(no subject)

[endlessrarities]

Another Saturday, another riding lesson.

Another round with the dreaded Softie (aka The Evil One).

I was so scunnered by my last encounter that as soon as I saw her waiting in her box, I almost felt like turning round and going home.  As I said the last time, what's the point of trying to work with a horse that doesn't want to know??

My instructor told me to keep a positive mental attitude.  We jogged our way round the school a few times.  Softie was the one in charge, and I really wasn't in the mood to argue.  The horse was so wooden, it was like being taken for a ride by a miniature version of the thing that Odysseus and his pals whipped up in their efforts to defeat the Trojan.  We performed a series of diabolical rhomboids, before Softie did the inevitable stop-dead-in-the-middle-of-the-school-I'm-not-budging lark. 

I couldn't be bothered with a battle, which isn't a good attitude, I know.  But my legs and my seat felt a whole lot better, so I just concentrated on them and let the horse go to hell in a handbasket. Then - as Softie did another of her stubborn cantankerous hissy fits - my instructor said something new, and truly profound. 

"Drop the reins," said she.

So I dropped the reins.  A brisk tap later, and Softie grudgingly got moving.  And once I'd made the connection that Softie hates a contact, we both had a moment of epiphany.  Now, coping with joggers is second nature to me.  My old horse Squire was a jogger.  If you held his head too tight, he got faster and faster.  Softie is a jogger.  But in her case, if you hold her head too tight, she stops dead and won't move. 

EUREKA!!!!!

I spent the rest of the lesson trying to get Softie to walk while maintaining little if any contact.  When she stopped jogging, I praised her.  I rode her through occasional 20m circles, and hey presto!  they got rounder, and rounder.  When she actually deigned to bend properly, I praised her.  I'd suspected previously that Softie was misunderstood, but I didn't realise that the leap of understanding would be quite so straightforward to achieve.  And then, as I trotting on the circle, she tried to drop her head and take the bit.  Just briefly, and with the air of an animal that's saying, "I remember doing something like this once, long, long ago.  But I forget now."

We parted very amicably.  And next time I see Softie tacked up and waiting, I don't think I'll be filled with dread.

Comments

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

I'm glad that you and Softie seem to have come to an understanding. :)

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

So am I. Last time was soul-destroying. My secret today may have been dropping the stirrups a couple of holes. My centre of gravity changed, and so did the horse.

It makes it all the more satisfying when such an awkward old bat of a horse says, "I am willing to work with you and do what you ask to the best of my ability." It's a humbling experience.

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

It's amazing sometimes how much even a cantankerous, 'impossible' horse can be transformed if only you can find the key! And it makes the hair-tearing frustration of the bad lessons worthwhile when you have a good lesson.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

It was very rewarding:-)

[wldhrsjen3.livejournal.com]

Wonderful! I love those moments of clarity, when the jagged puzzle piece suddenly fits in place.

One of my mustangs is a challenge like that. By the time I got her she'd already made up her mind that she would rather die than work with a human, but I've managed to convince her that we can be partners and have a good time together. It's a constant balancing act, though, trying to figure out how to maintain cooperation. But when she finally understands what I'm asking, and when I finally understand what she's telling me, it's golden. I live for those rides! :)

Well done. :)

[clairehawthorn.livejournal.com]

"I was so scunnered"

Latches onto the word "scunnered" and soaks it up.

I've been living in North East of England for eleven years now so unfortunately the only time lovely words like "scunnered" are used is when I phone my (Ulster Scots) family back in Northern Ireland.

The joys of regional dialects............

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

Told ya. With a stonewaller, do _less_. Very often they're hypersensitive horses, but instead of going into orbit, they just shut down.

Your instructor sounds like a real gem.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

My instructor's young, she's not very articulate at times, but she's done it all and learned it the hard way with her own horse. This a nutty Thoroughbred that she trained up to a very high standard, then sold on to new owners who couldn't cope with it and basically abused it. She rescued it, then had to completely reschool it, which now only relates to her and even then has frequent episodes of complete lunacy.