Pedro
22nd Jan 2001, 10:52 AM
Hi everyone, hope you have had a nice weekend!
Wednesday, 17 January
Today I realized that some of the best lessons to be learned about horses might be learned on the ground. The filly Safira taught me a very important lesson tonight, one I'm not going to forget anytime soon :-).
The lesson itself was rather unremarkable. Three of us: me, André and another student, riding Astérix, Paloma and Jubileu. Francisco wanted us to keep a steady fast rhythm to the lesson, so we had (horses and riders) quite a workout. The student on Juby had some difficulties keeping up in trot, but she got her revenge when it came time to canter.
Astérix was helpful for most of the lesson, with the marked exception of an annoying little habit or trick of his. When posting, he would brush along the length of the arena, invariably catching my foot on the railings, making me lose both the stirrup and my balance. Of course the problem was of my own making for not having the finesse to drift him away from the railings without us ending too much on the inside. Paloma gave André some difficulties, she hates working to the right and so, when the two of them were in front, she tried several time to turn around. She managed to catch André unprepared for three times, but after he had thwarted her intentions a couple of times, she just dropped the attempts.
Just like last time I rode Astérix, cantering proved to be a problem. When time came for it I happened to be in front of the class, but for as much as I gave Astérix the best canter aids I could, he just wouldn't get out of trot. After two circles around the arena without any results, we went back to a walk, while Francisco went over the aids and gave a little moral-boosting speech. The second try was not going any better, with both me and André unable to get our mounts to canter, when Juby saved the day! The other student got Juby inside, asked him to canter, rode past us and dragged us out of our misery :D. Even with the attraction of another horse in front, I only got Astérix cantering by using the same aids from the last lesson with him. I asked the canter normally, but immediately after I would tap him in the rear. That, together with the incentive of the other horses, got him going. Not the cleanest transition, but it was better than to keep squeezing him senseless or jumping up and down on his back, trying to sit a fast choppy trot.
After I got him started, the problems went away. I managed to sit comfortably, no flapping of hands or feet, no lost stirrups (OK... I lost one once but that was because he pressed my foot against the railings ;)). I was able to change speed to either catch up the others or avoid overtaking them.
So, with exception of the starting process, it was a very productive section of the lesson.
With our lesson over, and Francisco busy with another one, André and I went do some minor clean ups, mostly picking up last minute droppings and straightening the recently replaced beds. This was when I learned the important lesson I told you about.
André was busy cleaning Chérie's box, and the only other in need of some work was Safira and Boneca's double box. The two of them are placed in a larger box, divided in half by a stout, long wooden gate. The door to the box is on Boneca's side, but by opening the large gate partway you can restrain Boneca to the corner of her side and bring Safira out. For some unexplained reason (definitely a brain malfunction), I had the stupid idea of going under the gate to Safira's side to pick up a pile of droppings. Safira is already as tall as the smallest school horses, but she is still a baby. I knew she easily got excited and didn't have the ground manners of the older horses, but for some reason, I still went inside :(.
While I was cleaning up she didn't kept still, forcing me to "dance" with her to get the job done. Just as I was finishing she pinned me at the side of the box and pressed into me! She kept turning, and I found myself face first to the wall being pressed against it by her rear end! That was just as scary as it was unpleasant. If it wasn't down right painful it was because she was just leaning into me and not really pressing. I knew better then to fight back, so in the end I used the "soap technique" and slid out of that tight spot. As I was about to get out of there, she turned around and tried to give me a second dose. I was definitely not going to jump over the gate and probably startle Boneca, nor was I going to crouch and go under it, without safe space from Safira. I considered asserting myself to her, but decided against it - it was bad enough being trapped by an assertive horse, I didn't care about being trapped by an aggressive one.
My brain, that had got me in this position in the first place, was now working overtime to make up for it. In the end it came up with a decent solution. I jammed the teeth of the pitchfork at the base of the wall and leaned the end of the handle toward Safira. When she came pressing against me, she felt the unrelenting pressure of the handle's tip and backed off. That gave me the time to duck under the gate and get to Boneca's side, gently bringing the pitchfork with me.
Safira just stood there quietly looking at me. I had been a nuisance to her and she had just told me in a polite horsey way to "bugger off". I had done so, so all was fine with her. The whole situation had been a simple communication problem, but while it had not been really dangerous, it had had the potential to be so for me. I stroked her nose as a way to say "no hard feelings" (enough time had passed for her not to associate that as a reward for her actions - or for me to consider punishing her), took a deep breath, composed myself and kept on with the work as if nothing had happened.
All this taught me to respect the horses more (I was getting too cocky) and to remember that a half-tonne animal can seriously hurt you, even without trying. All those warnings about not going inside the boxes of unknown horses, and the danger of inexperienced persons handling stallions got a whole new meaning for me!
To end the day in perfection, later on Lotus gave me a painful nip - strong enough to bruise - while I was petting him. What is this? "Hurt Pedro" Day :-)?
