Spring Rides

We're deep into spring here in Missouri. We've even had a taste of some 80+ degree days. The sun is out pretty regularly and sometimes when there is a chance of rain it doesn't actually rain! But, when it does rain, it only takes a couple days of sunshine to be able to ride again. Thank the Lord, because things were getting hard there for a minute. So, both Blue and Mort are getting into more of a routine with riding. I've been getting Blue worked 2-3 days/week and Mort has been ridden 4 days/week the last few weeks. It's still not quite as much as I want, but it is spring and rain will happen. (And my durn arena can't get done until it's really, really dry and the dump trucks can drive out on the grass.) Blue's rides are pretty simple, as they are mostly for fun and fitness. We do a bunch of walk at the beginning. We do some gaiting for a little while with a few short breaks. Then we do some more walk work at the end to cool down. I play with changes of direction and speed within the gait. I collect him up and let him go on a loose rein (as long as he's stretching forward and down). He gets a treat when I bridle, mount, and after I get off so I think he's happy enough to get some fitness in. Mort's rides have been slowly chipping away at the basics to bring us both back into shape. And I'm feeling improvement on both ends. He's getting sharper with my aids and softening up that topline as he gets stronger. It's a slow process, and we won't be back to where we were last fall for a little bit, but I'm still happy. He feels sound and strong and hasn't complained about upping the work load. But in the most exciting news, I think I'm getting better. It's hard to get this old body to try new things, but Mort is the best teacher. We have always struggled with a soft connection in his left jaw. And while we're still far from even, things seem to be shaping up. I'm forcing myself to experiment with different things. We saw good improvement when I stopped staring at my hands. That is a really ingrained habit for me, so it's not fully fixed but I'm trying. Obviously, every instructor ever tells you to look up but I suck. Part two is that in my efforts to weight my left seat bone, because Mort's crookedness throws me off to the other side, I just started leaning that way and collapsing the left side of my body. Weirdly, that was not the answer. Now I focus on it at the walk and maintain it in the upward transition. It's a lot easier for me to feel and keep, rather than try to find again. Of course, I'll want to get better at finding it in case it gets lost, but this is a start to help develop the feel at least. Part three is my darn left hand. It is definitely part of the culprit of Mort's left jaw problems. Though at this point, I'm not really sure which came first--chicken or egg. But, I get stuck in a rut of trying to soften and coerce him to go where I want by opening my left hand (no wrong) and positioning it down (wrong). So I get an almost straight elbow on that side and then just have my hand and wrist to work with. But the really hard part is that it FEELS like my hands are even, in spite of my left hand being lower than my right. I'm not sure why this didn't click earlier in life, but it clicked in yesterday's ride. I basically have to ride in a way that feels like my left hand is an inch or two above my right (it's not, my brain is just dumb). I got some amazing connection to the left after I figured that out. Mort was probably so relieved for me to finally understand. It will take a really long time for that to become habit and feel normal, but hopefully I can keep it up. While I hate that I didn't ride nearly as much this winter as I had hoped, there is always something positive about coming back to the basics. Not only does Mort's training improve because strong basics are the building blocks for everything. But I get to improve by experimenting with myself. Mort lets me know when I finally get it right by making things immediately easier. He would really make a great school horse for a more intermediate/advanced rider. He's as honest as the day is long. He'll tell on you for doing things wrong, but he'll immediately show off when you do things correctly. So for now we have a lot of transitions. Lots of changes of direction. Lots of bend and counter bend. Lots of stretching down. Some leg yields. A little bit of shoulder-in. I'm playing with more lateral work at the walk and I hope that comes back quickly in the other gaits as well. Oh, and we have a lesson scheduled this weekend, weather permitting! FINALLY.