Patrick Swayze-Never knew how much he'd help me with my riding!

My lesson with Divine was again on the lungeline.  I saw Laurie holding the line in the arena as I headed back from my bathroom break...I always have to go right before I mount up, TMI I know.  My thought when I saw it was "I hope we get to do the relax type lesson again!"  And so we did.  She started me going the opposite way than we normally begin.  Let's see, let me think about this....we usually start going counter clockwise, the horses inside being the near side so I guess it just seems natural that we tend to start that way.  If I think about it that's probably the direction I start Willy out when I ride him.  It's something to think about, the direction of circling uses different muscles and creates different gravitational forces so I think it's a good idea to switch the one you "start out" on during a ride so as to get both sides worked when you and your horse are fresh.  To those that don't ride I'm sure you are scratching your heads here, sorry, if I can think of an equivalent in humans I would describe that here but right now I'm at a loss.  I'm sure there are tons of analogies I could use.

Anyways, Laurie had me ride in two point, and then transitioning to posting trot while trying to least affect my horses gait.  Several times she had me place my hands on my tummack, I mean stomach to feel the looseness that was needed there.  Aside from the jiggles I felt, I understood the sensation of relaxation needed in my core.  She also had me place my hands on the upper part of my rear to feel relaxation there as well.  It's amazing how when you place your hand on certain body parts you can better tell that part to relax and have that accomplished.  Alright, this has become a rather odd paragraph!  Moving on...

The posting trot work really helped me today.  The movement of the horses shoulder should be the movement that the seat follows in the upward motion of the post.  Here again comes the Patrick Swayze move, where he moved his pelvis back and forth trying to show Baby how to dance....love that movie.  This is indeed the motion needed, a tilt of the hips and pelvis forward as your rise from the seat and then move back to sit a step and rise again.  Laurie told me I needed to accentuate the break in my mid section so that my hips moved independently of my shoulders, therefore allowing my hands to be steady.  I've seen riders that look like they are using the reins to pull themselves up during the post, not good.  Really concentrating on the forward movement of the hips during the post is essential, it's not just an up and down movement; the SHAWING movement (or great now I'm incorporating Wayne's World!) is important to keep the rhythm and encourage the horse to continue at a steady pace forwards.

Well this post was not that great since I know other awesome things happened during the lesson but I didn't write down notes.  My lesson was Friday, and I headed home and took a nap that afternoon with a horrible headache I hoped to be fully rid of when I went out with friends for dinner (it never fully went away, darn it!) and I haven't attempted to write until Sunday evening....bad blogger!  I'll do better next time!!

Patrick Swayze Moves Plus More About Gaits and Gates with Willy

My riding lesson was moved to Saturday since I had to drive Steve to Denver Airport on Friday.  I rode Divine at 10am after Robin, she is another student of Laurie's.  She is quite tall, it was kind of hilarious how short I had to make my stirrups after she rode....I'm such a shorty!  Laurie had me work on the lunge line again, we worked on sitting trot and then posting trot.  Sitting trot went pretty well, I was working on relaxing my mid section and doing what we (Laurie and I) call the "Patrick Swayze move".  This move is referencing Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing and that hip motion he was so good at, drooooool,....hold on, let me take a second, mmm....sigh....okay I'm better!  This reference that came about with Ushi, Laurie and I discussing the sitting trot and Ushi mentioned a "cat sitting pulling its tail between its legs" movement; which of course caused us all some embarrassment and some hilarious laughter.....we'll not dive into that since the cat movement turned out to be much more risque then the sexy dances moves of Swayze in the 80's.  But anyways, the movement helps ones seat follow the motion of the saddle as a horse trots.  So I was trotting, doing the Patrick Swayze move and trying to keep my legs relaxed and stretched downwards to give my seat full security.  I have to mention here the immense loss to the Arabian horse world upon Swayze's death; he was an awesome horseman and a great person.  I wish I could have known him.

So we trotted around each direction then I took up the reins but stayed on the lunge line so I had some control but the security of the lunge line.  This concept worked really nicely since it seems once I work well on the lunge line at trot I tend to lose a little bit of it when 100 % on my own.  The lesson went really well!

