"Just Get on and RIDE!!!"

I can still remember the days when I used to come home and talk about my frustrations with the horses and my family would listen politely, but never really understand what the problem was. How hard can it be to sit on an animal and hold on while it takes you wherever you want to go. As if there were an on/off switch that signaled to the horse that you were ready. From there, it's just a simple kick to go and a pull on the reins to stop, right?.

Seems like I've spent the last 20 years trying to do everything to avoid those exact things. And while that is going well, it's only occured to me recently that just that act of bringing my horse out and saddling her up is not a guarantee that SHE is ready to go. We as humans forget that they are living, breathing creatures with emotions, good days and bad days. They are effected by the weather, their feet, their joints and muscles aching, the cold air, the wind blowing, female hormones and most of all they are effected by how they are being treated at the very moment you enter their day.

How many times have you seen someone just hop on their horse and expect today to be just like any other day. Chances are if they do the same monotous things with the horse, it will be. If you ride around an arena at a walk and then a trot, not asking your horse to maintain speed or gait, not turning your horse at a particular spot, not asking your horse to bend around an object and maintain the shape and size of a circle for example, then your expectations will be pretty low and your horse's performance will remain at the same low level. In order to remain interested in horsemanship and riding, I look at something new at least once a week. Being the owner of a rental service that has hundreds of DVDs to choose from, this is not difficult. But, now a days, there is so much information, on TV, in magazines, at expos, clinics AND DVDs, that there is no excuse for wandering around aimlessly with your horse or using the same tired old techniques from the trainers who haven't changed their routine for over a decade.

It seems that even with the wealth of information out there, we still see people who believe that if the horse's head is down and they are going around and around quietly, then they must be well trained. I believe that if you work with someone who is asking to be paid for their knowledge and they do the same thing over and over with your horse, then you should look elsewhere for help. Especially, if you cannot duplicate their results without using spurs to go, severe bits or tie downs to slow or stop your horse and even with "training" your horse does not behave well on the ground.

I can honestly say that today I was very careful about keeping my excitable mare calm from the moment I asked her to stand still as I mounted to the walk back to the stables from our ride in the pasture. I know now when my patience is lacking and I stop and regroup. It saves us from fighting and she remembers the experience the next day. I keep harping on the emotional state of the horse, but since I've begun paying attention to it more, I've seem a dramatic improvement in my horse. With her calm, it gives me a chance to pay attention to my riding, my position, my legs, my balance, all of the things that were impossible to do with her racing off in a fit of anxiety, the two of us locked in mortal combat, or so it seemed.

Now, I don't share all the details with my family when it comes to the horses and all they know is that I'm out at the barn again, riding my horses. When I ride with them (they're usually on bikes), they notice how calm and well behaved my "nervous" horse is and they take for granted that I took their advice to "just get on and ride!"