First Day of Clinic

 Today was the first day of the actual clinic, and we had a great time! We started the morning unmounted work by first introducing ourselves and then discussing our favorite Centered Riding Basic.  I talked about soft eyes, because of the importance of using my peripheral vision in the saddle. That brought up a good discussion about “hard eyes inward”, which most of us do regularly.  For me that manifests as a mean little voice telling me awful things about myself, my horses, and my riding.  I have to recognize it, dismiss it, and redirect that energy into curiosity.  I must go back to soft eyes in order to really learn anything, and certainly to get my body to coordinate movements I must soften my gaze. 

I was lucky to have as my student rider another instructor- new friend I’d made when I was here last time.  We started with a “shake out”, an unmounted exercise which involves gently shaking the tension out of each body part in order to help get one’s body a bit looser and more relaxed.  It frequently has the added bonus of heightening one’s awareness of which body parts are doing what.

Once in the saddle, we had a great time playing with different stimuli in order to help her have a better awareness of how she’s using her body in the saddle.  After watching her brief warm up I grounded her feet, which draws the brain’s attention to the feet by tapping on them.  At the end I ran my hands down her shin and then gently and firmly squeezed her ankle. These different types of touch stimulate the brain differently, and add to the effects of grounding the feet.  The rider perceived it as her lower leg and foot being “molded” into place, like clay smoothed out and then staying where it was placed.

We experimented with asking the horse to lengthen the steps he took with his hind end by brushing the fur behind the girth the wrong way with the rider’s calf. This horse had gotten a little numb to the aids, so new stimuli helped kind of wake him up to the cues, in a similar way to how grounding her feet with new stimuli woke up her perception of her lower leg and foot. We also played with the timing of it, having her brush or swish with that lower leg while she was standing in her posting rather than when she was sitting. This often works because the cue to lengthen the stride comes when the rider’s seat is in the air and the horse has space into which he can lift his back.  Also the inside hind leg is in the air, so when the cue tells the horse to reach more, he can do it by taking a longer step before he sets that foot down.

After lunch I went to get Highboy tacked up for our riding lesson. Rizzo had been with me for all the unmounted work in the classroom, and when I taught my lesson I put her in her crate in the living quarters of the trailer. Despite this working fine last night, this morning she did somehow manage to hurl her crate (while she was in it I assume?) off the gooseneck.  When I went to get her, the crate was in a few pieces on the floor of the trailer and I found her napping on the mattress. So for my afternoon ride I just left Rizzo loose in the gooseneck, thinking she would just have another snooze.  

I was brushing Highboy when to my surprise Rizzo came barreling around the corner of the barn towing another rider on the end of a horse lead rope.  She had somehow escaped from the trailer without opening the door or damaging anything, and made a beeline for the barn to come find me.  I returned her to the trailer and this time put her in the horse area, which I hoped was secure enough that she couldn’t escape. It worked, but she definitely sang the sad dog song throughout my riding lesson.  Upon closer inspection, Rizzo had escaped the gooseneck earlier by opening the window on the side of the gooseneck, slid open the screen, and then must have simply hopped out the window and taken off to find me.  I don’t know why I’m surprised or impressed, this is after all the dog who can open round doorknobs by nonchalantly placing her paws, one on top and one on the side, then twists the doorknob open. 

My lesson with Highboy was fabulous.  He had determined this was neither a horse show nor a trailride but rather a riding lesson situation, so he was actually interested and engaged with the changes I made in my body to affect his balance.   Deb, our instructor, accurately compared Highboy and his conformation to riding a unicycle.  The balance is precarious to start, but once the balance and strength is there he is extremely maneuverable and athletic.  I loved the image of me riding the saddle, and encouraging him to lift his back and get springy by directing the saddle’s movement.  This got Highboy to move much more effectively with my center, and we had several very nice moments of balance and self carriage that were extremely satisfying.  Some changes to my leg position and torso didn’t hurt, either!

I’m sure Rizzo will settle in as she realizes the routine of each day here is the same, and even if she sings in the trailer during my rides she’ll figure it out that of course I’ll always come back for her.  The separation anxiety is a leftover from having been adopted out multiple times and returned to the rescue where I found her, but once she realizes I’ll be back she should be fine.  And Highboy and I will have some more great moments as the weekend goes on, considering the first ride went so well.