The Duck has Landed!!!

Well, a week later and Secret was still not able to turn to the right. She was actually trotting pretty well on the straight and looked almost sound. But, turning to the right there was still head-bobbing. So, I called the vet and gave her the run down. She decided that we’d better do x-rays just to be sure. She warned me that usually, you don’t see much on x-rays. If that’s the case, then its hard to tell what it is and to be absolutely certain you have to do a lot of really expensive tests at UGA. OR you can just kinda assume that if it’s not bone, it’s soft tissue and treat accordingly (and hope for the best).

Today was the day! I went ahead and took the day off work because I figured Secret would pitch a fit about the whole operation and it would take awhile. It turns out, it was lucky I took the day off because the vet was incredibly late due to an emergency. But, in what seems to be an endless quest to make a liar out of me, Secret was a perfect angel. We took all kinds of X-rays! And they showed…. Nothing. Absolutely nothing! It all looked great. So, the vet suggested that the next step was to add pour-in pads UNDER the natural balance shoes and put her on stall rest for about six months to allow any soft tissue injury to heal.

I took the advice and did what she suggested. The shoes with pour-in pads cost me $150 and I was not looking forward to paying that every six weeks, but what choice did I have? I was now down almost $800, my horse was still lame, and now wasn’t to come out of her stall for SIX MONTHS! I don’t have to tell fellow horse owners how frustrating and depressing this is. I decided that I would give her the time she needed and in the meantime I would post and ad on craigslist for a horse to play with.

 I was just looking for someone that had a horse that maybe was barn sour or just needed some work and some miles. I didn’t want them to pay me, and I didn’t want to pay a lease. I got several responses to this ad. The first was about 50miles away on the other side of the city… too far. The second was still a good bit away, but at least on this side of town and I used to drive down there all the time for my trainer so I figured, why not? When I pulled up the lady went and brought her horse out. I looked down at her feet, which is now at the top of my list for judging a good horse owner, and the first words out of my mouth were, “Her feet look AMAZING!!!” She calmly responded, “Oh thanks! That’s my farrier right over there.” I looked at the man and blurted out, “Do you travel as far as Powder Springs?!?” And this whole conversation started about Secret’s lameness, horse’s feet, and horse shoes. I got a real education.

This was the first time I had met someone who was a “barefoot farrier”. I had heard about them in the past, and always thought they were a bit off. I’m admitting now, I was wrong. This guy spent a good 2 hours talking to me, explaining his point of view, and then ended by saying, “Look it up… see if it makes sense to you. If it does, I don’t charge anything to come out and do an evaluation.” Well, I believe that all things happen for a reason. I went home, read all I could on “barefoot horses” and asked him to do an evaluation on Secret. He came out and spent another two hours (1) Looking at her standing square (2) Watching her move and (3) Explaining to me what he thought the problem was, this included showing me pictures in a text book, and how he would go about fixing it. He pointed out to me (and the barn owner who was there and I asked to listen in and give his opinion) that the whole left side of Secret’s body was ½” higher than her right side. He said, “I bet this horse is a dream to turn to the left, but you can’t make her go right.” Wow! Nailed that one. Then he said, “Probably when you ride her bareback she seems sound, but she’s really lame when you put a saddle on.” Right again! Evidently that’s because her spine is twisted to the right and the saddle bars would press down on it, but this wasn’t a problem with the bareback pad. I was impressed.

He told me his plan to fix her: (1) Pull her shoes off (2) Trim only the left side until she was balanced (3) Give her an all-around, balanced, barefoot trim for 5-10 weeks and then re-evaluate. I thought about it, talked it over with the barn owner (made sense to him), and thought, “what would I do if it was my foot?” I felt kind of guilty like I was experimenting with my horse. Afterall, the vet had told me to put the shoes on. But, by the same token, if this was my foot, I would try it and why should I do less for Secret? I agreed.

We pulled the shoes off and trimmed her left side. He said to watch for any head bobbing, any body soreness should be treated with Devil’s Claw, abscesses were not unexpected after having shoes on for a year, and her feet were going to get really ugly… he’d be back in a week. This is going to sound unbelievable, but the improvement she made in that week was unbelievable! Her attitude made a major turnaround… she’s the darling of the barn now. AND, she was lunging with no head-bobbing and no limping…. Just a little stiffness.

A week later, he trimmed just the left side again and said that she was now balanced. He’d be back in a week to trim her all around. Now in week two, with no sign of limping or discomfort, I started riding her. It was like a different horse. She would walk and trot with no hesitation and turn in both directions without a fuss. We even did a trail ride and a couple of canter laps. She was still stiff in the right front shoulder and didn’t want to pick up her right lead, but she did great to the left and on the trail. I had hope again!

Just the past Saturday, he came and trimmed her all around. I want to add here that every time he’s been out he’s spent at least an hour looking her over, evaluating her stance and movement, and then deciding on a plan of how to trim her. He decided that since she was still stiff and unsure in that right front shoulder he would change the breakover on that foot and force her to extend it. It’s amazing how a little change to the foot can cause such big changes in her movement. After just a little rasping, she was no longer short stepping on that shoulder and her footfall pattern had evened out. He told me to expect her to be a bumpy ride for awhile, but that it should aid in her rehabbing those shoulder muscles.

Yesterday (Sunday), I had planned to trailer to Cochran Mill Park for a trail ride. I was a little worried because she hasn’t been on such a long ride in several months and I was worried that she would give out about half way. She, once again, made a liar out of me. She went the whole three hours with energy to spare and was totally sound when we got back to the barn last night. I think maybe this duck has landed… I’m hoping its permanent. I’ve been converted, I’m a believer. Long live the barefoot horse!

Lame as a Duck

I’ve always wondered what the expression “lame as a duck” meant. Turns out it’s a political term that refers to a politician who no longer wields any political power as they are about to be voted out or have come to the end of their term. Nonetheless, I will still use it to refer to my horse, who is currently lame as a duck. Not that she’s lost her power… she’s plenty willing, just unable.

Probably a year after I got her I noticed that she had a small limp that appeared to be in the right hind leg. It was a really wet and cold February that year and I figured maybe it was just some stiffness from standing in a cold, muddy pasture. After the summer came, the limp would come and go and it was so subtle that unless you were really looking for it, you couldn’t see it. When I noticed it I would rub her down in liniment and it would go away for awhile. By the next winter we had moved to a new barn and she was to be stalled at night and the pasture was on high ground so it wasn’t going to get very muddy. I thought that would solve the problem, but it didn’t. By the following spring it was noticing enough and happening often enough for me to call the vet out.

