Getting Ready!

So I have some time to think about my misfortunes..

To cry in my milk and to lament on why oh why I am not a bronc rider...

Well I figure its that I just have to figure out how to engage my brain when a horse starts to buck.

Now I am not talking about crow hopping around which I think most of us can handle.
I am talking about tail in the air, bucking..

Now I am not talking about bronc bucking.. 
Which is how I came off Miss M ( she was bucking!) and I slid down her neck.. Though her chunky butt was not so high, the physics were the same!!)

No, more the snarky saddle horse type of bucking..


While they look the same they are not.. the naughty horse will usually stop after a few bucks when they realize they are not getting their way.. The bronc horse will also stop, but maybe after trying to roll you off, or drag you down the rail for good measure.

So I am trying to change my way of thinking.. Since the horses I am riding are not dead broke, and have sketchy backgrounds sometimes...

I dont want to be afraid of the horse or of riding.  I dont want to feel fear when I get on a horse and I ask for something quickly.

I know some of you know what I mean.. You see people out riding but you never see them canter, or never see them kick up their horses with energy.

You never see them ever real push their horses or push on their horses for more life...

Its that tube of toothpaste theory, once you push it out, you can not push it back in..

But how do you grow as a rider, a horseman/woman if you do not?

While I am not saying each of us should go out and be bronc riders or ride horses that push us outside our comfort zone.. Some riders would get into a lot of trouble pushing their horses...

What I am saying is for me.. I know a couple things.

I know a horse will get scared and unsure... and I know if I can hang in their with them, I can support them.  That is the most important thing honestly, and why riding a bucking horse is important to a rider who wants to grow in their horsemanship.. I dont mean in your riding.. anyone with lessons can be a decent rider.. I mean as a horseman. There is pride in that word, there is knowledge in that word, there is dedication, commitment, blood, sweat and tears in that word...

So if a horse gets scared, they are going to speed up, the rider needs to be able to handle that burst of speed, and let the horse know its ok..

If the horse gets cranky and does not execute something the rider needs to be able to come in with spur, whip or stirrup to get a change, any change.. and that may mean a run off, a buck or something, but you must get a change.. and a big enough change that it holds.

You know what I mean

You see someone dinky around on their horse, asking them to move out and whap whap whap they go with their heels into the side of the horse... and the horse dinks around.

now what if you came in with the tail of your mecate as hard as you could on their rump when they dinked around.. Well they will probably scoot out, maybe buck up a little.. If your prepared, and have a good seat you can ride that burst and them circle them up again...

And then the next time you ask, they are there, they are with you... and you reward that!

But you have to be able to ride.. I have to be able to ride..

Otherwise.. I am nothing but a rider... I dont think I can live with that...
So we push ourselves.. learn from our hardships, learn from our mistakes... and hopefully
next time we have a success and become closer to the goal, of being a horseman.

Hi Ho

L