Up in Smoke

It's kind of hard to write a lot when my only goals with my horse are "have fun every day" and "enjoy what a special lady she is" because I guess it just sounds like bragging? And sort of a weird overshare where it's like "I've legitimately never had a bad ride on this horse/she always gives me 100%/she literally whinnies to me when I show up" where you're just like STFU already gross. 

did i buy a stunning mohair breastcollar and matching headstall
obviously yes

It's great though, so there's that. 

We are still working on things. The barn we're at has access into thousands of acres of public land and to get there, we have to ride past a couple pastures with horses in them (much snort! very gallop!) next to a road that isn't "busy" but does have large vehicles going fast periodically (and I'm terrified of traffic). We did it with a friend earlier this year and while zb is 100% unconcerned with traffic and only mildly interested in the gallop-y horses, it HIGHLIGHTED how I've just been passenger princess-ing around on my lovely horse and not really riding, if that makes sense.

look how cute with her new bestie tho

Like I never take charge bc we're just toodling around but then when I needed to provide some leadership, I was not prepared.

The time to work through those things is not on a 15' wide strip of road next to a semi hitting the jake brake while your friends gallop and snort. 

And also. As a seasoned adult ammy, my interest in just flooding both of us like that is near zero. Actually lower than zero. Hard pass.

This year then, I've been attacking all of it in bite size pieces. 

hi it's smokey here

First: ZB lived at the same barn with the same friends for 6 years and then made a big move. She looked/acted FINE but let's be smart about stomach issues. Put her on a loading dose of Gut-X.

looking good

Second: my total inability to brain while traffic was 90% of the issue. I don't want or expect to be ok with traffic but I need to not completely melt down so I can provide my horse leadership. Spent the rest of the spring/early summer hand grazing next to the road and letting myself breathe and my heartrate slow while my horse continued to DGAF about anything but noms. 

pardon the spring fuzzies

Third: in order to provide leadership at critical moments, I need to build trust with my horse. She needs to know that I'm taking care of us and I need to know that her response isn't going to put us in harm's way. The thing with having a horse who's like ZB is that there's not a lot of reason to push these issues and then you're under stress like "oh damn there's a huge fucking training hole here that's completely my fault". 

never gonna give this up

That's what we've been attacking this year.

And when I say attacking, I mean using the following principles:

1) I need to be a person my horse wants to hang out with. Not every day is a training day. Some days are feed my horse a treat days. All days clear headed. If I'm not in a place to provide calm, collected leadership, I DON'T. That means I don't ride or we toodle bareback or we just walk around and look at the sunset. I spend time grooming/hanging out and bonding and understand that is fully as important as time spent in the saddle for both of us. 

we are always playing legos

2) Good boundaries start on the ground. I'm big on this regardless but from standing when I'm working on her to doing some basic yielding before I get on, it's important that we are aware of each other in space and I am providing direction. 

also her first set of fly boots

3) I need to be actively engaged in decision making on board. That doesn't mean bullying my horse or mindlessly drilling but it does mean having a plan, providing direction, evaluating responses, and constantly staying in the moment with my horse. 

i remembered i have a pivo the other day

I've picked a big goal for us to work towards (flying changes, if you must know) (also solo trail riding), so I'm targeting those goals in a thoughtful, step by step manner. I'm not just going to be like LETS GO FLYING CHANGE but instead break it down:

proof i own pants

Goal: flying change

Skill needed: balanced, forward canter on both leads

Skill needed: prompt responses to cues under saddle

Skill needed: ability to move zb's balance forward and back in motion in all gaits

Skill needed: consistent, balanced transitions through and between all gaits.

And so on. 

did i mention sometimes it's so smokey we can't breathe and only walk

The best part of the journey is enjoying every step.

Which we do. 

two cool kids