Ok…so then everything started to fall apart. It’s like he switched from “our menu” to his original menu. Now, it’s not like his old menu is scary or bad. It’s very impressive actually. BUT, it’s not what I’m really hunting for. When we went forwards into passage, it had completely changed.
I was like oh no! Then, I was like oh boy!
Suddenly I had a whole bunch more data to compare. First of all I realized half the biomechanics of the passage were not even the same. I hadn’t been able to tell that before because I didn’t have the new passage to compare it to.
He’s sooo fancy and talented with his front legs, he can do a lot of impressive things with him. Now though, I could feel clear as day how it felt like everything from where I sit backwards was out of the picture.
I’m serious though, the only reason I could feel that was because the engagement a few minutes prior was so dramatic.
Even cooler than the data or the better passage came next. I tried to ask him to just go forward. At first just by moving the rectangle, then by using my legs. Yikes. That just caused him to put more effort into what he was already doing.
Of course, the first thing I did was pet him and try to communicate that I appreciated his effort without rewarding the quality itself. Sometimes that’s tricky!
The next thing I did was go sideways. I figured at least that would get us out of the hole we were in. It worked! He started to flip back to “our menu” of quality and I made a huge rewarding fuss out of it.
He got it. We were able to switch back to the right and get the same longer and shorter with almost all of the good stuff from the left.
Thank god I had the sense to quit immediately and ride out of the arena. For heaven’s sakes, sometimes that’s still hard for me. I always feel like I deserve a parade when I manage to make that decision.
So this morning I just wanted to take a minute to groove the ride into my mind. The comparison between the two completely different passages + the awesome feeling of communicating to my amazingly amicable horse, which one I’d like to do more of.
It’s my favorite… time with my horse that sets my “mind on fire”.
Hope you guys are enjoying your ponies and pre spring too!!
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