So for whatever reason, I always have much better first rides back than second rides. I don't know if it's because I never really ask for that much on first rides or if I ask for too much on second rides, but almost every horse I've ever had/ridden has been that way. Pro was no exception, our ride on Sat was not nearly as nice as Thurs night. He wasn't exactly bad, he just wasn't good either. He wanted to look out on the circle, he wanted to jump sideways at the bunny tree, he wanted to just stop this silly riding business and get left alone. In his defense, it was slightly windy, but it wasn't THAT windy.
Sunday he was better, he was willing to negotiate. If I'd drop my hands then he'd be delighted to lower his head. Oh, and if I could kindly remove all traces of contact with my inside rein then he'd relax his head and neck, but if I dared to ask him to bend correctly then his head would go right back up. I kept at it and didn't cave in on purpose (though I'm sure he tricked me at least a couple times) and finally I was happy with how things were going. I was very pleased with the fact that I got him to stop popping his outside shoulder out on the circle. I read a blog (I think Mugwump Chronicles?) that mentioned that if your horse is dropping it's outside shoulder you need more OUTSIDE rein, because if they're straight they can't pop that shoulder out. So I opened my outside rein another couple of inches while maintaining contact and kept asking for the inside bend with the quick "comeherecomeherecomehere" tugs Gayle recommends to the inside and sure enough, fixed shoulder and eyelashes visible. :)
Kate should hopefully get to ride him tonight, and then we'll be tag teaming all week to try and get chores done and Pro ridden so more Pro-blogginess to come.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Maybe you are over thinking the ride? Maybe because you hadn't ridden him in a while you didn't expect much so you were pleasantly surprised when he was great, the next ride came along your expectations were much higher and you wanted a repeat of the previous ride.
I think you guys are doing GREAT though! Pro is a great teacher. haha
I think Alex is probably right! The outside rein comment you made makes sense, too. Hopefully your next ride will be great! :)
My instructor always reminds me to ride the horse I have at that time and only to compare the parts of that particular ride, like how he was doing at the beginning of an exercise to the end of that same exercise. I have a tendency to compare one day to the next, and like you, they never compare! That just gets me frustrated over why today isn't as good as yesterday or vice versa.
I like that - ride the horse you have right now. Interesting perspective!
Post a Comment