I got my lesson in on Wendesday with Debbie.  Mick was really stiff when he came out of the stall so I spent the first few minutes of my ride gently walking him around until he moved more freely.  Then I started some gentle trotting, again until he was moving freely again, and then I had to rest.  Then the next time I trotted Debbie asked me to extend him some, and for some reason I had the fortunate urge to lighten…

I had fun riding this week.  I didn't think I'd get my lesson in on Mick on Wednesday because there was rain all around, and it started sprinkling when we tacked up, but then it stopped and did not start again until my lesson was over!  Then it poured.  And it was warm, 65 F at dawn, with a warm wind, and I ended up riding in my shirt sleeves, in December no less.  I don't ever remember riding in December and working up a sweat!

Mick went well, which was good…

It has been a pretty good week.

Wednesday, for my lesson on Mick, I faced a super-saturated ring since we had 2 inches of rain earlier in the week.  I could not practice extending Mick's trot, if I had tried I would have torn up the ring and everybody would have been splattered with wet sand.  So it was mostly the walk with some sitting trot, nothing exciting at all. …

I am so fortunate, I am getting to ride three horses a week now regularly!  The last time I got to ride three (well at one time it was five) horses in a week was back decades ago and I owned all the horses.  On the good days, when it is cool and the sun shines, I miss feeding and taking care of my horses, but when it is bitter, windy, and cold or super hot and muggy I am so grateful I no longer have to get out there to…

All the times I've ridden the new Arab gelding, Mick, Debbie and I have been trying to find out the 12 to 20 problems that came with Mick.  First the saddle, Debbie trailered Mick down to the good tack shop to consult their saddle fitter and they found a saddle for his young rider that fit both horse and rider.  Then Debbie had a problem that Mick's adult riders (he already has a fan base at the stable) could not…

Last week, riding on three horses, I tried out the new (for me) technique for turning described in Jean Luc Cornille's blog "Lateral Bending and Transversal Rotation Part 2." 

When riding Forward Seat turning is rather simple, the rider uses the inside leading rein for gradual turns, the inside rein of direct opposition for a sharper turn, always advancing the outside…

First, I am NOT a natural rider. 

I have heard about or read about natural riders since I started riding in Chile some 54 years ago.  I was told by my parents that they had been told that there were these people who could just get up on a horse and ride perfectly from the very first time.  Perfect seat, perfect hands, perfect timing, perfect from the very start.  My…

Ever since I started reading books on riding I have been trying to puzzle out what the horsemen actually MEANT.  When I got my first horse I had the comforting illusion that I knew at least a little bit about riding (I had 4 years of trail riding as a young kid).  My first horse, a 5 year old just gelded green broke Anglo-Arab gelding quickly taught me that I did not know much at all.  Fortunately a few months after I got him I ran into and quickly…

All week I have been dragging around, getting over the cold I had.  Tired, tired, tired!  Even so I tried to ride.  On Wednesday morning, after 2 1/2 inches of rain on Tuesday, Debbie called just before I put my boots on saying it was still raining at the stable.  I re-scheduled my lesson for Thursday, and on Thursday morning the weather broadcast looked like I could get a ride in, but when we got a mile from the stable the heavens opened up.  We went…

This week was not too great for me.  My son had brought home a cold from his university and I had been fighting that pesky virus all week.  Colds can be crippling diseases for people with MS, triggering devastating exacerbations of the MS.  Luckily mine got no worse than stumbling and dropping things and I altered my supplements, but I could not ride today because I finally came down with this cold.  Bummer. …

First, I finally got Cider's saddle to stay centered on her back.  As I've written before I had bought a Wintec Wide saddle to use on Cider.  At first I could not keep the saddle centered, and since my balance is not good I had to repeatedly re-center my saddle on her back.  Finally Shannon and I figured out something that works--a double fleece GP saddle pad.  The top layer of…

I had an exhausting trip to my lesson at North Fork last weekend, but at least I bought twelve new horse books, eleven of which I had never seen or read (I just could not resist buying C. W. Anderson's "Heads Up, Heels Down".)  I found two books on riding written in the 1930's; a reprint of a 1859 book; the best behavior book I've read ("Horses Behavin' Badly" by Dr. Jim and Lynda McCall); and some new overstocked and used dressage books (I REALLY…

Aah, such a nice week, I got to ride both Mick, the new Arab gelding, and Mia, the Arab mare I've been riding.  Two Arabs, I haven't gotten to ride two Arabs in one week for decades.  Joy!!!!!!

Yes, I know each and every horse of every breed and type is a wondrous creature, but to me Arabs have that little extra.  That extra sensitivity, that…

This week I got to ride Debbie's new Arab, Mick, twice.  Such a nice horse, so pretty, nice shoulder, good neck, well trained, obedient, and with a good attitude.  Still he is not perfect.  Riding him I feel less power under me than I do with Mia and Cider.  Part of the reason for this is however well trained Mick is, somehow the previous trainers and riders did not do the gymnastic work necessary to strenthen Mick's hind end, and when I look past his…

August is turning out to be an eventful month!  First, my sympathy to all those on the East Coast who are suffering from Irene.  Over here in Stanly County we were very fortunate, we just got clouds, some wind gusts and a tiny bit of rain.  I feel sorry for all the people and domestic animals trying to deal with the enormous rainfall from this storm.  May your houses, barns, paddocks and pastures drain off soon!  How did the horses react to the earthquake in…

I finally got out of the ring this week!  Debbie's stable is part of a much bigger farm, and last week the farm owner redid some of his fences since his cows were escaping.  When he did this he gave Debbie's riders a gate into a few acres of his woods and the woods already have trails.  Halfway through my lesson she suggested going into the woods, and I was all for it.  The sun was hot and I was already melting.  So Debbie walked ahead and Mia and I…

After all this time my new, new saddle fits both Cider and I.  Cider needed the widest of the gullet plates for my new Wintec Wide and I needed the saddle to have the full 18" seat (thank you Caitlan and Donna!)  The extra half inch of seat made all the difference for my comfort.  I had put the stirrup leathers on too short and since the stirrup bars are so tight on the saddle I could not lengthen them while I rode.  Even so the extra length in the seat…

Between the heat, humidity, rain and thunderstorms I only got to ride once this week.  Debbie asked me to take my lesson on Thursday so she would not have to rush home from a trip.  She had one of her non-boarding students, a girl, spending the morning at the stable so I got to explain why I rasp Mia's toes to a girl just starting off on her riding career, after telling her how she did…

This week I changed things with my tack yet again.  I wanted to see how the mares did in the jumping cavesson bridle without the running martingle after all those weeks using the Spirit Bridle.  When I got to the stable on Wednesday it was already hot at 8:00 AM, and I got even hotter trimming Mia's toes.  With the hot weather Mia's hooves are growing really fast, and since I cut back my riding on Fridays because of the heat I had a lot of rasping to do! …

Hot, humid, bad air quality, smog.  Yep, that says it all about the weather in the summertime in the sunny, sunny South.  At least WE are used to this type of weather, I feel so, so sorry for you people further North who are discovering what people living in the South have known all along.  Summers can be as brutal as winters. 

Last week both mares told me that I was not…