Today is a Cool, Dank and Rainy Day    

As was yesterday.  When I got up on Friday it was raining, with a pretty cool breeze.  I debated about going riding, after all the weather radar showed that there would be a break in the rain by the time for my ride on Mia.  But my body said NO since I had spent the earlier part of the week on multiple doctor visits trying to get ready for trying the new, to me, MS drug Gilenya, and I was feeling quite run down.  Then I thought about Mia, thirty some years old and arthritic, and realized that she would be cursing me out in horse the entire ride even if I used the BOT exercise sheet, saddle pad and poll cap.  She can take the cold, even with a breeze, but when the rain drops fall on her face she goes behind the vertical even off contact and sulks, muttering under her breath about the absolutely crazy lady on her back.

I am not complaining too much, we are in a drought and we NEED the rain. 

Last Sunday the weather was fine, not too hot, not too cold, with the sun shining brightly.  I worked really hard on keeping myself centered in the saddle (and the saddle centered on Cider’s back) and Cider rewarded me.  She was a lot easier to keep straight even at the trot, and she kept pretty good contact throughout, with her jaw relaxed.  Riding Cider is so much easier when I keep myself centered in the saddle!  Of course this is much easier for me in the treed English saddle, especially when Shannon tightens the girth after my first trot, since the structure of the saddle gives my body a reference point that I could not find in the treeless saddle.  While my knees may have just thin air under them in the dressage saddle it does not bother me since I grip with my upper calves and not my knees.  I had some problems in the usual places with getting Cider to follow the curving fence, like near the gate and on the side toward the chicken coops.  But it was a relief not to have to micro-manage Cider every step of the way around the rest of the ring.  At one point I decided to see how Cider would react if I “draped” my leg around her barrel like dressage riders do.  Cider had done 3-day eventing, maybe when the rider uses a dressage saddle she expects a certain standard of riding.  So I put my weight on the outside of my stirrup, my toes turned inward so my feet were parallel to Cider’s side, and I relaxed my legs.  This helped a little bit with getting Cider to go straight in the difficult parts of the riding ring but it robbed me of a certain amount of security in the saddle.

After I got off I gave Shannon my hard hat and asked her to ride Cider some so I could see how she was moving, and so that Shannon could give me her opinion on Cider’s reactions to my dressage saddle.  Shannon rode around at the walk and trot, and Shannon had problems in exactly the same places I had problems, so it is not completely my fault when Cider starts veering off the smooth curve I desire.  Shannon rides mostly bareback and when she uses a saddle it tends to be a Western saddle, so how she feels to Cider in the saddle is different than how I feel to the mare.  Shannon detected no problems with the way Cider used her back and Cider obeyed her readily.  It would be easier to “correct” my “problems” with Cider in a proper dressage or jumping ring with straight sides and square corners, but one of the challenges of riding properly is to learn how to get a good performance out of the horse in spite of the surroundings. 

On Wednesday when I got to Debbie’s stable for my lesson I was already tired, I had trouble getting to sleep and I think I had to get up twenty times to run to the bathroom.  Debbie had not gotten to the stable yet, so when Debbie’s grand-daughter Shelby brought me Tilly I got down to work grooming her.  Tilly likes me grooming her, I realize the importance on leaning on the brush for the itchy areas and being lighter with the brush everywhere else, and I am willing to spend time grooming her head thoroughly.  The horses are shedding their summer coats right now and their heads get ITCHY!!!!  When Debbie got to the stable she was too upset to ride Tercel, so I decided to use my BOT/ThinLine saddle pad since I did not know how bad I would be in the saddle, and I wanted to keep Tilly’s back as comfortable and loose as possible.

I got up in the saddle and Tilly already knew I had no energy.  Why should she move on out if I could not even get up enough energy to canter?  The gate held a strong magnetic attraction; she would speed up to it, almost stop at the gate, and then slowly, in response to a strong leg, drag herself away from it.  Finally I got her striding out at the walk, with her protesting every millimeter of the way.  I just told her what I tell Mia, I know you are old, I know you probably feel stiff, but believe me, once you stretch out a little bit it will be easier and it will hurt less.  As she warmed up and stretched out her walking stride she grudgingly admitted that I was right, and I got some decent trots out of her, decent for my state of great tiredness and her general reluctance to move.

The next time I get that tired for my lesson I will ask to ride Mia.  At least Mia is willing to walk faster than 1 ½ MPH when I am tired.  As it was Tilly gave my lower legs a good workout and I got further experience at getting an old lesson horse to move on out without using the crop a lot.  Debbie shrugged it off, Tilly demands that her riders keep sharp, otherwise, like any other old lesson horse, she will do exactly what she wants even if it is just at 1 ½ MPH.  Why waste energy for incompetent riders? 

I am really hoping I get to start on the Gilenya soon.  As I lay exhausted on my bed after my rides my brain pops up memories of when I could ride effectively, if with less artistry than today.  To not get exhausted from six strides of the canter, to keep my front-to-back balance when the horse accelerates suddenly, to be able to tell when I start leaning too much to one side, and to be able to coordinate my aids properly, ah, those wonderful memories just point out how badly I ride nowadays.  Yes, I have learned how not to inadvertently abuse the horse with my many physical imperfections, and the horses kindly do not overwhelm my limited physical abilities, but to be able to truly RIDE and feel bold in the saddle, oh I dream of it after every ride.

I want to gallop again.

I want to jump again.

I want to dance with the horse again.

I want the horses to look at me and think “This will be FUN!”

Have a great ride!

Jackie Cochran