When the vet showed up, I lunged Secret at a trot for almost ten minutes before she could see what limp I was talking about. She did a few flexions and determined that Secret, indeed, had a limp, but the cause was unclear. She suggested putting front shoes on. So a week later the farrier was out. Secret was a perfect angel for her first shoeing (and hot shoes at that!).

The limp seemed to get a little better, so I kept the shoes coming. By the fourth shoeing she had started misbehaving whenever the nails were driven. It was about this time that we again moved to yet a new barn. About two weeks after moving, just in time for Secret to be due for shoes again, my farrier had a stroke. A week later Tom Biewlawski, a fabulous farrier and an equally wonderful person, passed away… I know Secret and I both miss him and I’m sure he will always be fondly remembered by us and many other people and their horses.

Secret and I have since been through a string of farriers, with questionable results. So, I finally had the vet out again last week. This time we did more lunging and more flexions. She came to the conclusion that it was the right front foot that was the problem. Now, Secret WAS actually lame in the right front that day. Both the barn manager and myself stressed to the vet that she had always been lame on the BACK. But there was no arguing with what was before us. We did a nerve block on the front right foot and within minutes she was trotting around well. So, the suggestion was to put corrective “natural balance” shoes on the front to relieve any heel pain that she might have. That was Tuesday, on Friday the new farrier she had recommended came and put the shoes on. I should mention that she had also left me a sedative to use when the farrier comes because Secret has actually started rearing during the nailing on of the shoes. The sedative worked… she was so stoned the cross ties were holding her upright… the farrier was very happy.

The following Tuesday evening I went out to ride and… OMG she was lamer than ever! In the FRONT! She was actually doing the whole head-bob thing (ie. REALLY LAME) and could not turn to the right at all. I was devastated. I was frustrated. It’s gotten to the point that I feel like everything that I do just makes her worse! Would it have been better if I’d left her barefoot? Is she ever going to be sound again? How much money am I willing to spend to make her better? What if I can’t make her better? What will I do then? All of these questions ran through my mind in about 4 seconds. Then I pushed them aside because I had my board exam to study for and didn’t have time to dwell on it until afterwards. Nonetheless, I called the vet the next morning and she wanted to give the shoes at least a week before making a judgment on them.

My board exam was yesterday, so I went out today to check on her (this past Friday was a week… so it’s been 9 days of the shoes). I started by free lunging her in our new round pen (SO excited about that!). She looked better! I think there is still a little limp in the right front, but the head-bobbing is gone. BUT, I think the right hind looks off again. My trainer used the term, “dead lame in the back”. UGH UGH UGH! So, then I threw the bareback pad on to see if she would look worse with weight on her back. After trotting a few laps the back leg seemed to warm up and not look so stiff. So, I’m thinking that she’s better?? My trainer recommended calling the vet and letting her know exactly what we’re seeing and letting her make the call. So, the journey continues. I hope this duck can learn to fly again…

Mechanical Hackmore: tool or torture?

When I first got Secret she was being ridden in a plain O-ring snaffle bit. After I started riding her, I noticed A LOT of head tossing and bracing against the bit. She was only three at the time and I knew that she might be having some teething issues, so I went to a nylon Indian bosal. She rode really well in that for two years but then I decided that I wasn’t super happy with the release it gave and, therefore, its usefulness as a teaching tool. So, I switched to a cross under bitless bridle. For us, this was totally useless. She ignored it, ran through it, and was just generally a witch! At that point, about three months ago, my trainer suggested going back to a snaffle bit. Secret took the bit fine and didn’t brace against it like she used to. She was responsive to it, but she was still running through it.

So, my problem was getting her stopped once she decided she was going. I didn’t have a problem with steering and I really want her to learn to neck-rein because its easier on the trail. I did some research and decided to try a Jim Warner Hackamore.

The Jim Warner is a mechanical hackamore that looks more like a medieval torture device than anything else.  I talked to a lot of people at the tack shop about it before purchasing it and they had all positive things to say. But, afterwards I started reading about it on horse forums. The general consensus seemed to be that all mechanical hackamores are harsh and cruel and would only be used by the most inexperienced, insensitive, and inhumane horse person. Well, I’ve always subscribed to the theory that the bit is only as harsh (or as soft) as the hands, so I decided to give the evil mechanical hack a try.

My horse is so responsive and well-behaved in this hack that its mind-boggling!!! My goal is to eventually have her drop her head and travel down the trail pretty independently on a loose rein and when I do want to make a change I want her to listen to my body and seat BEFORE my hands. So, when I ride her in this hack I’m focusing on giving “steering” signals with (1) opposite rein against the neck, ie. neck reining, (2) body and legs, ie. turning my upper body, moving my outside leg back, and bending her around the inside leg, and (3) lastly very light pull and release, almost like a wiggle, on the direct rein.  She’s starting to pick up on the neck reining very well actually. I’m debating getting a horsehair mecate rein as I’ve heard that the tickle of it against the neck encourages them to move away from it… not sure if it will really help that much?

Secondly, when I want to transition down a gait or stop I’m focusing on changing my body language and even the vocal cue to get her to drop down and I only reinforce with the rein if she’s not responding. Even then it’s a very light pick up of the rein, not a jerk or strong pull. She has only gotten a really sharp yank on this hack twice and both of them were when she spooked and jumped forward into my hands. The good side of this was that the pressure from the hack immediately shut her down as opposed to her running through it as she used to do with the bit and the cross-under.

I had thought that shutting her down in a “spook” situation would only scare her more, I mean horses like to move their feet when they’re scared right? But, much to my surprise, it actually seemed to keep her calmer. Instead of being able to take off and work herself up into a frenzy she was forced to stop and realize that nothing was about to eat her (she is actually smart enough to figure this out pretty quickly if you can get her stopped and turned around!).

So, overall I’ve been VERY satisfied with this medieval torture device. We’ve made a lot of progress in our schooling since I’ve started using it. Best of all, Secret doesn’t appear to mind it… in fact, she seems positively fond of the thing! I have a hard time getting it on her, not because she’s shying away from it, but because she is forcibly shoving her head into it and getting her lip caught on the curb chain! I’ve never seen a horse so eager to get their bridle put on :D

Back in the (English) Saddle!

