I Get to SEE the Results of My Work with Bingo

Since Debbie had a summer camp last week, I had a week off from riding Bingo.  She used him some during the camp, and Bingo did not behave perfectly.  Nothing exciting, just Bingo suddenly deciding he had enough and making a beeline to either the gate or the center of the ring.  Since Bingo has such a thick throatlatch, there is not much a beginning child rider can do to change his path.  It could have been much worse, Bingo did not run away, buck, cause his rider to fall off or totally refuse to move, he just bulled his way to where he wanted to go at a slow walk.  As a result, his rider was FRUSTRATED, but not scared.

Since my MS is getting worse I bought a three step mounting block so I could get up on the horses in spite of being so much weaker, and I sort of permanently lent it to Debbie’s stable, keeping ownership so I can demand that I get to use it if someone decides it makes a wonderful chair for watching the lessons, or a standard for a low jump, or a convenient base for a ramp (things I have run into with creative uses for mounting blocks!)  It really helped me to be a few inches higher when I mounted the Bingo and Mia; the mounting block was sort of expensive but worth every penny since I could save my strength and energy for riding the horse.

When I mounted Bingo, he was in his “why in the world should I obey you” mode, but since I know a lot more about riding horses than beginners do I quickly, calmly, and non-abusively convinced Bingo that I could block every move and every resistance that he used so effectively against the elementary level riders.  Using my thighs, lower legs, and intermittent rein aids, I soon had Bingo walking at a decent speed where I wanted him to go, all around the ring, past the gate, to the center of the ring past Debbie, and around all the jumps.  During the turns he often put his head way down, I just insisted that he keep up his speed and obey my turning aids.  After a few minutes I could get Bingo going where I wanted him to go, mostly on sagging reins, and when I picked up contact he carried his bit softly as we “talked” with my little fingers and his tongue.

Since it was rapidly getting hotter, I trotted early in the lesson.  Remembering the last time I saw Bingo ridden by another student at the trot, with his head high, inverted, and with his mouth open, I raised my hands an inch or two.  This seemed to work; at least Debbie said he was not as inverted as usual.  If I had kept my hands as low as I normally do, Bingo would have braced against them and inverted, by raising my hands I deprived him of a chance to set his neck and jaw against my contact.  I just got two short trots in before I started melting into a puddle on his back, then it was back to walking.

Then I worked on getting him into a super slow walk, and that took a little while.  When I finally got him so every step required a gentle leg aid to keep him moving I kept him at it for just a few steps, then I let him go back to his normal speed.  Then I had him go to the center of the ring where we did circles around Debbie, some turns on the hindquarters and forehand, then, because I could feel his hips “locking up”, I stopped him and kneaded his loin muscles with my knuckles.  Debbie said he looked like he enjoyed that!  After a little more walking around in the middle of the ring I asked him to back up and he became quite resistant, raising his head and locking his neck and jaw.  After I persuaded him to back up two strides, I halted him and kneaded his loin muscles again.  By that time the sun had gotten so hot that I told Debbie I would ride Bingo from the ring to the barn, and I did, but only after working him some at the gate, stopping him at the gateway after Debbie opened the gate and making him back up again (he was much more resistant this time!), working him in circles once we got through the gateway, and then, finally, letting him walk slowly to the barn door where I got off.

On Friday, while riding Mia, I got to see Bingo in a lesson with the same rider as two weeks ago.  His rider had some problems getting him going, and she had some problems getting him to go where SHE wanted him to go, but then he started cooperating somewhat with his rider.  The big difference from the last time I had seen them in a lesson was when they trotted, Bingo spent most of the trot with his mouth closed and not inverting his neck!  Yes, they were all small improvements, but when a rider gets enough small improvements, the horse miraculously becomes a better riding animal.

Have a great ride!

Jackie Cochran