Relationship Status

So I started this blog with the intention of tracking my progress with taking Skye from a borderline neglected horse to realizing her potential as a great trail partner and arena horse, then when things really get rolling and improve, I get too busy to write! Aagh. Because quite a bit has been happening, I'm doing three posts in a row.

Anyway, although it has been a while since I wrote on here, partially from vacation, spending time at the barn and the pool and lolling about on my back deck with a beer in hand, I really do want to relate my progress so I can see the continuum of her training and my evolution as hopefully a better horsewoman.

Hard to believe this gorgeous girl would need to progress into being a
better horse, but we are working on it anyway.

I have been continuing to work with Sara on getting Skye in better shape. My girl seemed to have two problems under saddle. First, she didn't seem to want to give to the bit. We suspect she was just jerked around a bit before she came to me but had not really gotten the concept of the bit as a means of communication instead of "the thing that must be avoided because it jerks me around." I totally understood this, as that theory matched her behavior to a t. My reaction to that had been to give her a completely loose rein, assuming she would learn over time that I am never going to jerk her in the mouth. My soft hands are one aspect of my riding that I am particularly proud of. I was taught to ride without stirrups or reins, so leaning on them or against them has never been my problem.

However, Sara has pointed out to me that since I don't jerk on her mouth, I can teach her to trust me by making soft contact and using it as communication more than for steering. This has been excellent advice, as Skye's reaction to the bit has improved by leaps and bounds.

Skye's second problem is the hollowing of her back. Part of that is the reaction to the bit, but it is also somewhat related to lack of strength in her back. So Sara has helped me work her with side reins, over trot poles and getting her to go forward at a nice marching walk with contact, which is helping her round up at least for short periods. I also do some exercises with her to engage her hind quarters, and have taken her on a couple of trail rides, particularly on hilly terrain to help her. This is helping slowly, but we have had so damn much rain that the trail rides have been less frequent than anyone at the barn would like.

All this is to say that I am finally enjoying riding my horse. Ever since I moved to my present barn, I have been enjoying her presence and working with her, and having pride in how beautiful she is, and how well behaved on the ground. But riding her was stressful.  But now I am back to remembering why I wanted to buy her in the first place. Because she has great spirit, great potential and she's intelligent and kind. And pretty. Pretty counts for horses.

Peaceful. And pretty.

When I worked with a different trainer last summer, Skye's attitude toward me worsened. The trainer told me that was to be expected since we were making her work. Not so now. Although she has her off days, not a one has been as bad as a typical day last summer when I couldn't get her out of the pasture without a struggle with her balking every ten feet and planting, or pulling back like a mad thing, or just generally giving off an "I hate you" vibe. There were several days I cried driving away from her pasture last summer, as it was the opposite of the experience I wanted.

Now, she knows I am her person, and she likes it that way. I recently went roaming around her pasture hunting for her fly mask, and she followed along beside me every step of the way. It just filled me up. She walks up to me in the pasture, and now that she is in a different pasture, she tends to graze right across from my van. Yes, I know it's probably a coincidence, or at best a recognition of where the treat machine comes from, but I like it anyway. And Skye loves Sara. Skye watches every move she makes with a soft alert expression, never the annoyance or fear I saw with the other trainer. Sara has her own barn and website. Here it is:

http://partnershipequestriancenter.com

Best of all, I have really begun to enjoy riding her. We're still working it out, but she is getting in better shape, and is trusting me that I'm not punishing her, I'm teaching her what we can do.

Just for the record though, I still miss Reebok and the dinkies.