I haven’t been out to the barn much at all lately. In fact, I don’t think I’ve actually laid eyes on my horse in about two weeks before today. My board exam is coming up on July 23^rd and I’ve been using any spare moment to study. But, I felt as though I had made good progress this week and deserved a reward for being so diligent. So, I set up a trail ride with a friend for this morning at 9am.

Now, two weekends ago I had finally decided to get my western saddle restored. It’s currently in the possession of a very nice cowboy who’s working on it. That leaves me with my close contact M. Tolouse, which I LOVE and it’s very comfortable. But, I haven’t used it in awhile because Secret’s canter had been SO bouncy and I like the security of having something to grab onto on the western saddle. I was gonna HAVE to use it today, I’d left myself no choice.

I arrived at the barn and fortunately, as I hadn’t been out in awhile, everyone wanted to chit-chat, which bought me some time to psych myself out about the saddle and work up my nerve. Then it was time to groom. WOW… Secret was really dirty! It was like that sweaty, matted on dirt. Gross! I brushed out as much as could since she was still sweating and threw the blanket on, then the concussion pad, then the saddle (after wiping the mildew off), tightened the girth and climbed aboard.

I have to say I felt kind of silly. I had a definitely western-esque hackamore bridle with an English saddle. But I was somewhat comforted when my friend emerged with a dressage saddle and bridle, draw reins, and saddle bags!

We had a wonderful ride. It was all pretty much at a walk with a bit of trotting as my friend’s horse is still somewhat lame in the stifle. But, it was a great time. It was nice to go out on Secret and not feel like she could blow up at any moment. She was back to her old pokey self and I love it!

 After arriving back at the barn we entered the large outdoor arena so that my friend could work her horse over some cavelleti (gotta build up those muscles to help the stifle!) I trotted Secret around and it was SO hot that she was very calm about the whole thing. So, I made up my mind and told my friend, “I just want to try a canter down the long side. Just to try to start conquering my fear.” She moved to the center of the arena and I set off. She picked up the correct lead on cue and went right into her nice, slow, smooth canter. It’s hard to tell if it’s partially because it was so hot and she just didn’t want to expend extra effort or if it’s because her atrophied muscles are rebuilding post-chiropractor and she’s better able to use her back end. But, either way it’s wonderful!

About half-way down the long side she did get kind of squirrely. But, even at the trot she likes to jump off the rail right in that spot so I was kind of expecting it and since she was in such a nice canter that I didn’t slide even the slightest bit in the saddle. Then I turned around and cued in the other direction. Again she picked up to correct lead and we cantered a whole circle with a very nice bend! She has made such improvement in the last few months that I am absolutely astounded! At that moment, for the first time in a long time, I felt as though I was truly borrowing freedom, instead of fear.

Training Tips from Today's Lesson

Today was another "in-between" ride. I decided to do a lesson since I'm off work for the next two weeks to study and this would be a good motivator to get me out of bed early!!!

We started out in the large outdoor arena again and got a little break from circles. Instead we were working on getting her to stay on the rail in a relaxed working trot. For the first three years that I owned Secret, we didn't have an arena at either of the two barns where I boarded -- I was a grad student, ie. poor. So, she's really not used to be asked to stay on a rail or even stay straight, so we're having to re-teach that. She also tends to get really anxious in the outdoor arena for reasons that escape me because she's usually perfectly fine on the trail; sometimes I wonder if it's just boredom.

She started off acting pretty silly along the rail, just randomly tossing her head and making militant 90 degree turns to the middle of the arena. My trainers advice was instead of trying to pull her head back to the rail, because that messes up our pretty bend to the inside, OPEN the outside rein keeping the outside hand up, wiggle (multiple half halts) on the inside rein, and LOTS of inside leg. It's amazing how well this works, but you have to approach it with alot of patience. I have to tell myself that I have the WHOLE arena to get her back on the rail and then just keep harrasing her with the above maneuver until she gets back over there, however long it takes. At first it sometimes took the whole long side, but as the lesson went on she got better and better.

The next component was getting her to consistently stay in a relaxed working trot. This has always been a struggle with Secret, especially in bigger areas. She always tends to get excited and wants to get fast and choppy as opposed to lengthening her stride. So today we were working on making sure that I stayed relaxed and then controlled the cadence of my posting. The more I can do that, the more it will encourage her to relax and to lengthen her stride in time with my posting. Keeping a certain cadence to your posting sounds really easy, but its hard to do. I always want to match her pace and it's hard for me to set my own when I can feel her pushing me out of the saddle. The good news is that when I'm able to do it, she comes back to me really quickly.

When she was really going around on the rail consistently and relaxed we started to do some large serpentines. For these I would half-circle into it, then walk a few strides to straighten, start the opposite bend and ask for the trot. Once my trainer felt as though we were both doing this well (for our first time anyway). We decided to move back into the smaller indoor arena for canter work. During our trot work earlier she had gotten excited and done a bit of canter (almost one full long side at one point) and it had seemed less scary to me than before. So, we had thought about doing some canter work outside, but I was worried that I would get scared again and set us backwards, so we went in.

In retrospect, I'm kind of disappointed that I didn't have the courage to try to canter in the larger arena, but I'm always VERY happy that we went in because our canter work was AWESOME today. She did great in both directions, staying on the rail and not breaking to a trot in the corners. She also did well with the canter-trot tansition and actually continuing to trot instead of abruptly just dropping to a walk. Both my trainer and I were thrilled!

I have to say that I think it's really beneficial that my trainer has ridden her a few times. Its given her a chance to learn all of Secret's little tricks that she likes to pull on me so that she can help me work through them. It's definitely helped to lessen my frustration and its made our communication better because we've both experienced it and I don't have to describe what's going on in exquisite detail to get help. Totally, TOTALLY worth every penny.

Do horses get dizzy???

I was out of town this past weekend; had to go to St. Louis for a professional conference and got home at midnight on Saturday! So I had arranged with my trainer to ride Secret on Saturday so she wouldn't just sit. The report was: "Had a really productive ride. She was a little stiff in the beginning, but was noticeably better at the end. I rode her in the outdoor arena, did canter-trot and trot-canter transitions, and worked on a circle almost the whole time."

The agreement that I had with my trainer is that she will ride her for the next three Saturdays (while I'm out of town) and I will ride at least once (preferably twice) throughout the week. Thus today was my "in-between" ride. We started out in the big outdoor arena just warming up, walk-trot transitions, and some circles near the gate. Then we moved into the indoor arena, this is my security blanket, and worked on more trot circles -- I'm surprised she's not dizzy! While still not perfect, they are MUCH better. She is still kinda stiff and doesn't want to bend, but is much more responsive to leg... especially the inside leg. This is really useful because she has the attention span of a gnat in the arena and now whenever she's looking at what's going on in the pasture instead of paying attention to me the "half-halt and inside leg" philosophy is WAY more effective than it used to be.

