Last Sunday was a marvelous Spring day—no gnats, sunny, warm, with a delightful breeze, and  Shannon's grass ring had dried out enough that I could trot! I noticed a few flies, but they were not plaguing the horses. Perfect N.C. Spring weather. I had fun riding around the ring though Cider told me that I had to work on my straightness at the posting trot. By her actions and by her movement Cider told me that until I got my seat, thighs and upper body right I could fiddle with the reins and use my lower legs as much as I wanted to but I would not get her straight at the trot beyond maybe a step or two (in other words when I got myself right for a moment, she responded, and then I lost it.)

Ever since I got Cider the EZ-Fit treeless saddle Cider has been working on how well centered I am on her back. I now know that she was working on this before, but since she could not relax her back muscles under the other saddles, my seat bones did not get the positive feedback when I did get centered. Now, since Cider is no longer tensing her back muscles to protect her back from the saddle, when I have too much weight on one seat bone or thigh Cider is perfectly happy to sink her back on that side, and to re-center myself I have to consciously take the weight off that seat bone, get myself centered in the saddle again, and in a step or two Ciders back muscles on that side start supporting my seat again. Since this last Winter was so soggy Cider just got to work on my seat at the walk. Now that the ground will dry up more quickly after rain, she gets to work on my posting trot. Now I will have to watch putting too much weight on one thigh and on one stirrup at the top of my posting or when I go down my seat will be uneven and Cider will resemble a pretzel.

I am just lucky that Cider is a forgiving mare. I am extremely fortunate that Cider is turning out to be a superior teaching mare, a school-mistress that actively teaches while refraining from the harsh punishments that I, her student, undoubtedly deserve!

Wednesday was a wash out, the weather was fine but I forgot Debbie had her Spring horse camp. I did get to talk to Debbie a minute about how Tercel was reacting to the Dy'on Blinkers. She told me that the one time she rode him he did not “startle” at the walk, but when she trotted him he would not accept any contact with his bitless bridle. I told her I was worried that the noseband might be on some facial nerves and suggested she lengthen the cheek pieces a hole or two to see if that would improve matters. She told me she was going to go see her mother next week, so it will be at least two weeks before I get to ride Tercel again.

Friday I got to ride Mia, I got to the stable early because they were having a clinic at the stable. Debbie was grooming the main riding ring so I had to ride in the other ring which now has a small dressage “ring” inside it. When I got to the stable Dawn, one of Debbie's workers, warned me that the dark side of Spring had started, the gnats had come out on Thursday. I had not brought out my fly spray or the ear bonnet, so we put some fly salve on Mia's ears and around her eyes. It did not seem to work very well. Mia came in walking stiff so I was not expecting any great performance from her. This week her left hind leg was much better, she let me trim it thoroughly which is good since it had one more week of growth than the other hooves I trimmed last week. Between the grooming, the mild kicking she does at first when she picks up her hind legs for trimming (she picks her hind legs up before I get there,) and the longer walk out to the secondary ring she did not move stiffly when I started riding her.

Then came the GNATS!

Oh my. Mia started shaking her head vigorously. At the bottom of the ring, away from the trees, there weren't as many gnats if the breeze was blowing, but every time I got near the trees the gnats attacked again. Poor Mia. It did not matter if I was on contact or off contact, Mia was trying to shake those pesky gnats off of her head. If I let her she would rub her head on her front legs until I got worried she would rub her bridle off. Pretty hopeless for delicate riding! Some good came from my ride, I am now pretty sure that Mia is quite comfortable keeping contact with the Wellep bit, at no time did she plunge her head down, her usual sign of disapproval for a bit or my contact. For the rest of the ride I concentrated on seeing how straight I could get Mia in spite of her almost constantly shaking head, and I got some pretty positive results on the straight lines just using my seat and legs. Then I worked on some circles and curves, and Mia kept pretty much on track in spite of her constantly moving head. After 15 minutes of riding I gave up, the gnats were just too bad. Mia was VERY happy to get away from them!

Any gnat filled ride can be quite aggravating to both horse and rider. However it can be a good time to check the training of the horse and the effectiveness of the rider. I was quite content, Mia went wherever I directed her, she obeyed most of my aids sooner rather than later, and she showed progress at staying straight even when she was trying to shake the gnats off her head. This ride has proven that my riding has improved, years ago I would have had a much, much worse ride during the first week of gnat season, there would have been no straightness, the curves would have looked like the staggering of a drunkard, and we would have gotten into minor discussions about several of my aids.

When I got home I put my fly spray, applicator mitt, and ear bonnet in my grooming tote. For, as everyone knows, gnats are a good predictor that fly season will be upon us shortly. I just wish that Mia was not terrified of my fly whisk (and how in the world did Mia get scared of something that acts like a horse's tail? We will never know.)

Have a great ride!

Jackie Cochran