After I untacked Divine and brought her back to her hay meal I visited the other mares in their stalls. Mystic Magic, known as Brownie, actually came up to me in her stall and let me pet her for a bit.  This was the first time she's done that, usually she doesn't seem too interested in getting love from me.  Pstar is the one who always comes up to me, her or Psylk.  Of course Sala is the boss mare so she always wants some love or carrots from me.  I enjoyed stroking Brownie's soft neck and cheek but eventually I had to head home.

Brownie (Mystic Magic)

Sunday I headed out to see Willy.  I was planning on taking him on a "trail ride" of sorts.  I got Willy and tacked him up and then mounted up to go on a nice ride in the neighborhood.  I wore jeans.  I'm not sure why, but I could barely get my leg up to the stirrup, the jeans prevented me from flexing my leg!  Never again, jodphurs are so much more comfortable to ride in!  We headed down the driveway of the stable to Meridian road.  I was going to take him down the road to Eggar and ride in that neighborhood to see how he and I did outside of a ring together.  He spooked a little at some plastic tangled up in the weeds.  He turned about and tried to head back to the stable, I calmed him down and tried to push him forward but he ended up going up the steep bank at the side of the road.  I tried to remain calm since I was a little nervous that he'd trip and fall down the bank, and subsequently on top of me.  We got down the bank, past the plastic and then made our left turn up Eggar.  I kept him at a walk for a while.  He was interested in a lot of the sights on the side of the road, a dog here, a donkey there....his ears were going every which direction.  I had to work him with my right leg a lot keep him over to the side of the road instead of the middle.  Luckily we only had three cars drive through the neighborhood.  Each was quite polite and gave us plenty of room.  Willy didn't seem too bothered by dogs running through a yard at him or sheep running around in a pasture. 

We did some trotting.  Willy trots very fast; even posting can be difficult since his stride is quite choppy.  I was having trouble with sitting the trot as well and then when I tried to bring him back to the walk, even with my alternating contact on the reins to slow him down he threw his head up in the air.  Aside from using a martingale I don't know what I can do to prevent the head tossing or to get him to slow down more fluidly and reduce the pace at the trot to something more reasonable.  I'll have to run that by Laurie, maybe she can teach me some things to help me work with him.  The ride went very well, I had a lot of fun seeing the neighborhood, I might be tempted to see what the price range is since the land is pretty horse-friendly; not that Steve and I want to sell our home any time soon but I think the next home we buy will need have acreage for our future horses.  The views were quite nice too, I could see the whole front range.  Some of the houses were very well built and well taken care of, it was a nicer neighborhood than I expected!

On the way back to the stable, I worked Willy in trot and walk transitions trying to get his gait a little more "collected" or at least slowed down to the pace of a "normal" trot.  Fast trots are just so bouncy I'd rather just go up into the canter but I'm determined to get the sitting trot down perfectly.  I'm did the Patrick Swayze move and tried to keep that image in my head when I rode; it seems to help me visualize what I need to do and release my core while in the saddle.  We neared Meridian and Willy picked up the pace but then stopped short for a second when he noticed a cute donkey approaching the fence line.  I wished Steve was with me since the donkey was so adorable he would have just died.  Steve wants a horse sure but once we get property and move our future boarded horses to it, a donkey will be the next pet to arrive.  He loves them!  Willy seemed a bit nervous at the flapping plastic again but didn't freak out quite as much as we passed this second time.  I reassured him and then praised him as we passed the evil entity.


Pyslk Noir



I rode Willy into the arena and tried to work on some circling at the sitting trot.  Willy didn't seem to want to trot, he wanted back in his pen but I was determined to at least get one round of sitting trot at a consistent gait.  We finally did a round and I felt like I wasn't bouncing too much and was really doing that "Dirty Dancing".  Then I walked Willy over to the gate and moved it open a bit, he barged right through and I rammed my left knee hard into the fence post....with a muttered curse word (I tend to have a potty mouth when in pain or fright!), I proclaimed my distaste but not at Willy, I obviously didn't have entire control over the situation.  I'll have to figure out how to open and close a gate while on horseback, never done that before and obviously I have no idea how to begin!  I gave Willy a nice grooming down and then brought him to his pen.  After I took his halter off he spent his time nibbling at his fetlocks, scratching his face with his back hoof and nipping his flank, he was an itchy boy.  Perhaps I should invest in a better fly spray?  I pet the two cute miniature ponies he shared residence with and then went back to Willy, resting my arms and head on his withers as he scratched his front leg.  I scratched his muzzle and said my goodbyes.  It was a fun day.  Lots to still learn as always, even though I've been doing the "horse thing" since I was 9, everyday there's something new.