We ended working on trot-canter transitions. I don't know if its all the circles or maybe my trainer made a major breakthrough when I was gone, but SHE was SO much better!!! We started on her bad side, the left. She was still very much on the front end and bouncy but started to relax and calm down after the first few transitions. Then we went to her good side, the right, and it was amazing!!! There was very little bounce, it was like she collected and got her fabulous slow canter back. AND the "whoa" off of the seat was also fabulous.

To top it all off, I actually got her to stand up on the "elephant box" with me in the saddle!!!

It was the best way to end the day and I am ECSTATIC with the progress that we've made. The best decision I've made in the last year was to just relax and stop trying to push myself and Secret to do something fancy. I'm back to having fun and looking forward to my rides. I also REALLY REALLY LOVE my horse again.

Follow-Up Lesson

I was really hoping to follow-up the success of bareback riding last night with a great lesson. I have to say I was not disappointed! It was super hot, even though we waited until 7pm, and Secret was feeling super lazy. But we started with (surprise, surprise) more circles!

First we were doing them in the corners... trotting the long side, walking, and circling in the corner. This was to work on trying to get her to do a nice, deep, 90o corner. After a few of these we started working on the bigger circles again trying to get her to bend around the inside leg. She is still having difficulty doing it perfectly, but I could feel that she was getting more responsive with less effort from me... my trainer commented on it as well! So we are definitely making good progress there.

We ended, as usual, with some canter work. This took awhile because it was so hot that Secret got tired pretty quickly. So, we cantered a few laps to the left. Then had to stop and rest before going to the right. I've known for awhile that I ride heavy on the left. To compensate for it, I tend to drop my right shoulder and lean my upper body slightly to the right. It's not so obvious when we're cantering to the left, but that is Secret's bad side (she doesn't like picking up that lead). So tonight, when we started going  to the right, my trainer stopped me and started giving me tips on how to be more even. Of all the things she told me I found that the most effective was to really try to turn not just my upper body but my hips as well when I was looking through the turn. A few of the other tips that she gave me were: stretch the right heel way down, lengthen from the waist to the top of the rib cage on the right. I found that when I was focusing on looking through my turns, turning my upper body AND hips, and bending my horse with my legs I had NO time to focus on being scared of panicked of actually cantering! What a difference that made! Here's another shocker: when I wasn't panicking, my horse didn't get fast!

It's also very comforting to know that if I sit really deep and say "whoa", my horse will immediately transition down. I find that knowing that relaxes me and encourages me to sit down in the saddle rather than get tense.

We didn't have any "perfect" canters tonight, but we did have several really good ones. We started to Secret's bad side (the left), then went to the right, then back to the left. On the last few passes to the left, Secret was getting really tired and was having a hard time picking up the correct lead. So I kept cueing in, breaking to the trot, and cueing in again until she got the correct lead and then let her stop and walked her out.

So, to summarize the progress we made this lesson:
(1) More responsive to leg and bending better.
(2) Responding nicely to seat for downward transitions. Not so much from walk to stop, but definitely from canter to trot and trot to walk.
(3) My seat at the canter is getting much better.

Small Victories

I've been bad :-( I haven't ridden since my last lesson. My excuses are (1) I've been super busy at work and (2) It's been ungodly hot outside! Even for Georgia the heat and humidity have been awful and it came on awfully fast.

I was supposed to have a lesson this morning, but was asked to reschedule until tomorrow evening -- fine by me! So, I went out around 7pm tonight to get some riding in. It was way too hot to deal with a saddle so I just put the bareback pad on and hopped on. After two laps of a warm-up walk, I started trotting her. She's back to doing her cowboy jog that I love so much, VERY easy to sit. I started asking her to stop with my seat and she wasn't listening very well so I did the tight circles that I described in my previous post. After three of those each way she was listening to my seat and the voice command "whoa". So, I trotted her straight down the rail, sat back, said "whoa" and she immediately dropped to a walk. We repeated that a few times until I was satisfied.

Then I started trying to practice the bending circles. This is HARD without a saddle (at least for me)! But it was VERY good practice for improving my seat and my balance. I only did a few of these because I was distracted... my friend who was riding with me was cantering her horse around the outside of the arena while I was working on my circles.

Watching her I SO BADLY wanted to canter too. I trotted a few more times just to make sure that I felt super comfortable with my seat at that gait, then I told my friend, "I'm gonna canter a few strides... don't laugh when I fall." So I came around past the gate and gave the canter cue. It was SO cute, Secret flicked her ears back at me and I felt her hesitate as though she was asking, "Are you SURE?" So I gave the cue again and off we went! I got three GREAT strides before I panicked, looked down at the rail and thought, "I'll break several bones if I fall and hit that!" At which point I grabbed mane and said, "whoa!" Secret immediately transitioned down to a walk (I knew she loved me!).

Given my fears surrounding the canter, this was more than a small victory for me. I feel ecstatic,  like I'm really making progress again. I remember this time last year when I did the same thing with the trot; trot four steps and stop, trot another four steps and stop, repeat. So, I feel like if I keep being brave and cantering bareback, if only just for 3-4 strides at a time, then I'll soon feel as comfortable at the canter as I do at the trot. In the meantime, Secret will be coming along and learning new things as well. For the first time in a long time, after several months of dejection, I feel like we are closer to our goals than ever!

Back to Lessons

This was my second lesson in the hackmore and since the chiropractors visit. I had told my trainer that I had decided I just didn't have the time to devote to making Secret into any kind of show horse and I wanted to spend all of the time that I do have just enjoying riding. So, we've been working on riding on a loose rein nice and relaxed, teaching her to neck-rein, bending, and balancing.

First thing we worked on was an exercise to help with getting her to stop off of seat and voice as opposed to pulling back on her face. Basically we turned a tight circle until I felt like she was wanting to stop, then I relaxed my legs and seat and said "whoa". Again, this might sound crazy-rita, but its working. At the very end of the lesson I cantered her a few laps and when I wanted to stop I just relaxed and said "whoa"... didn't even have to move my hands, she just stopped. Awesome! Homework is ten of these circles in each direction.

