I rode all three horses this week.  That was good.  But losing an hour of sleep last weekend has made my mobility slightly worse, something that happens to me each Spring time change. 

Cider had obviously enjoyed her three week vacation.  Through the years I’ve ridden her I’ve noticed if Cider got an extended time off I essentially have to retrain her--this means halt, this means turn, this means back up, etc..  Now I know that it takes only three weeks for her to “forget” her training.  Oh she remembers the big stuff--don’t buck off the rider, but she forgets the little fine points--yes, this little finger twitch or light leg pressure MEANS SOMETHING!  It does not take long to remind her how to react properly, but it did not take long to teach her when it was all new to her.  Since the ground in the ring was soggy I just walked, and I worked on even contact and her walking somewhere close to resembling a straight line.  Long smooth curves, turns on the hindquarters, walk-halt-walk transitions, turns on the forehand, backing up, and eventually she felt like the mare I was riding just three short weeks ago.  I hope I can ride her tomorrow, she can be really fun to ride when she remembers her training!

Then I had my lesson on Tercel on Wednesday.  I, determined to make some progress this week, asked Debbie if I should start trotting Tercel this week or if I should reintroduce him to the bit, and Debbie chose the trotting.  While Debbie was grooming Tercel I worked some more on his ears, and to my great surprise he not only let me brush the outside of his ears, he also let me brush the inside of his ears, and for the final triumph he actually let me hold his ears so I could brush their insides better.  That made me really happy, but I apparently used up Tercel’s patience with having his ears handled, when I put on his poll cap my arms needed to be six inches longer! 

When I got up on him everything started off fine.  He remembered that my alternate twitching little fingers meant that he was to slow down or halt, and he was a little better at the turn on the hindquarters.  His old Tercel eating monsters were still in and beside the ring, but he was nowhere as reactive about them.  When I asked for the trot he did not understand me at first, all the other times I’d ridden him I had told him “no, thank you” whenever he offered me a trot, so he wanted to be sure that I did actually want to trot.  Luckily he did not go charging off, he just gave me a rather slow, plodding trot at first, and it was a short trot since I was avoiding all the places in the ring that held Tercel eating monsters.  I am going to have to let my stirrups down a hole or two, he threw in a few steps of his super springy trot and my stirrups are just too short to ride that particular trot right now.  I trotted him three or four times and I tried sitting his trot but it rides rough right now, with no “swing” to his back at all.  At least I got four CALM trots, with no freak outs, that is something I can work with.

Then I backed him up and he was not cooperative at all.  He started flinging his head with contact, then he quickly changed to seeking contact but flinging his head some when I asked for a turn with the reins.  The monsters got more menacing, especially the one in the judge’s stand.  When I finally got him to walk calmly past the judges stand Tercel got sort of mad at me because I did not send him to Debbie for praise like I did last week.  But we worked through it and Tercel gave me a very good workout in using my seat instead of my hands for turning.  I rode him for 45 minutes, Tercel’s interior clock is accurate to the second and Debbie and I are working on communicating to Tercel that just because HE thinks the ride should be over does not mean that WE think the ride is over.  It is not like I am overworking the poor horse, walking is not that strenuous after all.

Then came Friday.  My sleep patterns had gotten so disordered that I completely forgot to take my treeless saddle so Debbie could ride Tercel.  Debbie was very busy so she did not mind not riding, at least she did not mind it too much. 

Last Friday I had ridden Mia in the horribly cold wind for 20 minutes with her cursing me out every step of the way (in spite of her two butt blankets.)  Yesterday was a lot warmer, I put on just one exercise sheet and we probably did not really need it.  When I went to bridle her she started coughing and Debbie decided to use some a herbal equine cough medicine on her.  It may have helped Mia’s cough some, but it also made her rather antsy.  She started reacting like she did when I started riding her years ago, Mia eating monsters lurking behind anything everywhere and why couldn’t I SEE them?  The most horrible of the monsters was a new one--the ducks in the neighboring pond.  Some came out of the water near the ring and Mia was HORRIFIED.  After several times around the ring, with me pointing out the ducks whenever they came into sight and reminding Mia that ducks went “Quack, quack, quack” she decided to calm down about them.  She was not happy about their existence, but at least she was willing to admit that the ducks were not going to attack, kill, and eat her.

Was Mia reacting to the time change?  Was Mia going into that traumatic Spring heat?  Was Mia reacting to my worse than usual coordination?  Or was it all three together, just too much for a poor ancient Arab mare to handle all at once?  It was probably the cough medicine, her trot was much more of a slog than usual and she did not seem to have her usual get up and go, except where the monsters lurked in the shadows.  So, like every other ride I had last week, I worked on calm, forward, and sort of straight.

Debbie warned me this week that Tercel may accept something a few times, then something gets triggered in his mind and all progress disappears.  So next week I will approach his ears like he is still completely ear shy and work on them as much as he is willing to accept with calmness.  I lengthened my stirrup leathers on my treeless saddle, and if I get to ride Cider tomorrow I will get a chance to adapt to them.  It has been a challenge for me to learn how to keep my seat effective in the treeless saddle, learning its geography, balance points, where my leg gets the most grip with the least effort, and how to do two-point and the posting trot without my belly running into the pommel.  I had been delaying lengthening the stirrup leathers but now I have to, there is no way that I will be able to keep steady posting Tercel’s springy trot without a longer leg.

Have a great ride!

Jackie Cochran