Pedro Fortunato
Lisbon, Portugal
Wednesday, 17 January
Today I realized that some of the best lessons to be learned about horses might be learned on the ground. The filly Safira taught me a very important lesson tonight, one I'm not going to forget anytime soon :-).
The lesson itself was rather unremarkable. Three of us: me, André and another student, riding Astérix, Paloma and Jubileu. Francisco wanted us to keep a steady fast rhythm to the lesson, so we had (horses and riders) quite a workout. The student on Juby had some difficulties keeping up in trot, but she got her revenge when it came time to canter.
Astérix was helpful for most of the lesson, with the marked exception of an annoying little habit or trick of his. When posting, he would brush along the length of the arena, invariably catching my foot on the railings, making me lose both the stirrup and my balance. Of course the problem was of my own making for not having the finesse to drift him away from the railings without us ending too much on the inside. Paloma gave André some difficulties, she hates working to the right and so, when the two of them were in front, she tried several time to turn around. She managed to catch André unprepared for three times, but after he had thwarted her intentions a couple of times, she just dropped the attempts.
Just like last time I rode Astérix, cantering proved to be a problem. When time came for it I happened to be in front of the class, but for as much as I gave Astérix the best canter aids I could, he just wouldn't get out of trot. After two circles around the arena without any results, we went back to a walk, while Francisco went over the aids and gave a little moral-boosting speech. The second try was not going any better, with both me and André unable to get our mounts to canter, when Juby saved the day! The other student got Juby inside, asked him to canter, rode past us and dragged us out of our misery :D. Even with the attraction of another horse in front, I only got Astérix cantering by using the same aids from the last lesson with him. I asked the canter normally, but immediately after I would tap him in the rear. That, together with the incentive of the other horses, got him going. Not the cleanest transition, but it was better than to keep squeezing him senseless or jumping up and down on his back, trying to sit a fast choppy trot.
After I got him started, the problems went away. I managed to sit comfortably, no flapping of hands or feet, no lost stirrups (OK... I lost one once but that was because he pressed my foot against the railings ;)). I was able to change speed to either catch up the others or avoid overtaking them.
So, with exception of the starting process, it was a very productive section of the lesson.
With our lesson over, and Francisco busy with another one, André and I went do some minor clean ups, mostly picking up last minute droppings and straightening the recently replaced beds. This was when I learned the important lesson I told you about.
André was busy cleaning Chérie's box, and the only other in need of some work was Safira and Boneca's double box. The two of them are placed in a larger box, divided in half by a stout, long wooden gate. The door to the box is on Boneca's side, but by opening the large gate partway you can restrain Boneca to the corner of her side and bring Safira out. For some unexplained reason (definitely a brain malfunction), I had the stupid idea of going under the gate to Safira's side to pick up a pile of droppings. Safira is already as tall as the smallest school horses, but she is still a baby. I knew she easily got excited and didn't have the ground manners of the older horses, but for some reason, I still went inside :(.
While I was cleaning up she didn't kept still, forcing me to "dance" with her to get the job done. Just as I was finishing she pinned me at the side of the box and pressed into me! She kept turning, and I found myself face first to the wall being pressed against it by her rear end! That was just as scary as it was unpleasant. If it wasn't down right painful it was because she was just leaning into me and not really pressing. I knew better then to fight back, so in the end I used the "soap technique" and slid out of that tight spot. As I was about to get out of there, she turned around and tried to give me a second dose. I was definitely not going to jump over the gate and probably startle Boneca, nor was I going to crouch and go under it, without safe space from Safira. I considered asserting myself to her, but decided against it - it was bad enough being trapped by an assertive horse, I didn't care about being trapped by an aggressive one.
My brain, that had got me in this position in the first place, was now working overtime to make up for it. In the end it came up with a decent solution. I jammed the teeth of the pitchfork at the base of the wall and leaned the end of the handle toward Safira. When she came pressing against me, she felt the unrelenting pressure of the handle's tip and backed off. That gave me the time to duck under the gate and get to Boneca's side, gently bringing the pitchfork with me.
Safira just stood there quietly looking at me. I had been a nuisance to her and she had just told me in a polite horsey way to "bugger off". I had done so, so all was fine with her. The whole situation had been a simple communication problem, but while it had not been really dangerous, it had had the potential to be so for me. I stroked her nose as a way to say "no hard feelings" (enough time had passed for her not to associate that as a reward for her actions - or for me to consider punishing her), took a deep breath, composed myself and kept on with the work as if nothing had happened.
All this taught me to respect the horses more (I was getting too cocky) and to remember that a half-tonne animal can seriously hurt you, even without trying. All those warnings about not going inside the boxes of unknown horses, and the danger of inexperienced persons handling stallions got a whole new meaning for me!
To end the day in perfection, later on Lotus gave me a painful nip - strong enough to bruise - while I was petting him. What is this? "Hurt Pedro" Day :-)?
Pedro Fortunato
Lisbon, Portugal