaxed “schoolmaster” with a soft, slow, even trot. And that is in the presence of two other horses trotting and cantering around the arena – a situation which we are normally not exposed to!
In fact, the prospect of sharing the arena always fills me with nervousness. It's a bit of a hangover from my days on the trail-riding farm, where horses constantly resisted the riders and attempted to do what the other horses were doing. So having other horses trotting/cantering while I was working on the walk always put images in my mind of Becky throwing a wobbly and taking off after the others. This, of course, made me tense, which made Becky tense... she must've been wondering what the big deal was! Frankly, as it turned out, she didn't give a hoot about the other horses and was perfectly willing to listen to me - once I stopped confusing her with my tense posture, unsteady hands and incorrect weight distribution. Again, she must’ve sighed with relief at having “her human” FINALLY make some progress which brought calm and certainty and agreement into her world.
Again and again, I am reminded of what effect we, as riders and handlers, have on our horses, and how much more willing they can become when we get it right... or, at least, get better.
Ribbons may or may not come for us, and it doesn’t matter… I hope these sorts of feelings of achievement will continue.
