Back To Basics.

I have a feeling the first part of 2012 will be about mastering the fundamentals. I have big dreams, but I will never be able to do the fancy stuff without first having the basics down to a science. This is not to say that I will be starting completely over, as a lot of tasks are second nature by now. However, there are a few holes in my horsemanship that need to be patched before we can move on. In fact, I believe part of these holes developed because we have been working through the program and Rydel has gained confidence. For example, sometimes Rydel challenges me during the Porcupine Game- a game that I could easily win against my submissive Right Brain Introvert. Now that she has learned to be more confident she sometimes tries to be dominant and pushy and instead of getting frustrated with this I just smile and play the game right back until I am the winner. I never want to destroy the confidence she is gaining, I just want to ensure that she maintains respect.

As I mentioned before, another fundamental we have been working on is the passenger lesson. In a previous lesson, Juli pointed out that perhaps Rydel had been too introverted in the past to really express how she felt during riding and now that she is coming out of her shell more I have to deal with her opinions, both good and bad. This is why I am slowing things down and going back to passenger lessons before trying to do much more advanced freestyle riding. Not micromanaging our rides has really given her a much better impression of riding and this will pay off later when I start asking more from her.

My goal is to send in my Online Level 2 audition video by the end of the month. I have purposely been putting it off because I have been trying to really get the fundamentals down- isolating the patterns into component parts and trying to achieve tasks using the smallest phase possible. I'm hoping in the next few weeks our video looks far better than our first attempt both in technique and rapport. Only time will tell but I think taking the time it takes will really pay off!
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Natural New Years Resolution #4: The 5 Ingredient Rule. This is a difficult rule to follow (especially as a college student) but the idea is to eat the most pure foods possible. So, when you are in the grocery store, try not to buy anything that has more than 5 ingredients in it. This mostly applies to ingredients that aren't natural and are things you cant pronounce.

Being A Perfect Passenger.

I have alluded to Rydel's arthritis before but I have never really explained why it has been such a big deal. You see, Rydel's arthritis in her hocks makes her back sore because she tenses up from the pain. Before I had a diagnosis for her arthritis, I had no idea what was causing her pain, I just knew that something was wrong. During saddling she would try to bite me and move around a lot- something she had never done before. And when riding and I would ask for the trot she would pin her ears and eventually just stop and tried to bite. I never would have chalked all of that up to an issue in her hocks, but the vet did because almost as soon as I explained the symptoms he ordered a flex test. So Rydel went on anti-inflamatories, muscle relaxers, and a steady diet of no riding for a month. She also went on a joint supplement that she is to continue for the rest of her life. After all this, Rydel now has no daily pain, but a lot of psychological baggage associated with it. Now, even though she is feeling better, she associates saddling with the pain she felt when riding before we knew it was because of her arthritis.

Well, for the past few weeks I have been working on re-introducing the saddle to Rydel. Letting her know that it won't cause her pain, and that I won't force her into a bad situation with it. In order to do this, I had to be sure that the saddle really would not continue to hurt her, even though the back pain associated with her arthritis was gone, I had to be sure there were no other factors. This is what led me to make the decision to purchase my theraflex pad. The first time I put it on her with the saddle and let her walk around, even without having the proper shim pattern for her back, she immediately started blowing out and relaxing. This was a miracle! I had not seen her relax in the saddle for months! In fact, it was typically the opposite- she would usually hold her breath while riding! This was a huge step in the right direction.

After a few more weeks of approach and retreat with the saddle and doing a few passenger lessons bareback, she finally started to accept the saddle again. Today, I decided to see how she would do saddling again. I went to the barn with the attitude that I wasn't going to push anything and if she wasn't feeling ready, I would just retreat and try again another day. But when I began playing with Rydel she was really focused on me, She seemed particularly calm and was just waiting for me to give her something to do. After a few minutes, I decided to try saddling and she stood more calmly than she ever has as she let me put on the saddle and cinch it up. I did everything slowly and took time in between each hole on the girth. Because she handled everything so well I decided to get on and do a passenger lesson. I was careful to mirror her every move, which totally blew her mind and every time she got tense and looked around, I did the same and very soon I had a calm horse! Anytime she wanted to stop, I let her. I would rub her and then ask her to go using my seat (squeezing all four cheeks) which she caught onto really quickly. Pretty soon she stopped and started licking and chewing so much it looked like someone had stuck peanut butter in her mouth! It was the same thing she had done in our lesson and it is great to see my introverted horse licking and chewing like an extrovert! All in all it was such a big day for us! Everyday I hope to keep riding a little more where we can work our way up to doing a pushing passenger lesson at the trot and then eventually get to the point that we dont need the passenger lesson anymore!

I've learned a lot through this whole process. One of the most greatest lessons I learned is the importance of being a good passenger. This means not trying to micro-manage the ride, but learning to let go in life too. I realized that I can't always control my journey with my horse, (or my journey in life for that matter!) and the way I was looking at things was too direct line. Our journey doesn't end just because we got bumped off my timeline for progress. In fact, that's the beauty of it. Our journey never ends.