I think I have finally cracked into what my mental block is with Dawn. Actually, it was one of those ‘A-ha!’ moments in my lesson this past Friday. I had just finished a canter on Dawn, that had started out as usual in a holy sh*t speed. I did my usual tactics of holding, turning with my inside rein, and praying she would slow down and make it easier on me. My coach told me to let go of the inside and turn with the outside (which was a theme all lesson, naturally) and I did. The canter became better, we came down to trot, then walk, and I honestly was so disheartened.
My wonderful coach could tell, so she started talking to me about the good and the bad that had just gone on. One of my favourite things about my coach is she doesn’t just blow smoke up my butt and tell me what I did was right, or good. She pushes me to realize I need to be better to get a better response.
I could go on and on, but the thing she said that made me really think, was I had to stop riding Dawn like she was still a baby. One of the hardest things in bringing along a horse from scratch is riding the horse you have like the horse you had. Which was definitely what made me feel better about the whole lesson.
Then I saw this on facebook, and it really inspired me to write here.
It made me feel not as alone in this as I had been. Which in turn made me want to extend that feeling as well.
I keep getting caught in the act of riding Dawn like she is still the young horse she was a couple years ago. Even my coach, who rode her when she was younger, said to me she gets where I am coming from because young Dawn did need more assertive riding. Now though, she’s over that phase and I have to trust in not only the training I have done, but that she has matured enough to understand it.
Which she has! She absolutely is more mature, more confident, and a softer ride than she used to be. My brain unfortunately seems to revert back to the times when she wasn’t.
So when we start the canter, I sub consciously take back with my hands expecting her to run off, which in turn leads to her running off because I am now catching her in the mouth. Then we round the corner at mach 10, which means to me I have to pull with my inside rein to get her around the turn for a circle. Then she leans out with her outside shoulder and keeps running now because she has no balance and I’m holding her face.
So when I put my outside leg on instead around the corner, she responds to that and goes lovely, which then leads to me relaxing my reins and her relaxing and just cantering. I’ll always have a big canter, she has a big stride, but it can be relaxed and big not tense and freight train like.
That’s my big revelation for the week, which unfortunately I haven’t been able to put to practice since Friday due to a fun cold that has me sidelined. Have I mentioned how much I hate winter?
encourageeventing.wordpress.com 