Present Tense

Normally I spend winter fretting about not riding and feeling bored.  This year feels different. Not that I'm not anxiously waiting to get back to regular schooling. I totally am.

Not as cold as it looks, but still winter

But I'm also using this time to work on myself and my goal of controlling/choosing my emotions.

I've been diving into videos, reading and podcasts. I'm finding them all very helpful. In the past I think I would have dismissed it as being a bit wack-a-doodle. Not completely, but it made me uncomfortable. I cannot remember who said it (I think it was Stacy Westfal's podcast but can't swear to it) that you can view riding as 'transactional' or 'relational'. And that made a lot of sense to me.

Anyway, one of the things I've been really working on is being 'present'. It's not easy. My mind tends to wander, even in the saddle. I find myself thinking about what happened during the day or what might happen tomorrow.

I have been practising and failing a lot. But I've also been succeeding.

The other thing I've been working on is choosing to be positive with the horses (and others). That is working really well. I find myself truly enjoying the time I spend doing chores. The horses are really responding.

hard to take photos when she wants to be close.
But look at that adorable nose...

The trick is, of course, is whether this translates to work under saddle. In the past I would have worried about it. Now I'm curious. After a deep freeze that left the ring treacherous with ice we had some snow and then a warmer temps. This dissolved the ice under the snow and made the ring good for riding again.

Sunday was warmer and I brought Carmen up to the ring to do some ground work and possibly ride. I stayed with her mentally and she responded really well. It then started to rain but I still mounted. We rode exactly two circles, I dismounted and leaving the reins over her neck I said 'coming?'  and walked to the gate with her ambling behind me. 

Monday was a holiday for us and the weather was even warmer. So warm I pulled the blankets off the horses and let them soak up the sun. 

clearly Carmen is wintering well. But look at Irish- he's looking great. 

Julia came out to ride as well. I started with groundwork but I didn't need long to see that she was right with me. I settled into the saddle and she marched off a bit grumpily. I brought her to a halt and dropped the reins until she settled. My goal for the ride was to have her soft and bendy and for me to stay present in the moment.

While the ride was nothing for anyone to watch, I noticed a few things. First of all, every time my mind wandered she became tense. When I brought my mind back she immediately settled. Our spooks were mere flinches and there was only two. One was her almost halting in response to something she saw in the trees. After the stutter-step, Carmen walked forward to the tree and I dropped the rein. She looked at it warily while I breathed and then she released her breath and dropped her head to relax. 

As we continued to work Carmen began to settle in and enjoy herself. In fact, after a while, when I would soften the rein she would pick up a trot (not that I was holding). Not that she was heavy in the bridle or taking over. More like she was enjoying it and wanted to go. So I let her.

At the end of our ride we were standing at the far end just relaxing on a long rein. Carmen looked towards the woods and I could feel her question.  No,  I said we can't go in the woods, there's still too much ice. She sighed and then reached around and nudged my toe with her nose. Okay then, it must be time for carrots. Feel free to hop off. 


For me those were the big things. The other pieces: leg yields, transitions, circles were the chorus not the main bits. I hope that this doesn't sound too hippy-dippy. Because that is not me.  I was also working on making my seat and hand following,  keeping my balance even and my aids clear. But go ahead and consider me out in left field. I don't care. This feels good to me and Carmen is clearly responding. 

leaving the hay to come and say 'hi'. Also, no, she's not pregnant.....