Hobby Horse Blog Hop 11: Teach Me!

Thank you for putting up with me last week. I was having a no good, terrible, very bad tech day. My iPad doesn't particularly care to do Blogger, and then the hotel computer was so, very, very sssssslowwwwww. I guess I've become spoiled with having a fairly new computer that does everything with enough speed that I don't usually have to drum my fingers, swivel around in my chair watching people as they tromp through the hotel lobby, file my finger nails, watch the traffic out in the street. Yeah... I have a tendency towards ADHD!
But, I'm home now. I've had a great week with my family, including the fuzzy children. I haven't ridden because my tail bone is still very sore. It does seem to be a bit better, but I don't want to push it. I've made the horses do some round pen work and I've lunged them on a slight hill to make them work a bit harder. 

Today I put some empty feed bags in the round pen - oh horrors! But, the boys finally got where they would stomp on them as they trotted around. 


So, welcome to the Blog Hop! It's time to find out more about each other.

I hope you can join in the fun.

In case you are new... or as a reminder:

Each week I'll post two or three prompts. 

Write about one or respond to all.

Or, just link your blog to mine if you

care to share something else about yourself.

Most importantly,

complete your blog post (or comment) by asking a question of us.

I am really enjoying answering your questions,

and look forward to seeing other responses, too.

I think it's a great way to have a conversation of sorts!

Link your post to the Hobby Horse Blog Hop

by using the Linky Tool below.

Click where indicated, just after it says

"You are next...."

Or...

Leave a comment with the answer(s) to the

questions(s) on my blog, down below.

Visit other participating blogs on the list

and respond to their questions in your comments on their pages.

Hobby Horse Blog Hop Prompts - Week 11:

1. Imagine that you are in an arena (or in some other training situation) and an instructor is talking to you. What is it that he/she reminds you to do?

2. Tell about an "Aha!" moment when it all came together and you felt absolutely, positively, button-bursting happy and proud.

3. What event or activity are you looking forward to?

My answers:

1. My instructors are always telling gently reminding me to put the back pockets of my jeans on the saddle and pull my belly button to my backbone! I tend to arch my back and thus I don't offer the horse any softness. 

2. My most recent 'Aha!' moment was at the winter clinic with Brent Winston. He helped me truly understand how to control Pippin with my body and seat. It is because of Brent that I can now ride Pippin on a looped rein and transition up or down in gait. I would never have thought I could do that. 

3. The sheep dog association is having another fun day soon. We'll be taking Tucker. I can't wait to see how he does with his second exposure to sheep. 

Since I have already asked you three questions, I won't ask another. But, I can't wait to read your responses and respond to your questions!

In Love - Heck, Yeah!

I have been so busy with the project house that the boys have had little saddle time. But....when I have ridden them they have been so incredibly wonderful. It makes my heart sing!! I think part a lot of my success is a due to a series of lessons I've taken with some other ladies. We have been practicing foundational work at a facility that trains for Versatility Ranch Horse competition. Yeah, laugh. I do! Can't you see Doc trying to cut a cow? Doc would shuffle to the left about 3 minutes after the cow had left the area! Pippin would take one look at the cow and you'd see me in the next county....still moving as fast as Pippin's little legs could carry him! Pippin knows that cows eat horses, and hefty, hay-fed haffies are their favorite!

Our work has focused on getting and keeping our horse's attention. Our instructor reminds us that we are the ones to tell the horses when and where to move, and how fast. Yup, I've heard it before, but some things I have to hear...over and over and over! (Especially as I get older...what, exactly, happens to our brains?!) And sometimes, I need to 'see' the theoretical in a practical application. For example, at the beginning of one class I was asking Pippin to stand so I could listen to the instructor. He wasn't interested in standing. The instructor turned to me (and I was prepared for her to snarl something about making my horse stand still) and said, "It's OK if he doesn't stand, but you have to make it your choice, not his. Go ahead and make him walk in circles. Make him back. Make him move. Faster. You can still listen to what I am saying."

We have been working on having our horses yield to our legs. You know, turns on the forehand, turns on the haunches, side pass, etc. Nothing new. I've been doing those since Pony Club days. But, for the first time in my life I have had an instructor who has focused more on my seat bones and weight distribution than on my legs. (OMG - that poor instructor has had to stare at my ample a....!)

It's taken a lot of unlearning and relearning. I've picked up some bad habits over the years and our instructor has an eagle eye - she'll catch me in a skinny minute! I found out that I 'break' my wrists and my weight needs to be rolled back. I need to 'suck my belly button into my backbone.' She is a saint. She reminds me, frequently, about my posture!

So, Pippin has been performing the required moves. He has been walking calmly, with his head down. He has been trotting - peacefully! He no longer scoots forward. He doesn't break into a fast-paced, short stepped, panic-induced trot. He has even begun to bring his head down, and we are working on breaking at the poll. He is much quieter with the bit. A lot of what I've been getting from Pippin, I realize, is due to his lovely shade of 'very green'. The lessons have given both of us some gains in confidence. I think this is another critical piece of the puzzle. I was unsure of him, and certainly he was unsure of me and the whole saddle, person-on-the-back thing.

I apologize for the terrible quality of this photo. When I pulled the camera out of my pocket the setting changed, so this is out of focus. But, through the blur you can see me petting Pippin, telling him what a great guy he is. I probably had just gotten an enthusiastic, "Heck, yeah" from the instructor. Followed by an admonishment reminder to "tell that pony what a good guy he has been!" (The left rein is looser as I am petting his neck.) I had just asked him to 'whoa' by subtly settling my weight into my stirrups and creating a 'wall' with my hands. Look at his feet, such a beautiful square stance! Look at his tail - it isn't clenched, he is relaxed! Look at his head set. OMG - he looks like a little Dala horse from Sweden! 

Don't you agree?

Inger, at Desert Canyon Living recently described these Swedish icons. I have always loved these cheerfully painted horses. Although I knew they came from Sweden, I didn't know they were named 'Dala' horses after Dalarna region in which they originated.

I have seen improvement with Doc as well, even though he hasn't gone to endured as many lessons. Doc is trotting... in round circles! That's a huge breakthrough! He will still, sometimes, try to plow the arena with his nose, but more often he has his head at an appropriate level.

So, I am falling in love, all over again! (Think Joni Mitchell music...'Help me, I think I'm falling in love again...')