Pedro
30th Mar 2001, 09:30 AM
Wednesday, 21 March
Tonight's lesson was pretty much a rehash of last Wednesday's one. I rode Mefisto again, and a good part of the lesson focused on lateral work - leg yielding and circle work. Even so, there were two new and interesting "experiences" ;). The first one came up even before the beginning of the lesson. I had gone to Mefisto's box, placed the saddle but left the girth rather loose. Bridling him was a bit of a challenge, not because of him resisting, which he didn't, but because of my incompetence. Half way through the process, with the bit and one ear in position, I had to give up and start again because I clearly was being unpleasant to him. A second try and I managed to slip it in without distressing him - and I could just kiss him for being so patient with my harsh incompetence and not resisting my efforts both the first and, even more, the second time. Finally I was able to take him to the arena where I started to check the girth, stirrups and bridle. The new mare, Lezíria, was already up and working in the arena, her rider having obviously been more competent with her tack :-). Anyway, Mefisto was showing allot of interest in Lezíria, trying to follow her with his head. The curiosity was understandable, specially if we consider that she is new to the school, and the two of them are stabled far apart from each other, to Mefisto she is still probably much of a stranger. The fact was that when I tightened the girth Mefisto shifted his weight and planted a foot squarely on top of my left one :eek:! Now, I knew better than to try to push him away only to risk having him put even more weight on that shoulder. So I just calmly grabbed his reins (that were over his head already, with my left arm passing through them for a minimum of control while I was needing both hands free) and leaning gently (I was on the near side so he was stepping on the foot closer to his head) I asked him to move forward. He took one step forward, enough to free my foot, fortunately for me we were on the arena where the soft dirt ground meant that my foot had a little leeway to sink under the weight (even if we were in the central, hardest, part of the arena). In end the situation had not been particularly stressful or painful, in fact it was the perfect drill for when it happens on hard ground - I'm an optimist at heart, right? :D
The second novelty was Mefisto's behaviour during the lesson proper. For some reason he was a little jumpy, and he spooked several times when passing next to the wall on the arena closest the passageway. That wall (as two others) is covered in a dense mesh so that there is reduced visibility outside. A couple of times I could relate his scares to a dog or person passing next to the arena. It still is weird that he would spook so easily, as he has been working in that arena, with that mesh and people going by, for a long time now. Maybe this was just the equine version of going to the theatre for a horror flick?
The first time he spooked I though he had stumbled, that was odd because we were on a smooth, relaxed trot. The second and third times were similar, nothing more that a sudden quickening of pace and an overbalance forward, but the forth time was different. This time he nearly flew sideways, he threw all his weight right and started to race sideways, trying to keep his legs under his body until he managed to rotate right and regain balance. During all this I was up on his back (half of me left behind like a cartoon) praying that whatever I was doing wouldn't disturb his balance even more, so I'd end up wearing half a ton of horse on my right leg (the fourth of that on my left foot had been enough, thank you so much!). Quite an exciting moment ;-)!
Pedro Fortunato
Lisbon, Portugal
Tonight's lesson was pretty much a rehash of last Wednesday's one. I rode Mefisto again, and a good part of the lesson focused on lateral work - leg yielding and circle work. Even so, there were two new and interesting "experiences" ;). The first one came up even before the beginning of the lesson. I had gone to Mefisto's box, placed the saddle but left the girth rather loose. Bridling him was a bit of a challenge, not because of him resisting, which he didn't, but because of my incompetence. Half way through the process, with the bit and one ear in position, I had to give up and start again because I clearly was being unpleasant to him. A second try and I managed to slip it in without distressing him - and I could just kiss him for being so patient with my harsh incompetence and not resisting my efforts both the first and, even more, the second time. Finally I was able to take him to the arena where I started to check the girth, stirrups and bridle. The new mare, Lezíria, was already up and working in the arena, her rider having obviously been more competent with her tack :-). Anyway, Mefisto was showing allot of interest in Lezíria, trying to follow her with his head. The curiosity was understandable, specially if we consider that she is new to the school, and the two of them are stabled far apart from each other, to Mefisto she is still probably much of a stranger. The fact was that when I tightened the girth Mefisto shifted his weight and planted a foot squarely on top of my left one :eek:! Now, I knew better than to try to push him away only to risk having him put even more weight on that shoulder. So I just calmly grabbed his reins (that were over his head already, with my left arm passing through them for a minimum of control while I was needing both hands free) and leaning gently (I was on the near side so he was stepping on the foot closer to his head) I asked him to move forward. He took one step forward, enough to free my foot, fortunately for me we were on the arena where the soft dirt ground meant that my foot had a little leeway to sink under the weight (even if we were in the central, hardest, part of the arena). In end the situation had not been particularly stressful or painful, in fact it was the perfect drill for when it happens on hard ground - I'm an optimist at heart, right? :D
The second novelty was Mefisto's behaviour during the lesson proper. For some reason he was a little jumpy, and he spooked several times when passing next to the wall on the arena closest the passageway. That wall (as two others) is covered in a dense mesh so that there is reduced visibility outside. A couple of times I could relate his scares to a dog or person passing next to the arena. It still is weird that he would spook so easily, as he has been working in that arena, with that mesh and people going by, for a long time now. Maybe this was just the equine version of going to the theatre for a horror flick?
The first time he spooked I though he had stumbled, that was odd because we were on a smooth, relaxed trot. The second and third times were similar, nothing more that a sudden quickening of pace and an overbalance forward, but the forth time was different. This time he nearly flew sideways, he threw all his weight right and started to race sideways, trying to keep his legs under his body until he managed to rotate right and regain balance. During all this I was up on his back (half of me left behind like a cartoon) praying that whatever I was doing wouldn't disturb his balance even more, so I'd end up wearing half a ton of horse on my right leg (the fourth of that on my left foot had been enough, thank you so much!). Quite an exciting moment ;-)!
Pedro Fortunato
Lisbon, Portugal