dancing horses

dancing horses

Sunday, May 8, 2016

Clinic Report Day 2: All About the Give

By the next morning Carmen was in full heat. I am not surprised- with three stallions in the barn it was inevitable. However, I was so impressed with how quickly she settled in to the barn and seemed to be enjoying herself immensely.

I watched some lessons and then took her out to crop some grass before tacking her up. I was careful with our ground work and then mounted. I was trying to put into practice the 4 things I worked on the day before. I was happy because I was finally beginning to feel effective with my seat and I felt that I could finally feel her hind leg movement with my seat. I was frustrated because I could only keep 3 things in my head at one time so I needed reminders with one of them. But I found that Johanna was very patient and had no expectations that I would be anywhere near perfect after one lesson.

I find that I could control her gait and bring her back from rushing- I was struggling with preventing her from rushing. I understood that this is all part of the learning process and I was trying my best to ride with her. Carmen started getting fussy in her mouth and Johanna asked me about it. I explained that she did this when she was tense.

Johanna called me to her and showed me that Carmen was telling me that my shoulders were too tense. I couldn't feel it at all and she spent some time helping me to feel that I wasn't truly moving with Carmen's motion.

I love this photo- it shows the team work that was happening
 Once I was able to get it sorted with some help I went off at the walk and tried to keep my shoulders soft so that we were in sync. And with that Carmen stopped fussing in her mouth.
Great I thought, now there's more to remember. 

 But I kept at it and slowly it seemed to make more sense. The truth is that I jokingly referred to Johanna as our marriage counsellor- she always seems to help us communicate. This time I was able to get her to trot with just the thinking (like I had tried the day before). Because she was in heat she was a bit sticky about going forward. But because I was able to be more effective with my seat I could ride it out and not have it escalate. I might have been frustrated with myself but I recognized that I was doing the best sitting trot on her that I have ever done. It was really cool to be able to feel like I was riding the hind end.

 I was starting to realize how truly sensitive this mare is.




19 comments:

  1. Carmen sure has grown into a real beauty. You two make such a lovely pair.

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  2. The two places I learned that I carry tension are my shoulders and my forearms. Loose shoulders and heavy elbows are my mantra -- tension in those places goes straight to Lucy. But, don't you just love being able to ride Carme from thought and feel? So awesome.

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    1. yes the feel part was great. The tension we carry maybe comes from the work - I'm on a computer almost all day

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  3. I love horses very much but unfortunately living in a big city like Montreal I don't get to see them very often. Thank you so much for sharing your posts and photos.

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  4. Wow! She looks amazing in that photo.

    Tense shoulders makes Harley tense up too. I remember not being aware of it myself without help.

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    1. it just starts to feel normal and we are not aware

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  5. You two look lovely! Why is it so darn hard to remember all the things we need to do at the same time? And of course we need a 'marriage counselor' to tell us what we are unconsciously doing! Good on you for riding a sensitive horse - she will make you a better rider for sure!

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    1. it's like juggling. I know it will get easier as things become habit.

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  6. Sounds like a good clinician! Isn't it funny (aka annoying) that it is almost always us causing a horse's reaction. :) Carmen is absolutely gorgeous!

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  7. I like the marriage counselor concept. So true. When couples fall apart on reality TV, it is obvious to everyone watching why the marriage doesn't work. For instance, he's too self-centered and she won't quit nagging... Works with a trainer watching a horse and rider too.

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    1. it really does feel more like counselling :)

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  8. I struggle with my shoulders too. Sounds like a really great ride and an excellent clinician!

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  9. She sounds like a great teacher. There is always so much to remember, I'm lucky if I can come away from a clinic with a couple things to work on

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    1. that's one good thing about the blog. I can write it down to remember

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  10. Carmen is gorgeous. A rare beauty. I know the feeling of thinking about so many things at once. Love the idea of it being like marriage counseling. How true that is.

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