Whats worse then...

So in riding Miss M she is teaching me alot.

One thing I have going on with her is that she is suspicious of everything.. It takes very little to ge t her lost, and once she is lost it takes alot to get her to come back down again.

So of course, I dont want to get that started in the first place.

Yet, I need to push the envelope enough to have her grow, to have her achieve her greatness..

Honestly folks, if you have a horse that is troubled, and your scared to ride them, your screwed.. Just let me highlight that.. BUT that does not mean you can not help them.

RIDE THEM WHERE YOU FEEL SECURE.. And by golly if that is the round pen, then let it be the round pen, but ride them....

You can not be timid on their back... Your going to have to do what needs to be done... So ride somewhere you feel safe enough to ask for that..

Trust me, the horse does not know the difference in WHERE you ride them, but HOW you ride them...

I need Miss M to have all the characteristics of a been there done that horse... you know be Grandma's horse...

I mean that is the best reward I can give her, so that she looks like grandma's horse.

Let down, relaxed, nothing can phase her....

Yet I can push the throttle down anytime I want...

Right now, I have anything but...

I have, Mucho Caliente! As the ranch workers call her...

So riding her, I have come to realize a couple things....

I notice on the ground she gets lost fast... but I notice it..

I notice it because she is not bent, she is not round... she is not reaching under, she is not trying...

She is not trying because she is worring about other things... seeing things outside..

I need to change that..

So on the ground I can see what is shaping up, so when I get on her back I get it amplified..

I get head tossing, spooking, taking off... She is lost.. Because on top I can direct her..

So I am reading Tom Dorrances book and he said something about head slinging..

Yes she is a head slinger...

He said that is happening because someone rode her with bad timing, bad feel, so that was the way the horse learned to get release... and he goes on to say, that once that the human has things worked out on the ground, that the head slinging will go away...

Oh great..

Well its not going away...

So what the heck?

I have been chewing on this for the last few days...

Everytime I go to ride her, outside of the round pen, like in the big open dressage arena, she peels out one way or the other... big drama..

So the last time, things got unsafe..

Now I ventured out of the pony arena because there is so much going on down there, vaulters, tractors, hay machines, day workers, dogs, people, other horses.. and I was like screw this, I need to roll down.. a bit.. But the dressage arena is just not safe..

So back to the pony arena...

Today, I went down there with a new set of eyes... How bent is she, how willing is she, how much is she following me..

First thing off the bat when I went to ride her, she spooks at everything, a guy walking by, the tractor starting... the fence... One guy working even goes on to say to me

"looks like your having fun!"... yes, sure am, thanks ...

Spook, spin, bolt... urgggg..

Then she starts flinging her head around.. Well I focus on what I was working on, getting her to bend, getting her to reach under.. all four united, then the back moving faster then the front, then the front moving faster then the back.. reach, now feel me, reach..

And I continue working, until....

Grandma's Horse!

I had it for about 10 minutes, just riding every step.. and then I got off...

Right On!

10 minutes today, tomorrow the world!

After that, I walked her out, of course she spooked at this or that thing, but we managed, driving for a change...

Driving to get her energy down... to get her to look to me..

Nothing is going to hurt you, nothing is going to hurt you.. I am here...

Silly girl, you see dont worry, I am here...

" Oh Sure" says she

" Dont you remember the last time that scary thing happened, and you checked out on me, or hurt me, or scared me worse.. "

" You dont remember but I do.. "

" So I am making plans to protect myself, but you are not... "

"Ouch" says I...

And that is the worst my friends.. that is the worst...

When your horse, your own horse does not trust you, does not look you up, does not want to be near you, but chooses the farthest place she can to be away from you...

Thats the heart breaker...

So I am chipping away at this huge mountain, chipping away with my tools of horsemanship, knowing how to read her expression, knowing what I need her body to do in order to work out the brace in her mind...

Little red book in hand and a huge desire to get better...

Not being curved in her body and neck when we are working on a circle is her brace... Its her not letting down.. So when I start to work on that, she flings her head.. because she is troubled.. mentally troubled.. But I have to work on that. I have to get to her mind..

Otherwise, I will never get to feet... Or to her heart..

Hi Ho!

L