Silver1
26th Jan 2006, 11:34 PM
I've decided to move her updates to the natural horsemanship section, if no one minds, because it really is an update on how we're progressing 'naturally'. Especially considering she's barefoot, bitless, and teaching ME to relax! :D
I have to say this before I give you the update, the major proof that natural horsemanship really works is when your horse is as gung-ho about riding as you are. Yesterday Mear got out of a lungeing session because when I got out the cavesson we've been using for her trail-rides, she recognized it and came over to shove her nose right in. I couldn't bare the idea of crushing her hopes of a ride with making her run in circles for half an hour instead, so we did a tiny bit of groundwork and then she found herself with a pile of hay in front of her and almost no work. Today was a make-up day of sorts, she was exuding thoughts about a trail ride, and I guess the bug caught me too, because I kept visualizing the perfect trail-ride ever all the rest of the day, especially in math class when there was nothing else to think about.
Today Mear was positively impatient and we had to have a few patience lessons before the saddle was on and the cavesson. She stood like a rock while I got on, which is hard for her to do when she is excited, and she was very excited! I wanted to try exploring in a different direction today, but with her excitement level, I changed my mind and decided to go down to the arena, half a mile away, and turn her loose. It was a very exciting ride! She had a couple of spooks where things scared her and she leaped sideways, but my saddle makes me feel very secure and frankly, I felt good and pretty relaxed, even when she spooked. We had a bit of trouble keeping to a walk going down a steep hill, and pretty much all the way there I just worked on keeping her straight and to a good pace.
When we finally got there, I turned her loose in the arena and let her just be a horse, and she put on a spectacular display for us! She bucked, ran, practiced figure eights and circles all on her own. (Oddly enough, she was practicing everything I'd been schooling her in the last week, at higher speeds.) I knew she really needed to blow some steam, because no matter how good a horse is, moving, learning new things, and restricted movement (she has full access to two paddocks but one is on a hill so you can't really run in it and the other is too small to really go wild.) is emotionally stressful and Mear's only way of letting things out is to pretend she's a bronco.
All the way back she was very relaxed, lifting her back up, driving with her hindquarters, soft in the...nose? What do you call being soft in the face with a bitless bridle? Relaxed, stretching into the contact aaannddd....we achieved bend! I've been schooling her every day I can on her leg cues, and while she still gets confused, she definately put in an extra effort today on the trail. We managed two very nice turns with out using reins to make it more clear, and we managed to work through her reluctance to go home with no hurt feelings on either side.
All total its the longest ride I've had on her all at once, and we both had a great time! If we continue doing this well, and if I can learn to sit the trot with any degree of balance...I think we might be able to survive a show together with out too much disaster! I'm not a showing person, but these daily rides have really been giving me a lot of confidence and faith in Mear, I think maybe we could do it, if I can just teach her to calm down her booming trot to my level, at least until I'm ready for it.
I have to say this before I give you the update, the major proof that natural horsemanship really works is when your horse is as gung-ho about riding as you are. Yesterday Mear got out of a lungeing session because when I got out the cavesson we've been using for her trail-rides, she recognized it and came over to shove her nose right in. I couldn't bare the idea of crushing her hopes of a ride with making her run in circles for half an hour instead, so we did a tiny bit of groundwork and then she found herself with a pile of hay in front of her and almost no work. Today was a make-up day of sorts, she was exuding thoughts about a trail ride, and I guess the bug caught me too, because I kept visualizing the perfect trail-ride ever all the rest of the day, especially in math class when there was nothing else to think about.
Today Mear was positively impatient and we had to have a few patience lessons before the saddle was on and the cavesson. She stood like a rock while I got on, which is hard for her to do when she is excited, and she was very excited! I wanted to try exploring in a different direction today, but with her excitement level, I changed my mind and decided to go down to the arena, half a mile away, and turn her loose. It was a very exciting ride! She had a couple of spooks where things scared her and she leaped sideways, but my saddle makes me feel very secure and frankly, I felt good and pretty relaxed, even when she spooked. We had a bit of trouble keeping to a walk going down a steep hill, and pretty much all the way there I just worked on keeping her straight and to a good pace.
When we finally got there, I turned her loose in the arena and let her just be a horse, and she put on a spectacular display for us! She bucked, ran, practiced figure eights and circles all on her own. (Oddly enough, she was practicing everything I'd been schooling her in the last week, at higher speeds.) I knew she really needed to blow some steam, because no matter how good a horse is, moving, learning new things, and restricted movement (she has full access to two paddocks but one is on a hill so you can't really run in it and the other is too small to really go wild.) is emotionally stressful and Mear's only way of letting things out is to pretend she's a bronco.
All the way back she was very relaxed, lifting her back up, driving with her hindquarters, soft in the...nose? What do you call being soft in the face with a bitless bridle? Relaxed, stretching into the contact aaannddd....we achieved bend! I've been schooling her every day I can on her leg cues, and while she still gets confused, she definately put in an extra effort today on the trail. We managed two very nice turns with out using reins to make it more clear, and we managed to work through her reluctance to go home with no hurt feelings on either side.
All total its the longest ride I've had on her all at once, and we both had a great time! If we continue doing this well, and if I can learn to sit the trot with any degree of balance...I think we might be able to survive a show together with out too much disaster! I'm not a showing person, but these daily rides have really been giving me a lot of confidence and faith in Mear, I think maybe we could do it, if I can just teach her to calm down her booming trot to my level, at least until I'm ready for it.