The next thing was working on actually getting her to bend. We did bigger (10-15meter) circles trying to get her to bend around my inside leg. So, I had to keep weight on my inside leg, move my outside leg back, turn my upper body pretty much all the way around without dropping either shoulder, and then micro-manage her -- moving her off first one leg then the other -- all the way around the turn. We did this for probably 30minutes and my legs were killing me!!! But, by the end she was actually bending really nicely, so that's homework too!

We ended the lesson with some canter work. We had done our trot work outside in the big arena, but I'm still too scared to canter out there. I had asked my trainer to get on and canter her outside, which she did, and we concurred that she is still too bouncy and pulls a little too much near the gate for me to go for it out there yet. So,we moved back into the smaller indoor arena for canter work. It was actually really nice! She is picking up on the transition cues right away now, instead of 8-10 strides away. She's still bouncy, but getting better I think. My trainer had recommended sitting a "half-seat", which is basically just forward in the saddle with ~70% of your weight in your stirrups... it's like half-way between full seat and two-point. I felt like I moved and bounced more, but since most of my weight was in the stirrup I wasn't really slamming down on her back. It was actually alot more secure for me and I wasn't as scared. We only worked in the counter-clockwise direction, Secret's good direction, but the last canter was "perfect" (a direct quote from my trainer!) right down to the "whoa". So we decided to end on a really good note!

Improving my seat

Because Secret spent so many months working totally off her front end because of a twisted pelvis, I'm trying to really be concious of getting her back on her hind end and re-building those atrophied muscles. I saw an episode of Downunder Horsemanship on RFD-TV the other day (I DVR all of these people... I don't sit at home and wait for them. DVR is the way to go BTW, by skipping the commercials these half-hour shows are done in 10 min!). Anyway, it was showing a more intermediate "lunging-for-respect" excercise where you make the horse do roll-backs to change direction. I thought it looked like I could kill two birds with one stone -- "lunge-for-respect" and get her working on the back.  So I've tried it twice now and I'm actually pretty pleased. Yesterday she got herself all worked up because she's not used to being asked to do something so abruptly. But, even though she was upset and it took me ~15min to get her to just walk again, she was doing lovely roll-backs! So I think her pelvis is feeling better! I'll continue to do this exercise.

After I let her cool off from all that, I put the bareback pad on. I figured it would be a good day to work on my seat since she'd already tired herself out some. I've always heard, and its been my experience, that bareback riding is great for developing an independent seat and balance. Well, I must have been doing something right these last few months because last time I rode in the bareback pad the forward trot was a terrifying thing! Yesterday we trotted/jogged in the indoor arena for a few laps and I felt so good about it that I was adventurous enough to go out to the big outdoor arena (the one without a gate!) and trot out there. Even when she hit the forward trot, making a B-line for the exit, and we had to argue a bit about staying inside the arena on the rail as opposed to actually exiting, I still felt pretty secure. That was really great! I see alot more bareback riding in our future. I really won't be happy until I can feel comfortable cantering bareback!

Again, I know this sounds crazy-rita, but I really feel alot closer to my horse after the whole animal communicator thing. Yesterday I really felt like she was taking care of me... I don't know if I've ever felt that before. It was awesome. Now, this could all be psychosomatic... all in my head... but the reality is that, even if it is all in my head, it's improved my confidence (which is shaky at best) and made me love riding again. So, whether its real or imagined, its made all the difference and that's well worth $40 to me!

Gonna be some changes made!

There have been HUGE changes in my life since my last visit.
(1) I cut ALL of the narcissists out of my life. It's amazing how much time that has created for me to just be me!
(2) I'm switching trainers and methods and all kinds of things.
(3) I had an animal communicator talk to Secret and found out what was wrong.
(4) Got Secret FIXED!!!

So, the animal communicator... sounds crazy right? I found this woman totally by accident, reading a bunch of articles on a puppy in NJ who had been starved then thrown 22 stories down a garbage chute and survived. They had had an animal communicator call and "talk" to him. I thought it was fascinating so I started reading up and came across Colleen Nicholson who has some great reviews on horse forums. She charges $40 for 20min and I figured it was worth that much just for the story... I was obviously skeptical. Anyway, I set up the appointment and she calls. She was DEAD ON about alot of things! I said to her, "I really want to know what's wrong with her leg." I intentionally didn't say which one. She replies, "Oh! Is this the right hind?" NO WAY!!! Thats a 25% chance if she's guessing. She told me that Secret said that she had fallen and twisted her pelvis so now the right side is higher than the left side and that's why she's lame. I thought, OK, we'll see about that. I went online and found an equine chiropractor in my area who had GREAT recommendations and references (Dr. Heidi Bockhold, if anyone is interested). She came out last Thursday and worked on Secret. I didn't tell her what the animal communicator had said, instead I just told her that I thought something was up because her canter had been super bouncy and forward lately. That's when she said, "Oh, well its probably because her pelvis is so twisted. The right side is higher thant he left so she really can't work off her back end." NO WAY! It was all I could to keep my mouth from falling open. I'm not saying I believe it, I'm not saying I don't believe it, I'm just saying.

Secret is still a little sore from her adjustment, probably because she was twisted so badly. But she is doing SO much better! Even her trot is better and her attitude is GREATLY improved... probably because she's not in pain anymore!

The animal communicator also said, "Secret wants me to tell you, and she knows you're not going to like it, but she really likes pink." I HATE PINK "But, she says that she looks really good in Burgandy." That's true. "So she feels like that's a good compromise." Ok, fine, I went out and bought a burgandy headstall and saddle pad and told her that she damn well better like it! Maybe that's part of the reason her attitude has improved too???

I also got rid of the bit and the indian bosal. The bit had zero stopping power when she really gets upset. The bosal had no release when she was being good. So, I went to the tack store and spent an hour asking a whole bunch of stupid questions. I finally left with a Jim Warner Hackamore. Its a mechanical hackamore and so has the potential to be very harsh. But, I really want to see her riding on a loose rein and starting to neck rein. Not very English I know, but I'm kinda over the pretentiousness and just want to have fun with my horse. I may be converting to western (GASP!!!!), we'll see. So, I've ridden her in it twice now and I think she goes really well in it. I'm hardly ever touching her face, but when she does something stupid (like spins and bolts because a mini-horse scared her!) the hack has plenty of force to stop her. I'm trying to teach her neck reining and stopping off my seat. Its slow progress, but she's coming along.

I'm thinking about going to see a Ranch Versatility Horse trainer for some lessons or just to see what it's like. I think Secret might like it better as it is more mental stimulation doing different things. I also think it just looks fun... and it doesn't require leaving the ground, which becomes more important to me the older I get. We'll see.

