When I got up this morning the rain clouds were on the other side of Charlotte and slowly moving toward us.  Hearing only the occasional drop on the roof I got ready to ride and made it out to Shannon's farm.  And my luck held, the rain decided to wait and I got to ride Cider.  Cider was happier with me than last week because this week I did the proper thing, dragged the heavy (for me) mounting block over and I MADE SURE the saddle and pad were in exactly the right place, centered and placed behind the top of her scapula.  I wish I could do this from the ground with her, but she is just high enough that I can't see exactly where the saddle is, and since Shannon is several inches shorter than me she can't see it either.  Last week I did not make the effort and Cider was VERY displeased with me.  So now, to keep Cider happy, I will have to drag the heavy mounting block over to her when we put the saddle on every time I ride and then drag the mounting block back to where I get on.  When I finally mounted Cider today she had obviously decided that I had learned my lesson last week and decided to start off the ride with cooperation.

Cooperative horses are much more fun to ride.  Cider, much more comfortable, strode out at the walk and reached for contact.  Last week, when the saddle was not placed to her satisfaction, she had gone back to her old habit of lugging on the outside rein.  This week, happier with me, she still lugged some on the outside rein but she did not lean on it as much.  When I asked her to trot she happily strode out in her full Energizer Bunny mode and we whizzed around the ring.  At first when I tried to rate her speed she just did not want to respond to my aids, but by the second time around the ring she had decided that it was all right for me to rate her speed and started moving in a more civilized manner.  It was such a nice trot, full of impulse, reaching for contact, and definitely with a lot of forward motion.  Cider is the one horse I ride now that does not "need" me to carry a crop, when she is in her energizer bunny mode all I need is a light leg aid and she is off, when she is comfortable with her saddle there is nothing more that Cider likes than MOVING.  However this also means that Cider is reluctant to stand still, she has forward, Forward, FORWARD engraved in her brain.  So while my halts, turns in place and backing were in no way perfect, it was the ideal day to ask her to extend her trot strides some, and she responded and lengthened around a quarter of the ring before I backed off on my aids.  And when I got off rain drops started falling from the sky.

Wednesday morning it was just too cold to ride, 18 F, way below freezing.  Debbie has a dressage rider student who has decided that I know when it is too cold to ride and has decided this year that if I don't come out and ride it is obviously too cold, so neither of us rode on Wednesday morning.  Luckily on Friday morning it just got down to freezing so I could ride.  Debbie had talked about giving me a lesson on Mick but she got sick with a cold and decided to stay in, I don't blame her at all.  So my son got Mia and then groomed her and tacked up while I groomed her head and ears (Mia loves ear scratches both inside and out.)  The last few times I've ridden Mia I've noticed that she is a lot friendlier, at least she is giving me some really soft nuzzles when I talk with her and she is making it much easier for me to reach all the itchy spots around her ears.  She rarely nuzzled me before I changed the way I use my seat for turns, ever since I switched from the "spiral seat" to Jean Luc's advancing both seat bone and soulder on the same side she seems happier with me.  Isn't it amazing how horses respond so thorougly to being more comfortable?  It is like I finally took the last step needed to get Mia more comfortable and she is rewarding me for finally becoming an acceptable rider.  I have noticed with Mia that she trains me much like I train her, when I do things right she rewards me with an immediate, correct response.  When I don't do things to her exacting standards she does not give me this immediate reward.  Mia is patiently training me to become a better rider. 

In spite of being stiff from a mad gallop in the paddock the day before, Mia warmed up pretty quickly.  I practiced some with my new turning seat, trying to find the correct timing and strength for the turns I want.  What seems to be working with the horses is me advancing my outside seat bone and outside shoulder when the horse's outside fore leg moves forward and my outside seatbone goes up (making sure that I do not weigh my inside seatbone), then letting my seat return to its centered position, and then repeating my seat aid for the next step of the turn.  Combined with the lengthening of my outside rein I do not have to use my lower legs as much.  If I get my timing off Mia generally slows down and stops, if my timing is right she turns and keeps at a steady rate of speed.  I am trying to use my new turning seat when I do the turns in place but I just don't seem to have my timing right yet.  I'll just go on experimenting until Mia tells me I've got it right.  She'll know. 

If you have been reading my blogs I am sure you know what I think about Arabian mares.  They are so sensitive, so smart, and so demanding of perfection from their riders.  I consider them to be at least the equivalent of angels, and when one of these angelic creatures tells me that I am finally acceptable as a FRIEND I am honored beyond words.  Most horses just put up with me because I am polite to them, Mia seems to have gotten beyond this point and she is now actively cooperating with me.  Ever since I saw my first Arab and learned about them I have dreamed about being a good enough rider so that an Arab mare would be happy with me riding her.  Mia has always been good with me and obedient to my aids, but now I get the feeling when I am with her that she considers herself my PARTNER in our rides.  Its been decades since I had that feeling and it so good to have it again!  So Mia is getting sweet nothings murmured into her ears during grooming and a lot of good neck scratches when she tries to give me what I want in spite of her arthritic joints.  I may be handicapped, unbalanced and uncoordinated and she may be 30 years old and arthritic, but when I ride her now I feel like I can take on the whole world.

THAT is what a good horse can do for you!

Have a great ride!

Jackie Cochran