Recent ride, and a discussion about how I lead

Ani and I had another nice time in the sand ring on her side of town, and this time we did a little "par cours" together. It's fun for me to ride behind another horse in an arena, and copy everything she does. Since I don't know what they'll do next, I don't have much time for worry, and when Mag worries "hikers!" I can easily plug him back in. I had set up cones and didn't make any suggestions, but Ani used them and we copied her slaloming them at a trot.

She started having fun with it, I think, when she stopped, backed, and did a turn on the hindquarters. She said, "OK, copy that!"

She asked me to use her phone to videotape her riding Mag around at a trot for the first time. She was amazed at how lazy he is, and all I could do is apologize. I don't ride in arenas often enough to teach him go means go.

I had forgotten my new dressage whip (made in the USA!) and decided to just ride him with zero leg. Ugh, it's so hard to keep leg off a lazy horse, but when he stalled, he'd get yelled at "terr-OTT!" and thumped with my heels. Next time, whip: )

I really appreciate a free ring to ride in, even an hour away, because I owe TP almost 30Euros this month for our time spent in her lovely arena.

There's not much to say about our ride, we were there for maybe an hour and then I went home, and Mag was very, very good, walking patiently one meter behind me. He got so many cookies for his relaxed way of going.

I found this old trail on our way home, that I thought was no longer usable, but it was! Full of blackberry brambles and total mud...it led us by a solar energy farm with 6 Icelandic horses living adjacent. We really gave those horses a shock, they're not used to seeing horses take that shortcut, obviously.

I kept wondering where it would end.

Oh crap. It ended at the top of a hill where we had a steep descent to get back down onto our street.

Hiding under a layer of leaves was mudd++.

I said to Mag, "Back up, give me space!" He did, and I started my way down.

A moment later I landed on my butt, with my horse skiing behind me.

Holy crap, this is one of those moments of bad judgement that land people in hospitals.

I heard a thrashing as I struggled to my feet. By the time I was upright again, and still sliding down, I tried to look back at Mag who was lurching to his feet.

When we arrived home, I got a look at him. He had black mud on his hocks, and on one side he had mud almost all the way up to his hip. His tail was full of Beech leaves and tiny branches.

I don't know what happened, but I hope he was protecting me, trying not to crush me as I "reclined" on the ground in front of him. Probably wishful thinking,  but that's what it seemed like. I gave him more cookies and praise.

***

Today I found this photo on a Polish Arabian fb page. So pretty, but I wouldn't wanna be the guy in the uniform. Looking at it I realized this is exactly what Mag wants to do on these brisk Winter days where I take him out in traffic - he wants to pull me along sideways. And it takes all his (and my) self control to not do it.




For maximum control, hold your horses so:


I knew it was a Savitt drawing from the thumbnail - he's my favorite artist. Note how he stressed that the reins between your hand and the bit should be tight.

I had a seller tell me to lead her young Arabian so: "Hold the reins (as above) with the outside (right) rein slightly tighter than the left - that is so if the horse spooks, he will have to spook to the right, and he won't run you over." *ROTFL*

I like that Parelli et al took it upon themselves to go against the US/UK Pony Club and tell us to stop leading in the "micromanaging" position, but on a slack line. Even demonstrating through science that you actually have more strength, if you need it, when you've got more line.



"It's important to not trip over all this rope" he should have said.

I do this yo-yo game every time I take Mag anywhere and praise him for keeping a meter between the tip of his nose and my body. Not that we're experts  - he often sidles right up to where his nose is in my peripheral vision.

I feel safer in the "leader" position (as it's called, apparently) but I have been run into twice now. Once on a narrow singletrack (where you wouldn't have been able to Pony Club lead a horse), and once cuz of a total freak out at a semi. My belief is that horses mostly spook to the side (at things they only see with one eye). But most people I talk to around here think I'm wrong.

I was explaining to TP that I can feel where my horse is through the rope, I can tell if he's looking left or right. She said she wants to be able to see him so he doesn't run her over. I understand, like I experienced with our fall this week, there are times when I have little idea what just happened except by looking at the aftermath : ) I wasn't telling her my way is the right way - it's just where I feel safer.


Start at 2:30; before that he's just talking. This is almost the same technique I used on a rushy dog  - but in that case I would turn in toward the dog and he didn't like my knee stepping into his neck so he learned to stay back.

When I do in-hand work with Mag, I am at his shoulder, but that's for fancy stuff and not getting around town. By the time Baasha was grown, he had three different positions for leading: behind me, beside me, and up front of me pulling me up hills with his tail. I really enjoyed how he knew which one I wanted. (And pulling me with his tail was his favorite.)

***

On days like today I like to enjoy old images of my horse without a mud coating.




Oh, a horse you would actually want to touch!