Never Trust an Engineer With a Pitchfork

Wednesday, 29 November 2000


Well, today I had a new "teacher" - Lord. He was the only of the school horses used at this phase, that I hadn't ridden yet. With a caution from Francisco about the laziness of this horse (hence his name) I led him to the arena. Carlos joined me on Montera (not Cantera or Contera, after all ).

The warnings about Lord didn't prove unfounded. Every time I wanted him to speed up or make a upwards transition, I had to use a progression of aids that didn't stop before the forth or fifth try ("We're going round and round here, why do you want me to go faster? We'll get nowhere, anyway!"). A few times I even had to use the crop at the shoulder. As if this wasn't unpleasant enough for both of us (he got the smarts, I got the guilty feelings), the turns were a mess. He would do everything to cut the turns and keep away from the corners ("You're not very smart, are you? If we cut corners we'll get there faster! So now you're not in a hurry!").

When we were in front, or there was distance enough from the other horse, I could convince him to walk to the corners. Whenever there was a bum in front I was unable to keep him focused on me and turn when I wanted him to. The problem was even worse during circles (with him trying to do ever tightening circles) or in rising trot (where I would loose control with the legs). When doing circles in rising trot... <shakes head, crawls under the table and curls up in the corner>

Francisco had told a number of times that the secret to control was in keeping the horse with impulsion. I decided to give it a try, inciting Lord forward and restraining his speed with the reins. It did help with the turns, but the circles still catch me unprepared so that all impulsion is lost before we even start.

Canter didn't prove to be much of an issue. Although the transitions were not that pretty (shoddy would be a better term), that's my own fault.

In retrospect I'd define this lesson as a tie. I had managed to get and keep Lord moving, without us falling too far behind the other horse. He had managed to retain control of the turning, doing so when and where he wanted. One out of two isn't that bad !

With our lesson finished Carlos and I went to place new beds for the school horses. A software and an electronics engineers doing manual work is bound to create havoc! By the end of it we looked like we had been rolling on the horse's bed - wood shavings all over! Our efforts at "Room service", as we called it ("Bloody mess" as the horses were bound to see it), were rewarded by Asterix and Lord with a long leak on their freshly placed beds. "You stupid! You'll have to sleep in that, you know!". Maybe it's a male thing, messing up their living quarters?

Once again it was past ten when I got home. This is becoming a habit - I nice pleasant one!


Pedro Fortunato
Lisbon, Portugal