Responsibility

Lois, the dressage trainer with whom I have recently begun working, is fond of saying that the horse is the strong partner while the rider is the smart partner. I have been trying to be both partners when I ride Sydney. Giving up the responsibility for carrying us both has been difficult; it gives me the feeling of being out of control.

When I rode Sydney on Saturday, my plan was to put into practice Lois's tips from the last lesson and return some of the responsibility. 

• For now, my reins should be loopy. I can pick up the inside rein to remind him to flex, but then I have to release. I can also pick up the outside rein for a one stride whoa! (shut him down in one stride, says Lois), but then I have to release again.
  
• Accuracy on the circle was another thing we need to work on. Lois had me really focus on where I was to hit the rail, but then I need to get off the rail. I allow Sydney to stay on the rail too long which wrecks our geometry.
• And finally, I wanted to practice sending him forward for one half of the circle and then bring him back to a slower and slower trot for the second half of the circle.

You know what they say about best laid plans. Halfway through our walk warm up, Sydney spooked at an engine noise coming from the other side of the new brick wall. I was actually delighted to have a horse with excess energy as I got to practice schooling him without pulling back.

We moved right into the icky circle where I spur his inside hindquarter to move, move, move. I wanted to give myself a standing ovation when he finally took a deep breath and gave me an ALRIGHT ALREADY drop of the head. We were back in business.

Somewhere near the end of the ride, I realized that I really liked not having to be responsible for holding him up. I work too damn hard in other parts of my life to also be doing his job in the arena. Giving him back the responsibility of maintaining the pace that I set without running off was truly liberating. When he forgot to bend, I gave him a one stride correction that said flex your neck. When he tried to speed up, I gave him a half halt that said no, stay right here.

The more consistent I was with my corrections, the more he started assuming responsibility for being the strong partner. It was a good ride that left me feeling like I had done less work. I hope Sydney felt a bit empowered afterwards; I finally gave him the chance to do his job.

And then I whacked off his mane!

A shaggy mane!

I usually pull it every few days, but I got a bit behind. The quickest thing was to just put scissors to mane. I'll start evening it out over the next few weeks by pulling.

Not much better, but at least it's finally short!