I learned today that it's harder to keep my toes in on my left leg; something I was working on during the ride was my leg position and that leg wasn't quite as good as the other.  I learned I need to get a lesson on opening gates and perhaps what do do about Willy evading the bit by tossing his head upwards.  All in all though it was a lot of fun to get out of the riding rink.  I'll eventually expand my "trail ride" and go out towards Peyton but for now I'll keep to the neighborhoods.

Opinions of Mares

I’ve ridden many horses. Ponies, Quarter horses, Thoroughbreds, Appaloosas (I cannot even remember all the breeds and crosses!)  Obviously I've ridden Arabians now too. Love them! I’ve ridden mostly geldings and a few mares. There seems to be the opinion that mares are very testy, hormonal and act...well...“mareish”. I’ve had both sexes act up on me but my general opinion has been that I prefer geldings. Why? Cinnie was a mare in the first stable at which I rode. She would be pretty nasty when you tightened the girth, and try to reach around and bite you. The same thing occurred when you tried to mount her. I just chalked it up to being a mare or maybe mistreatment at the stable? I had no idea but I didn’t ride her that often anyways. Then again I was ten so I don't remember much about her, aside from the nippiness! I vaguely remember some mares from my various experiences riding and honestly can’t recall what I didn’t like about them. I do remember one at a trail riding company that was very sweet and had a nice trot, she was also blind in one eye and you couldn't really notice.

Perhaps I just have a propensity to like and acquire male animals? My dogs are male, my gerbil is male, I’ve had several male betas and then my goldfish that I have no idea what their actual sex is…well they “are male”. Why do I dislike my own sex, even in other species? I don’t really; I guess it’s just a stigma that society has for the females of any given species. Males are stronger and better able to perform more consistently, goes the sentiment.

My opinions for horse sex have definitely changed since riding Divine. She’s a very affectionate mare, and just like all females, a little sensitive. This can be a very positive feature though. She might have been sensitive to me brushing her rather quickly and acted accordingly….but heck, if I’m at the salon and someone is being brusque with my hair I’d be perturbed too! The sensitivity definitely comes into play while riding, she responds to subtle cues. This can be frustrating if one is still trying to iron out all the kinks in their riding, hence leading to confusion and “mare-like” behavior. Honestly this is not "mare-like" behavior, it’s a horse, which happens to be female, and it’s telling you it’s getting irritated at all the mixed messages. I’ve learned a lot from Divine, and I’m sure I’ll learn even more. She and the other horsie-gals at Laurie’s stable have made me see another side of what mares can be. Perhaps people are treating their mares the same as a gelding or stallion. A sensitive mare will act out to inform the human that they don’t said treatment. A silly human would just chalk that up to the horse being a mare and leave it at that. A good horse person would try to read the response and change how they approach the horse. As far as treatment goes I’m not discussing abuse, just mannerisms that often times the boys ignore and couldn’t care less about but that females pick up on and often react to if it’s not "proper", in their humble opinion.

My dream horse has always been a gelding (okay actually a black stallion but come on!)  Mares are coming into the picture as viable candidates and rightly so. Any mare can have hormonal imbalances just like humans that will make them act more “crazy” but that can be treated, same as in humans. In general, a horse is a horse…male or female if they work their way into my heart that’s all I ask for. I’m happy to have met Divine and the other mares. They have worked their way into my heart, that’s for sure, I feel I can easily throw out the sigma that many horse people have and just think of each horse as individual and not try to lump all mares in one stereotype and geldings in another. I’m glad to have met some really awesome mares before I buy my own horse, I feel open to either sex…but obviously stallions will always be out of the question except in my dreams!

I guess this latest blog didn’t really discuss much about my recent lesson. I worked on sitting trot and have to remember the Patrick Swayze dance moves from "Dirty Dancing" to help me follow the seat at the trot. That was a hilarious conversation on horseback with Laurie but hopefully I’ll get loosened up at the sitting trot as a result. Divine was also really easy to bridle today, my thumb was too short, so I just used my index finger to get her to open her mouth. Worked like a charm! Until next week!