Either way I am back to having fun with my OWN horse. You have no idea how much of a relief that has been!

Kahlua Update

While my horse is being stupid, Kahlua is really coming along!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXNSEQBACX8

She's trotting willingly, as you can see in the video. Not shown in the video is her donig a medium trot, a working trot, AND and extended trot all very well. She's bending, doing circles and serpentines in the trot. The change in her is unbelievable.

I feel kinda guilty though because I feel like I ride better on her than I do on my own horse. I also feel guilty because I feel like I should spend more time riding my own horse than this one (its pretty equal right now), but this one doesn't scare me as much, which is kinda strange considering THIS is the one that had a serious bucking problem not to mention her sour attitude.

Who knew that riding horses as a hobby could create such an emotional mess!

Time will tell

So, I've been MIA for awhile. We've hit some major hurdles. I had never ridden my horse with enough consistency to be aware of all the holes in her training, which have now become painfully obvious. In three weeks, I've been dumped three times.

The first time was a trail ride with some friends who are total beginners (three lessons under their belt). They were on dead-broke horses as was their instructor and yet somehow I ended up as the lead rider. My horse is wanting to run and so we're fighting about it. At about that same moment, the dog rushes out of the bushes to our right. Secret went sideways and I didn't. Now, there was nothing strange about that as she's always had problems with dogs and a year ago would have been back at the barn by the time I got up. So, I let that one slide.

The second time we were out on the trail really close to the barn alone. I don't like riding alone because you never know what can happen. But, I also think its important for her to be willing to go out alone. We were cantering along when all of sudden she just got really bouncy and really fast. It wasn't a nice canter, it wasn't a gallop, maybe she was cross-firing, I don't know. But off I went and she ran back to the barn without me. First time ever. B!^*H!!!! So I walked back to the barn, got on her, and went back out. We just walked and trotted the second time and all was well so I thought we were ok.

The third time was at the end of a trail ride, my friend and I were cooling down in the arena and she started cantering her horse. Well, maybe Secret thought it was a race because she took off like a rocket in that same super-bouncy whatever-it-is that she's been doing and I couldn't get her stopped. I tried pulling back and saying "whoa", which had no effect and I was too off-balance to one-rein stop her. So I just grabbed mane and held on as best I could. When she slid to a stop at the gate I kinda rolled off and hit the gate on the way down.

Well at this point I'm super frustrated. So, I ask my friend, who's been riding longer and alot better than me, to get on her and canter her. She was able to go exactly two laps before she was huffing and puffing and begging to get off. Apparently my horse wants to go into QH racing because she absolutely will NOT do the nice steady canter that was part of the reason I bought her in the first place!

My biggest concerns are (1) I can't define exactly what the problem is and (2) I don't believe that my seat at the canter is secure enough to fix it. The obvious answer seems to be to pay a better rider to fix it, but I've been the only one to ride this horse and fix her issues since I got her and I really don't want any one else to ride her. So, I'm caught between my fear and my pride I guess.

I thought that maybe it was a respect issue. Maybe integrating into this new herd, she's having a moment of trying to re-evaluate who's alpha in our relationship. So, yesterday I went back to the ground work. She moved off when I asked, lunged on-line, changed direction, free-lunged... although the free-lunging is where we ran into problems. Our arena doesn't have an actual gate, just a rope where the gate should be. So, on her first pass of free-lunging at the canter/gallop/crazy run-away, she jumped the rope and ran back to her pasture. I went and got her and put the rope up higher. On the second pass, she realized she couldn't jump it so she just ran through it and ripped it down. I realized this rope thing wasn't going to work. So, a friend helped me move three jump standards and two barrels into the gate opening. On the third pass, she sized that up and decided it wasn't worth it so I finally got her to go a whole lap. Then I changed her direction a few times. By now she's breathing hard, so I squat down and say "whoa" and she finally comes over and "joins up" following me around without the lead.

I hope that we are making some progress, but I guess I won't really know until next time. I also think that I just need to be more consistent with discipline. She's such a good natured horse, never ugly or mean, that I've always let her get away with alot and don't correct her until its pretty aggregious. I think she's realized that and is now taking advantage so yesterday I was really adamant about making the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard EVERY TIME. There was alot of lip smacking going on so I think time will tell.

Up to speed...

I was hoping to get to make a second post last week covering my lesson but I ran out of time, so let's get up to speed.

Sunday 1/20/2011: My lesson started out OK, but I was still having trouble getting Secret into her favorite corner. My trainer kept yelling at me about dropping my outside hand... I KNOW that I'm dropping it, I just don't know how to make it stop. I got really frustrated about this so we moved on to ground poles, but my whole lesson was tainted. Looking back on it now I feel like we have made ALOT of progress on two-point position and ground poles since we started on them just a few weeks ago. But, getting her on the rail and the canter, both the transition and my seat, need serious work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7OaHuDVkyA&feature=autoplay&list=UL8_4IYp9Q6jk&index=1&playnext=4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1gwr_QL6K0&feature=BF&list=UL8_4IYp9Q6jk&index=2
After my lesson I went with my trainer to her place to ride one of her horses. This horse (Kahlua) had been broke to saddle three years ago and since then has been through a stream of riders who all quit because she bucked at the trot. When I first started riding her last summer EVERY time I asked for the trot she would buck. She had NO steering. She was stiff and her feet were stuck. I finally stopped trying to ride her through it and started doing alot of ground work... Clinton Anderson style! This horse is as stubborn as they come. I've literally BEATEN her with the stick and had her look at me like, "Whatever" My arms wore out before she did more than once. But I've finally gotten her yielding pretty well. She will back nicely and lunges quite well. It's not up to Clinton's standards, but its light years from where she started! I noticed when I lunged her with the saddle that she trotted with her nose on the ground. I don't trust her enough to let her get her head down like that when I'm in the saddle and I thought maybe part of the trouble is that she needs to stretch her back. So, lately I've been lunging her to let her stretch before I get on and it seems to really be helping. I've had two rides out of her now with no bucking and she's been very willing! I'm really pleased with her so that was a good way to end the day after a very frustrating lesson.

