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Monday, February 24, 2014

Progress


Calm and classy
Let's just say it's been a rough few weeks in my world. When I found the time to go for a ride on C-rage,, I was so overwhelmed that I was basically non-functioning. We'd cruise around and he would be very good, but we weren't accomplishing anything.


I took his stunning lunging picture last week and I realized that I wanted that same balance and cadence under saddle.


So I rode a little better.

 And Redheadlins took video.



I appreciated the time she put in to it, and I decided that I wanted to take it up another level. In the video, I just see a horse that could do so much better and a rider who's ineffective. 

Dat face doh
I wanted to cheat and sneak in a trainer ride so I could still just cruise around while he's even more perfect, but the universe foiled my plan.

Instead, I found myself hopping on in arena traffic. He came out a little snarky and even gave a buck when I tapped him behind my leg with my whip. C-rage for sure!

We both took that as incentive. I rode him forward into a steady contact and reinforced my leg with my whip to get him more responsive. We cantered before we trotted to get his back loose.

Every stride, I asked myself, "What about this ride is different because I am in the irons?"

Making a difference
If he got stiff or rushed or fell behind my leg, I would make a change. We circled and did sepentines. We were both actively engaged in the ride.

He did some of his best work ever. Period. Flatwork is so ridiculously easy for this horse.

We wrapped up our ride with a little hack around the field.

When I got off, I was in a much better place mentally. Life will spin out of control anytime it feels like it, but I can take my little corner and actively make it better. With Courage, I don't have to settle for the status quo. Why just let him be my respite when together we can add just a little bit of relaxation and control?

I don't know what I'd do without my little man.

15 comments:

  1. It's so funny how much better our darn horses go when we're mentally engaged every step of the ride. I had one of those realizations on this weekend, too.

    Love the video clips. C-Rage always has such a sweet expression. :)

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  2. I had one of those rides this weekend too... must be something in the air. I just hate that I have to get super frustrated and self-loathe before I actually engage myself in a ride.... Grr.

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  3. I think he's really starting to fill out and look fantastic, you're doing a great job with him. I know things are tough but you're doing a great job

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  4. He's so cute!! Love that saddle, numnah and breastplate. Just beautiful :)

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  5. I always find peace at the barn. It's one of the (many) things I love about it!

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  6. He is growing up so much. Well done on the engaged ride. It's hard to stay focused when life gets niggly so well done for getting it done

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  7. What would any of us do without our horses? It's amazinf what a good ride will do for the psyche!

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  8. Oh Papa. He is good at all the things.

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  9. He looks like such a nice horse! I think having those kinds of rides son that we become more determined is a good thing. It's also so nice to have a horse that can make you feel better about life in general. They definitely help the healing process.

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  10. Yay for things coming together, we really are our own worst enemies when it comes to productivity or lack thereof.
    I am delighted it went so well & of course Courage looks fab as always! I adore the choc & teal saddle pad! ♡

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  11. Good for you! I had a coach who always said- "each practice you either get better or you get worse. There's no such thing as staying the same." It makes sense when you think of "getting worse" as not making any progress despite putting in more time. I've tried to apply that mentality to my rides, but sometime it's hard not to cruise around on autopilot.

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  12. Oh, yay! Glad I could spotlight such an awesome horse.
    http://paolashorseblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/stories-from-off-track-aimee-and-courage.html

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  13. hugs to you, hope you are feeling better.

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  14. They give back what we put in, and then some. But we do have to put in. Glad you got such immediate results - he really is a great horse. =)

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  15. I'm sorry things have been so hard for you lately, and I'm glad you have Courage to give you something to work on proactively.

    Also, I've found that it is very difficult to get horses to move as well lunging as they do at liberty, and to move under saddle as well as they do on the lunge line. It all comes down to balance, I think. The more we interfere with their balance, the more they have to compensate, which decreases the quality of the movement. That's why a horse with a balanced rider is just gonna look better than a horse with an unbalanced rider. My trainer recommends watching your horse run around in the pasture to get a sense of how he moves on his own -- that can tell you a lot about how you want to ride him.

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