My trainer takes Mara out on the trail

Mell had a lovely ride on Mara today without incident, proving to me that Mara will perform well if convinced appropriately.


Every single time Mara started to freeze up/spook, Mell required Mara to perform a leg yield bent away from the scary object (exposing her hip/belly to the scary thing, putting her in the most vulnerable position to the predator).

Here is the video of Mell riding Mara past the shepherd's house.

When Mara would stop, Mell would tap her with her heels until she gave in.  (When I try this it doesn't usually work, Mara just stands there, ignoring me. Eryn had the same issue I did, Mara ignored the tapping heels on her sides and refused to budge. I believe the memory of us both attempting to force forward movement is going to take a long time to fade.)

Mell agrees that Mara is looking around for things to spook at, but will eventually learn that doing that causes her to perform lateral movements and it's no fun. Looking at things is allowed, but trying to avoid them is not allowed. From what I could tell, watching, Mara would get scared, look at something, and that was OK, but when Mara slowed to a stop or tried to change directions, Mell would leg yeild her. I liked how Mell would drop the reins completely on her neck after leg yielding, and put her hands on her thighs, showing her how nice it is when she's good. (And I'm thinking my wonderful saddle has something to do with Mell's level of security.....)

She said Mara is constantly trying to make her own decisions and I should always redirect her when she does. For example, make her walk on the side of the trail she doesn't want to walk on.

She says the reason Mara likes to wander off trail is the footing is not muddy or rocky. That could be. She said Mara's a little insecure in the easyboots because they slip in the mud, and that I should consider shoes or at least ride her barefoot to see if it gives her more confidence. (When I told my friend SS this, she suggested the studs for easyboots that she uses on Bintu. Drat, that means my horse will go clipity clop on pavement!)

She says Mara doesn't know how to balance on hills yet (I told her how far she's come, at first she looked at a hill and said, "Well that's plainly impossible!").

She says the saddle slides forward a bit going down steep hills, and though the saddle fits, and this is normal, it makes Mara insecure when it bumps her shoulders. (Need to get her working in a crupper! I told Mell I'll start ground work with a crupper again, and she is welcome to be the first to ride her with one on - going downhill: )

All of those issues in pink are working together to make Mara hesitant about going down the trail.

She agrees that Mara is not dangerous nor aggressive - that there are much worse horses on trails, that Mara is not "being tortured" by being in the woods, that Mara actually enjoys it (I think evidence of this is when Mara picks up branches in her mouth and carries them, or when she rips a tiny tree out of the ground and carries it.)

She said she has the benefit of only having positive experiences with Mara so far, so she had little trouble even in difficult places. I didn't warn her at all about the shepherd's house (of horrors) so Mell had the chance to expect the best from Mara, and she got it.

At one point Mara looked around the bend in a trail, very  nervous, and Mell just made her stand still, and when Mara wanted to go again, she wouldn't let her. Mara had to stand there a full minute, I counted. Mara did everything she could think of to get her rider to say OK, forward, but Mell did not. She just continually backed her up the steps she would sneak in, and then drop the reins on Mara's withers, so Mara wasn't just standing on a long rein, she was completely free.

This happened a couple times, and I was really impressed at how long Mell could get Mara to just wait, just stand there, at least, at how she persisted in backing her to that same spot where she asked. Mara would turn her face around to Mell's foot and say, "but...PLEASE?" as she does for me while ground driving, and Mell just said, "Not even long enough" and we stood there and stood there.

She showed me what happens when her rider is afraid --  Mell pretended to be afraid of a white van, and Mara slowed down to a crawl and tried to get out of going forward, even though we were literally directly in front of our field. Then Mell rode her up to her parked car which had two dogs in it, expecting the dogs to bark/attack the glass. I was amazed that someone could ride up to a potential accident, on pavement, and stay completely calm. However, the dogs had already heard her voice, and were still.

When I brought up the question of fear vs. laziness, Mell didn't use either of those words, she said, "She's being vigilant." After the ride she said, "Look how dry she is. If she was truly fearful, she'd have broken a sweat."

It's nice to have a plan. I know not to try to ride on our street (paved) where I'm nervous (she fell down on pavement), and I'm not going to ride her down that steep muddy hill if Mara feels insecure due to reasons other than her rider. I am going to ride with a plan - lots and lots of leg yielding. Logically I am predicting that the worst case scenario will be I'm leg yielding more than I'm not. We should get pretty good at it huh?





Mara approaches the shepherd's house and starts to balk. Mara very worried, and being asked to do a lateral movement, refuses.




Mell tries to get her into a leg yield but Mara is too worried.




Despite just being given time to investigate the firewood trailer at length, Mara nuzzling the wood, Mell still required a leg yield because Mara wanted to shy away even after experiencing the firewood. This is a very stressful place for Mara. Funnily everytime a car went by (or UPS truck), Mara didn't even glance.




Finishing the leg yield.




Here Mell gives Mara full freedom, after the spook, leg yield, she just drops the reins on her neck. I love this picture. Please note Mell's arms, left and right,  she has left the reins on Mara's neck and is riding hands-free. Mara's head is down, accepting the responsibility.

Mell is good, yah? Exactly the trainer I was looking for: willing to ride when I ask, eternally positive, always thinking about what the horse needs.