It is all starting to come together

 Working with the two year olds, we have been working quite a bit with turning the hip to open up the front end to then turn through the shoulder like a cutting horse or a reining horse.  This maneuver was baffling for me at first because I haven’t done anything like it.  To get the hip to move out from under the horse, you have to bring the rein back to your leg to bring their head around, turned into your leg and on the same side as your rein, you ask them to move their hip by applying leg in leg position three or what I always thought of as behind the girth (assuming that the leg position options are in front of the girth, on the girth, and behind the girth).  Then, when the colt moves his hip out from under him, then that same rein opens out, away from his body to ask him to bring his shoulder to that rein while the opposite leg helps by asking the shoulder to move with pressure in leg position one (in front of the girth). 

As I said, I thought this was completely foreign to me and I was having a lot of trouble with it, but as I was sitting here this evening thinking about riding, it started to come together for me.  I remember a distinct riding lesson I had a number of years ago.  In this lesson I learned how to turn an English trained horse completely off of an indirect rein.  Typically, to get a horse to turn to the left, I would ask for a bend with my left rein, support with my right rein, support the horse with my left leg on the girth, and ask for a bit of a bend by putting my right leg behind the girth.  To turn off the indirect rein, I would close my right rein to block that direction, open my left rein away from the horse’s neck, and apply right leg to ask the horse to move off of it.  This would in theory get my horse to move to the left through his shoulder. 

I suppose softness is the same thing.  When I ask for anything with the filly I just started, Mocha, I ask her start doing something, and I drop her.  As long as she continues to do what I initially asked her to do, I will not mess with her.  If I ask her to lope in a circle in a set spot to the left… then as soon as I cue her to lope and she responds, then I give her a loose rein and I take my lower leg off of her.  At least in theory I take my leg off of her… I am still getting accustom to releasing like this.  She is rather barn and buddy sour and doesn’t completely understand this concept yet, so if the goes off of the circle, then I use my rein to direct her back into the circle.  If she slows from the lope, then I use my leg to direct her back into the lope.  I understand what this method works.  When the horse is doing what you want them to, then you reward them by releasing them.  I assume this method also builds a self driven horse.  If the horse learns that by going at the speed you want, they will not be messed with by your leg, then the horse stays alert to that leg and is happy to move forward because it is easy and they won’t be bothered once they are going. 

Riding hunter jumper, this concept at first seemed foreign to me because in that discipline we typically would not throw away our reins or completely release our horses, but instead we soften with them.  If I want to canter my horse in a circle, then I use my inside rein and legs to set up the bend and I use my outside rein to half halt and control speed.  Of course this would be steering with the leg and following with the rein.  If my horse is going well in the circle, then my reins and legs are soft.  I am still there with both to support my horse but again, I am leaving my horse alone… it is just a different type of release.  It is softness rather than completely disappearing. 

This is all coming together for me today because after I worked three projects owned by the bosses (who I will talk about in a moment), the arena owner let me ride her dressage horse, Diamond.  It was great to be back in an English saddle and be on a horse that is English trained, and it really helped me put everything I have been learning over the past weeks/months/years into perspective.  This mare was soft and knew a heck of a lot.  It also help remind me that though I have a ton to learn in any discipline, that English is the discipline that I know best and to give myself some slack when it comes to learning.  I can’t be perfect.  I can’t be close.  I just need to have the desire to learn.  I have been quite frustrated with myself lately and I think remembering this will really help me. 

Each horse that I ride teaches me something.  I started today by working Scotch.  I would imagine that that horse’s name is becoming rather familiar.  He is ridiculously familiar to me and I really like him.  I started by doing groundwork with my friendly raincoats with him.  I sacked him out on the ground with it, and then I put it on.  One thing we have been doing with him is running at him unannounced like we are going to mount.  This is important for a horse with his job because out in the backcountry there are times that we need to be on a horse chasing down bison and the horse has to stand steady for us to jump right on him and take off.  We don’t always have time to walk calmly up to the horse to get on.  I did this same exercise today, but with a raincoat on with the hood up.  I have seen this horse tense up on the trail when a guest in a raincoat tries to calmly walk up to him then explode when they get on, so I think this exercise will really help him in the long run.  Today he did really well with it and I think he actually relaxed by the end.  After cantering and trotting him for a bit to relax him and get him focused, I got off and then put on the raincoat, mounted, and worked him at all three gaits with the coat flapping and making all kinds of sounds.  He was quite a bit more relaxed than he was over the past week or so.  He is really coming around. 

Next I worked Blackie, a newly acquired perch cross who just doesn’t really know much.  He is going to be a guest horse at some point, so I started today by sacking him out with the raincoat.  He didn’t even flick an ear at it.  He has the bad habit of walking off when you mount, so I asked him to flex his head to the side to start when I got on.  I mounted and dismounted a number of times and he didn’t walk off any of the times.  Next I just worked him a bit with some trotting and cantering work.  I just did quite a bit with steering and consistency at each gait.  Apparently this horse has done quite a bit more driving than riding, so not surprisingly he is much better at a trot than canter, but he is willing.  I think he just needs worked. 

I worked Mocha last.  She is the two year old filly that Kerry and Carrie helped me start and are helping me train.  She has a bit of trouble getting stuck in certain places, such as near other horses or near the gate… so today we just worked on consistency of gaits and staying headed in the direction I want her to go in.  We worked on trotting and loping in a circle at a consistent pace, then we worked on trotting through a pattern (I just did figure eights through the diagonals).   I can’t complain at all about how she is coming along.  She is a bit grumpier and more of a mare than the other filly that was started, but overall she is doing great for her seventh ride.