I got to the stable Wednesday, all prepared to ride Tercel again and ready to see if I could get my Stubben Siegfried to fit him.  Of course I also brought out my EZ-Fit saddle to use if the Stubben did not fit at all.  I got there, Debbie’s car was not there, I went into the stable and Debbie’s daughter Sam told me that Debbie’s mother had died the night before, so everything was in total confusion.  Sam kindly gave me a lesson on Tilly and since I had brought out my Stubben at least I had a saddle that fit.

My lesson started off well.  Remembering how reluctant Tilly had been to go into the trot my previous lesson I decided to start trotting early.  When I did I immediately backed up my leg aid with my spurs, little repeated light touches, and Tilly generously responded (I was using my Spursuader spurs so I would not “poke holes” into her hide.)  Tilly was happy to trot around the ring some and to keep trotting with only a few light reminders to KEEP MOVING!  I did not have to use a crop at all.  During my trots I discovered an aspect of Tilly’s, one that makes her a good school horse.  If Tilly feels like her rider is losing her balance from side to side Tilly will move her body under the rider, or if Tilly feels her rider losing balance from front to back Tilly will gradually slow down or halt.  I did not have any problems with this until I practiced my two-point at the trot, obviously Tilly decided that I needed to work on keeping my front to back balance more stable since I had a hard time keeping her at the trot when I was in two-point.

I had found some OLD Eldonian stainless steel Prussian sided stirrups on Ebay, and from the description and the photographs I had a mild hope that these stirrups were offset (have you notice on Ebay how the photographs can get sort of warped?)  When I got them I eagerly tore open the package to discover that while the stirrups were Eldonian, made in England, stainless steel, and Prussian sided, they were not offset.  I was mildly disappointed but put them on the Stubben anyway just to see if my lower leg had “learned” enough from my nickel double offset stirrups to keep stable in regular stirrups.  I made a desperate search for through my tack horde for the proper stirrup pads for Prussian sided stirrups, found some that were too wide, and I put them on with the excess pad going up the outer branch of the stirrup so my feet had the illusion of riding in an offset stirrup.  I showed my new stirrups to Sam, explained why I was so excited to get them, that back then Eldonians were made of ENGLISH stainless steel, using ENGLISH metal-working methods, using ENGLISH quality control, and that these stirrups were the top of the line when I started riding 45 years ago.  I asked Sam to keep an eye on my lower legs in case they started wandering around again, and she told me that I kept my lower leg nice and stable in spite of changing my style of stirrup.

Otherwise I worked on making sure Tilly understood my alternate twitching fingers for the halt, and since every time I asked for the halt she obeyed I decided to work on some other things, like seeing how she backed up and if she would understand my aids for the turn on the hindquarters or forehand.  She did back up, and she did give me hints of a turn on the hindquarters.  I will just have to work on it a little more, the first time I asked for the turn I think my aids were a little uncoordinated.  I will get to ride Tilly next week but I won’t get a lesson because Debbie won’t be back and Sam will be away taking the boarders to a show.  I am not worried at all about riding Tilly all by myself, I TRUST that old mare!  Tilly will definitely get another chance to tell me how horrible my front to back balance is in two-point; hopefully I will be able to improve myself up to her standards.

Friday I went out to take care of Mia.  I am greatly encouraged with her status; she greeted me with pricked ears and a look of interest.  As usual she greatly enjoyed her grooming, she even got me to thoroughly brush the inside of her thighs and clean her out between her nipples without any signs of irritation.  Since it was cloudy and there was a good breeze blowing, I decided I would be able to walk her up and down the driveway a few times, letting her get some grass that hadn’t been constantly chomped down by livestock.  Since I was leading her I could use only one cane, and the cane I got to use is the “wrong” one for my stability but I managed all right.  The first time I stopped her head immediately dove down, my fault that I was not prepared.  I let her have a few chomps and told her ENOUGH, WALK, dragged her head up with the lead rope and resumed our walk.  The next time I stopped her I was ready and I did not let her get her head down until she stopped trying for a split second and I said “OK, time to eat.”  I let her have 10 chomps, and then it was back to ENOUGH, WALK.  By the fourth time we stopped she started being a little bit more civilized about this and I did not have to give her as many corrections with the lead rope.  Then we went into the parking lot for the barn from a totally new direction for her, and there was a tractor zooming around with a round hay bale and other chaos and confusion.  I let her stand for a minute so she could get all the details in her brain and walked her through the parking lot back down the driveway.  I kept my right arm out sideways with my elbow stiff so her shoulder would run into it if she spooked at the chaos, but she was very good and she did not spook at all.  We went back to the driveway, had a few more minor discussions about eating grass, came back to the new way of getting into the parking lot, and since she stayed calm I took her back into the barn.

Mia did not cough at all.  She took great interest in everything (especially the grass), and when we got off the sharp gravel of the driveway she strode forth freely.  I did not turn her very sharply and when I turned her I had my eye out for any hesitation and unsteadiness, but she turned fine.  I am starting to dare to hope that I will be able to ride her again, probably when the weather gets a little cooler.  She had started looking so defeated after her coughing fits that I was preparing myself for the worst but on Friday she did not look defeated at all.  Debbie should be back in two weeks (I hope) and I can talk to her then about it.  I still don’t know if Mia could stand harsh winter weather again but in the fall she may be rideable if the leaf dust does not get her coughing again.  I hope she continues to improve, I love riding Mia.  Until that wonderful day I will continue to groom her and rasp her hooves once a week so she will be ready when that fortunate day comes.

As for me, I got REALLY tired and collapsed for the rest of the day.

Have a great ride!

Jackie Cochran