Sunday 2/6/2011: I was really excited for this lesson. I had just decided that I wasn't going to get frustrated or pissy and I would just go with it knowing that we are making steady progress. My trainer also decided that we would try using a bit. When I first got Secret they were riding her in a plain stainless O-ring jointed snaffle. When I rode her in that she had NO brakes. Everytime she would stick her head in the air, get it between her teeth and brace. So, to get more braking power I switched to an indian bosal. That put more nose pressure on so that she had to give at the poll and stop. After I got her brakes tuned up and working well I switched to a cross-under bridle for clearer communication while working and then to a side-pull for trails. But, no we're starting to ask for more sophisticated things in the arena that each rein needs to have its own meaning, so we decided to try putting a bit back on her. I was VERY apprehensive remembering her behavior last time and knowing she's not had a bit in her mouth in three years. So, I started with a rubber jointed snaffle.
I put it in her mouth, adjusted it, and she started chewing and looking at me like, "well... ok... if this is what you want I don't care" I just walked her a bit to let her think it over, then started with bending and backing so she could get the idea. She rode really well in it. When we started the lesson we were working on her favorite corner and FINALLY started to make some progress after my trainer told me to stand in my outside stirrup and push with my inside leg. Frankly, if she had told me that outside stirrup bit two weeks ago we could have saved everyone alot of aggravation! But at least its starting to get fixed! After doing a few circles in the corners we decided to switch her to a brass, egg butt, french link snaffle. She instantly relaxed and was REALLY working well by the end of the lesson. So well in fact that we almost got into that corner at the trot!
To round things out we worked on the canter... specifically transitions into and out of and keeping my ass in the saddle. All of which are improving! One piece seems to get better every time I ride... I just may take few weeks to put all the pieces together.
Overall my seat was better today, my hands are better but need work at the canter and forcing myself to not drop my outside hand, my legs are better if I warm up with them tied and I really felt like Secret did GREAT with the bit today.
A great lesson!

More Happy Trails!

I didn't get to ride all week! That's what I get for having a job in healthcare.... alot of late hours and long weeks.

On Saturday the saddle fitter was scheduled to come out because my trainer had said she thought my saddle was too small for my horse. But, as luck would have it, the saddle fitter said it was fine and I could save my money unless I just WANTED a new saddle. Umm... thanks but I think I'll save that $1500!

After she had watched me ride in my saddle and I had paid her, a new friend at the new barn asked if I wanted to go out on the trail with her. It was a great ride. Mostly just a walk, but we explored alot more of the trails than I had been able to up until now. Secret actually broke a sweat a little!

Don't get much more free than that!

Happy Trails!

Today my husband wanted to trail ride with me! That's is highly unusual so I jump at the opportunity everytime he asks. Besides that, Secret needed to get out on the trail to avoid arena burn out.

So, I asked the girls at the barn if there was a lesson horse he could ride. "Sure!" they said, "Take Dixie, she's great!" Then I spent half an hour catching her... heffer! Then she laid her ears back and played the fool when I cinched her up. So, I decided to get on her first to make sure she wouldn't kill him as I've gotten rather attached to him. She was GREAT under saddle. I'd heard about horses like that and now I will thank god every day that I don't own one!

During all of this, my husband is laughing at me and telling me that HE is obviously the better horseman as he just walked up to Secret, put her halter on, and walked her quietly to the barn.

Well we finally got out onto the trail and my husband only walks (no cantering, no trotting), which was fine on the way out, but once they figured out we were on the way back to the barn, Secret and I had to have a moment about our speed. She calmed down pretty quickly though.

Overall it was a short but relaxing ride.

A lack of communication

I was really looking forward to my lesson today... even though it's REALLY cold out for Atlanta. I got to the barn, saddled up, and lunged her to check that limp. It was there, but not as bad as Wednesday and she warmed out of it a bit. So I thought we were in for a great lesson!

Not so much... as it turns out. There were alot of great things about it! My legs are in much better position, Secret is trotting the ground poles in a much better rhythm, I'm not overthinking them and letting her figure it out, my two-point is much better, and we are finally learning to lengthen stride at the walk/trot to a more forward gait. The monkey wrench in the gears was that there was one corner that I just couldn't get her into. So my trainer tells me to stop dropping my outside hand, to push with my inside leg, and pick up my inside hand. I kinda got the last two, but I'm dropping my outside hand. AND, Secret never did get into that corner, although my trainer assures me that we got closer each time. It just frustrated me SO much! She is so good and she tries so hard that I just HATE it when I can't communicate what I want clearly. Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!

So, the things I have to work on this week: keeping my reins even, not dropping my hands around turns, and looking UP. Here we go!

Bump in the road.

Literally... that's what it felt like at the trot last night.

I went out after work to ride. I had this great plan for working on gait cadence, transitions, and freeing her movement. I get on, I ask for the trot, and she's off in the back! Poor thing.

She's had a slight limp in her back left for awhile now. I had the vet look at her and we both think its her hock, but can't really nail it down. It doesn't really seem to bother her too much. Even last night she didn't refuse to trot or canter or anything that I asked of her. But, I could feel that she was off. The vet had recommended putting front shoes on her, which I've done and that's seemed to really help alot. But, she's two weeks overdue for a new set due to some unavoidable circumstances and I think that may be contributing. I think she's also a bit sore because she hasn't been ridden this consistently in a year or so.

I gave her some bute when I put her away last night and I'm going to rest her today and tomorrow so that hopefully she will be good for our lesson on Saturday.

Sometimes you have to go through some ugly stuff to get to the good stuff.

The title is a Clinton Anderson quote and I take no credit for it!

But, I will say that its very true. After a very ugly lesson on Sunday, I was determined to work on some stuff on Monday (especially since it was a holiday!). It was pretty quiet at the barn and I had the arena to myself so I set up my ground poles then went to get my horse. After tacking up I lunged her to look for any soreness from the day before then I worked with her on side-passing again before mounting up.

During the exercise we worked on my posting, my two-point, the ground poles, tight corners, and side-passing.
--> There is not a whole of progress on the posting front, but I think my legs are slowly getting better. It's just going to be a slow process.
--> My two-point came a little easier than the day before though its still not pretty.
--> The ground-pole exercise saw alot of progress. Secret figured out alot quicker where to put her feet so she could trot through, I was able to reliquish some control and trying to micro-manage every step, I was able to keep my eyes up and ahead, and overall the two of us were looking pretty good over those poles towards the end!
--> The tight corners still need ALOT of work, I'm thinking we may have to put some cones down.
--> The side-passing surprised the hell out of me. This was the first time we'd tried it from the saddle. I took her back to the same wall where I'd asked on the ground, I put my leg on and laid the rein on her neck and, once again, that heffer side-passed like it was no big deal! Meanwhile I was jumping up and down screeching on the inside.

