On Consistency

 I've always been one of those people who like to ride consistently. I get frustrated and out of sorts when the universe does not cooperate with my plans. This spring has been particularly challenging- between weather and lessons being cancelled I could literally see my training time trickle away.  It's probably all part of my over-thinking, planning and control issues. But, like Emma so clearly pointed out, it's also a a path to anxiety.  This quote from her post really resonated with me:

  "If every step relied on the steps before, and every ride was critical for accomplishing some future plan, suddenly you're kinda in this inescapable pressure trap, right?" 

And there are a lot of perspectives to take on the word 'consistency'. The way that I tend to approach it is to focus on frequency. I feel that I must ride X times per week for progress to be made. And that's not necessarily wrong- horses do like a routine.  but with the way things are going I haven't been able to get into a groove.  I can ride is rain or cold or wind but when these start to be combined I am much less motivated. And when you have a horse like Carmen who's not predisposed to love being ridden and Quaid who's learning how he feels about it I tend to be a little more careful.  

nothing to do with the post (other than there's a post in it)
but here's Quaid helping Ed with fence maintenance

I can't control the weather, but there is another type of consistency which I can control. And that is how I work with my horses and my expectations. I've been trying very hard to keep our sessions very consistent. With Carmen this means that I am consistent in my expectations of forward and being responsive. I can understand that riding 4 days in a row and then not for another 4 has definite impact on fitness so I am careful to give her breaks and not exhaust her. But I still expect her to be forward and to use her hind end. It is very common that our first trots are incredibly sucky. She's behind the leg and pins her ears. I can work her out of it but one day I was feeling like all I was doing was pony kicking a reluctant shetland around the ring. So picked up my whip. And she was magically forward. I hadn't even touched her. So. Yeah.  

With Quaid I found myself falling into a pit of not wanting to screw up so not doing anything. Which is fundamentally wrong and self-destructive.  Being so afraid of fucking up that I do nothing is not new. Once I realised it I could take steps to counteract it. My approach is to work with Quaid following a pattern:  groom, go to the ring, work in hand, tack up and, once he's fully tuned in get on. I am also okay with not riding if he seems to be not ready. But so far, that hasn't happen. 

both horses get to graze after work. Here
Carmen has totally forgotten she had her turn

My expectations that he pay attention and tune in I keep to the forefront.  And it's paying off so well. There are days when he's fully engaged from the get go. One day I was able to mount after 10 minutes of groundwork. Other days take a little longer. And one day I had to dismount and start again. On that day we were having a discussion over who got to choose where we went. He was getting upset with the steering and ramping up. so I got off and worked on steering from the ground. He pitched a small fit and then just got it and settled in. Which is pretty much how he operates-aaah I am not happy. Oh. never mind, it's all good. 

I've been pleasantly surprised by how much of an impact my consistency in how I work vs when actually has on our progress, even though I describe it as glacial. Like I said, Quaid is still at the point where what happens can influence how he'll feel about work in the future. This makes me careful to keep things clear and pushing boundaries a bit but working to not overwhelm him.  After our work I take his bridle off and he chooses to follow me even though he's completely free. That tells me a lot about the work we've been doing. 

following me away from the gate

The weather is improving so I've been able to work more frequently as well. Tomorrow we leave to go spend a few days in Montreal and pick up Ms. Cordelia. 

So regal and already judging me

I suspect I'm going to need a lot of consistency with her too.