Less is more, especially to mares

I've been inspired to create this blog and write this post by my beautiful, wonderful, picky, particular, sensitive, willing, hard-working mare, LOLA.  This is a horse who has, and continues to, teach me, and forgive me, and give me all that she can, but mostly only if I can figure out how to ask.  That sounds wrong, I think that sounds like she won't try if I don't ask her right, and that isn't the case.  She will try, and state her opinion, and try again, and even if I'm asking her wrong, we do get improvemnets.  The horse is all heart and passion and go, and all that is her is packed into a petite type quarter horse frame bred for cow work and made to rein.  She is the sweetest thing on earth if you can laugh off the dirty looks-- it's all for show.

Now I've ridden alot of horses over the years.  I haven't kept an exact tally, but when I spin the rolodex of memories, my math says over 100.  There's an old saying, "when the student is ready, the teacher will come."  And time and again, Lola is that teacher.  Not my only one, but very maybe the best.  She has taught me the value of consistency--be the same rider, every time.  Don't get mad, just correct.  And when the old timers say "use only as much pressure as it takes", Lola says, "re-define pressure."  What I mean by that is, the mare has made me more skillful at rolling back my use of pressure, and increasing it only incrementally.... but, and here is where it gets tricky, exactly how little pressure can be considered pressure?  Well, just about any.  Things I haven't even thought of as pressure, have taken on new meaning for me as a trainer.  I'm not the first to discover these things, and I won't be the last, but I'm living this moment and blessed with this horse, and I'd be remiss to not share my experience on the off chance that it will help another pair like us out there is this vast but small world to improve, to offer each other a "better deal".

My epiphany came tonight as I worked on some (*slightly modified*) excercises and techniques introduced to me by a dressage trainer that I have worked with on four occasions as of today. (To be clear, I am not a dressage rider, but I am a student of dressage because I have every reason to believe it will make me a better rider, a better trainer, and a better reiner.)  Now, Lola is what I'd call a "natural changer" meaning that lead changes come very naturally and freely and correctly to her.  But harnessing that ability has been challenging, as she can become excitable and expresses her discontent with me and the way I've asked for the change in a variety of ways including kicking at my leg and flying through the air (look, it's a lipizzaner!).  So today, we changed our warm up routine slightly, worked on lengthening the stride of the inside hind through our corners first at a walk, then at the trot then at the lope.  If her shoulder drifted out, I'd gently ask her to bring it in.  The first couple of times, she thought it meant go faster, but she's a smart cookie, and she caught on quickly.  Once we were doing this at the lope, and I felt she was tracking straight, and my legs were loose at her sides, I intentionally weighted my left side for two strides, counting, then shifted that weight to the right side.  No leg, no lean, no rein, no change of direction.  Just weight.  And then.... BOOM.  She nailed it.  No kicking, no flying through the air, no big deal.  Perfect.

It could be a fluke, but I'll take it.  We quit our ride there.  Some folks might have done it a couple of times more just to see if it was luck or skill.  But I think sometimes, if we time it right, we collect on luck and turn it into skill.   And that ride tonight, made me feel like a million bucks.  This is why I do this. 

Never stop improving.