Once again, there remains alot to work on, but with progress and positive reinforcement like that it really motivates me to put in the extra effort to ride after work during the week. I'm actually excited about schooling my horse again and it feels great!

What happens when you don't ride between lessons.

So, along comes Sunday and my lesson and I STILL haven't ridden since the last one. My trainer calls and says she wants 6-8 ground poles in the arena to use during the lesson. Well, we had had an ice-storm the week before and the ground is still slick. So I have to move the ground poles from the outdoor arena to the covered arena. This sounds simple enough, but after I had moved four of them it proved to me alot more work than I had anticipated. There I am again, standing in the arena panting for breath trying to find the energy to groom and tack my horse. Not a good omen.

Fortunately for me, a little girl taking her lesson ahead of me arrived 30 minutes late and started her lesson 45 minutes late. So, when my trainer arrived and I wasn't ready, I blamed the 7yr old! :-) It also bought me 30 minutes to catch my breath!

When I first started taking lessons and was riding school horses I had done some ground pole work. BUT, my horse, my green horse, had never laid eyes on such before. Being the trail horse that she is, she wasn't afraid and was more than happy to walk over them. It wasn't until she had to trot over them that there turned out be a problem. Baby girl didn't know where to put her feet!

Then, with her starting and stopping and stumbling it became even harder for me to post. I also have a control problem, so my trainer was hoarse from yelling at me to look ahead and not down at the poles. As if all that weren't enough, then she wanted me to work on my two-point position. That was going OK, not great just OK, until she told me that my abdominal muscles should hold my body upright and not my spine. Ummmm... just FYI, a horse trainer should not argue muscle physiology with a muscle physiologist. God knows I love my trainer and she is a scary smart woman. She knows her horses and understands alot of the physics behind the movement. BUT, when it comes to muscle physiology I will always have a deeper understanding because I spent six years of my life getting a damn PhD! So, I get what she's trying to tell me, but in the heat of the moment I really need a better metaphor, otherwise the scientist in me rears its ugly head.

So, up-side of this lesson is that I know what two-point is supposed to fee like so I can practice it, my horse gets that she needs to figure out the poles on her own and is happily working on it, and my legs were better than last time. The down-side, I really NEED to PRACTICE two-point even though I feel silly doing it, I still need to work on my legs, and I need to make a committment to riding between lessons. Again, another successful lesson!

Side-passing.... the adventure!

My first lesson was on a Saturday and my next one was scheduled for the following Sunday. By the next Saturday, I still hadn't ridden to practice anything we had worked on. My farrier was coming to I decided that I would only do ground work while I waited for him to show up because I didn't want him to get there and then have to wait while I untacked.

I lunged her for a bit doing some "natural horsemanship" techniques... alot of directional changes, transitioning between all three gaits, sending her between me and a scary object (a nippy austrailian shepherd), etc. Then I decided it was time we learned something new. It was no coincidence that I had watched Clinton Anderson on RFD-TV the day before as he was demonstrating teaching a horse to side-pass. I had paid close attention and was really to follow his instructions properly.

I brought her up so that she was right up against and facing the fence. Then I used my hands to move her front end over, then I used the stick to ask her to move her back end over. Now, this didn't exactly come out of nowhere! We've done alot of yeilding of the hind quarters with the stick and she does it beautifully. But, this time she kept sitting down on her haunches and popping her front end up. The more pressure I put on with the stick, the deeper she'd sit. Well, now I'm scratching my head thinking, "Why is she acting stupid?" and she's staring at me like, "I'm trying! Stop hitting me!" Then it hits me! She's gonna jump this fence! Well, she was gonna try... but she is too close and the fence is too tall and I've got her on a short lead so it's gonna be a disaster!

So, I take the coward's way out. I back her off the fence and I find an actual WALL that she couldn't jump if she had wings. Then, instead of giving her indirect pressure by waving the stick, I laid the stick against her girth-line and the lead rope on her neck like a rein and clucked to her. That heffer side passed down that wall like she'd been doing it her whole life! Not exactly Clinton's method... but I've been a scientist long enough to know if it ain't broke, don't fix it! I did, however, take Clinton's advice to stop when you feel like you want to do more. So, I ended right there on a good note (I did do both sides though).

Back in the Saddle

For reasons that I will never be able to explain, I purchased my first horse while in graduate school. As if this wasn't bad enough, said horse was a 3yr old QH/Arab. Fortunately, I got lucky with her because she has been dead quiet since day 1. Unfortunately, being a graduate student I obviously had no money and boarding was a nightmare. I spent my first three years with her at two "barns" that were basically in someone's back yard. This meant no arena to work or school my young horse in, so we've spent three years riding on relatively flat pieces of pasture -- I would not recommend this to any one.

Then, FINALLY, I graduated. I got a fellowship and, although I am still incredibly poor, can now afford to board her at a nice place with an arena (TWO in fact, one with cover and lights!). So I am back on the lesson schedule and back in the saddle. What follows (hopefully) is a diary of working with a now 6yr old, and still green, mare and a 27yr old, and still green, rider. This should be fun!

So, our first lesson at the new place was basically me trying to post again. Since I had been doing almost exclusively trail riding for months, I had let my stirrups WAY WAY down to be more comfortable on long trail rides. The result of that, as it turns out, is that my seat developed beautifully but my legs are now way out in front like a chair seat. UGH! So, there I am trotting around the arena with my legs flapping almost uncontrollably (and probably very comically to anyone watching) and panting for breath. My horse, who was also panting for breath, was too busy looking around at all the new surroundings and activities to be bothered to trot a straight line.

After about 45 minutes of berating me for how awful my legs are, my trainer suggests that we let out the stirrups and check out the canter. A year ago that statement would have scared the bejeezus outta me. But, in the intervening time I had pulled a trick on my trainer... and myself. I had gotten used to riding with really long stirrups and cantering down a twisty trail, dodging trees. So I let my stirrups out, asked for the canter, and off we went! My mare on the correct lead and me with my legs back and my hands down. My trainer's jaw it the dirt and her eyes were about as big as dinner plates. Kinda surprised me too, but there it was nonetheless.

The up-side of this lesson was that at the canter my previously, grossly unbalanced mare, who loved nothing better than to cross-fire, was able to pick up the correct lead reliably in both directions and I was able to actually keep my back-side in the saddle and not yank on her face. The down-side of this lesson was that the posting trot really needs work and my mare is still not really straight. So, we had some stuff to celebrate and lots to work on... a successful lesson!