Exceeding Expectations

I wasn't expecting yesterday's ride to be anything special. Whilst we've been plodding along in our fitness scheme (no pun intended), we've not had any rides that have made me go "OH MY GOODNESS". Honey's been awesome, I've been working hard, we've been steady from starting out. Her sourness to her tie up area is disappearing and her tempo is improving. But apart from me having little breakthroughs in my own position/riding, nothing has made me grin so much as yesterday did.

The reason? My friend Sophie. She came to me over her upcoming dressage test that she couldn't figure a couple of moves out. So I wrote it out, and when I went to ride Honey, I was asked by my friend Leslie who takes my photos, what a certain move was as I mentioned I'm going to help Soph with it. So, I went, let me show you what I remember from the test. I'd only looked at it once and remembered 80% of it, so that wasn't so bad. We did it all at the walk and it was Honey's first dressage test ever. Bless her she got a little confused, but I exaggerated everything so it wouldn't impact her shoulder on the circle work. We got from the start to the end with no troubles and I was so pleased! Honey seemed quite happy with herself too, she seemed to have a bounce in her step after all the praise I gave her.

Tomorrow I'm riding again and will hopefully be able to get a video of the dressage test. I'm going to take it out with us and do it correctly this time haha!

And to finish this blog off, here's some pics - all work was done on a loose rein and me using my legs - woohoo!

Riding; my all time addiction!

It's like a new chapter, or beginning.

Honey had her chiropractor visit and has the new saddle. Riding her now is like a new thing. It's addicting, more so than I thought it was before. And all we're doing right now is walking!

Our first ride on Tuesday didn't go incredibly well in the beginning. Honey, as expected was very difficult to convince that the pain she had been feeling under saddle was no longer there. It took a lot of convincing, but when we got there, I was so thrilled! She felt lovely and even, and I was able to concentrate on myself more than I have been able to lately.

And then today, WOW. I know walking is beneficial, but my goodness I enjoyed it so much today. We had a huge space because I moved the fence out of our way... and she just powered on out! Granted she wanted to trot, and I had to try everything - trying to think walk and ignore jogging and sit deep, let her break into it (only once) for a few strides to get it out of her system, and then even shut her down and say "no, Honey I want you to walk." I was a little hesitant to really go "NO!" with her, my ride on Tuesday taught me that forward is better than nothing at all, and I didn't want to suck her back. We got there in the end, and we only had one nappy moment, which one is more than enough. She's napping towards her tie up post, and being quite arrogant about it. But I made a point of ignoring the pole and riding her forward and we got passed that issue well.

I'm really loving riding on a loose rein as well. I'm having to trust in myself a lot to do this, not so much that I'm scared of something happening, but I rely on my hands a lot for balance and don't want to just make a grab at them, which will frighten Honey. I feel the saddle fixes this notion within me a little and offers more support for me to correctly build my balance. I've done a lot of work in the past on using my legs on this mare for turning etc, so she knows her aids well. I slackened off with my hands and just guided her with my legs for a bit today. It felt really awesome to be back at that, because in the Wintec 500 dressage saddle and before she was "fixed", obviously me using a lot of leg made Honey go "UGH!" Now I feel the freedom to use my legs correctly, in the manner they're meant to, and retrain my arms/hands. It's great!

But the thing that I really enjoyed about today's ride was being able to feel that I'm actually breathing up on my horse. Of course I always have, but I know I have a habit of forgetting to breathe too. The Isabel has helped me realise my core a lot more, and I've realised I've been collapsing with my upper body a little before. Now I can really feel my ribcage expanding, and with the exercise I learnt from the Sally Swift book, breathing has become a new thing that I'm fully aware of in the saddle now. I felt like a lot of my nerves that could have played up were toned down because of my breathing. Honey of course, picking up on my breathing seemed to relax from the trotting urge and just walk out lovely. It was really rewarding for me, to notice so many things in about 10-15mins.

To be honest, I didn't want to get off. She's become an instant delight and I'm looking forward to doing more and more with her, once she's ready to of course! Sticking to the plan in place for sure!

On Sunday I have another ride, and my friend Megan is popping out. I wonder if she turns up when I'm riding, whether she'll notice the change in Honey or not. A shame only one of us can ride her at the moment, or I'd let her ride her to feel the changes!

Anyways, to end this blog, I'll just put up a few photos ^_^

Doubt; that hindering bastard!

Instant results.

It's something we don't see much in life. I can put myself on a diet... and won't see any changes... I can use whitening toothpaste, and again it takes awhile. But one thing I have noticed in the past is how quickly a horse becomes brighter - to the point you wonder what crack you were on before to think they were "alright" - after they've seen a chiropractor.

The professional I used was absolutely brilliant... I came away with a good explanation of why my horse was sore, how to treat it and how to assist her on her riding road of recovery. She answered all my questions and provided some great tips. She was a pleasure and to see instant results in Honey - to see her stand underneath herself properly... to see her tracking up, her ears and eyes going from back and dull to forward, inquisitive and bright, and to just overall see a horse holding itself together, letting out a deep sigh and just relaxing - it made Honey look more like a horse than she has in a while!


So with the pain addressed, the new saddle sitting in my house was taken out today to sit up on her back, and see if there was any way it can be used on her. I was dubious on the fit - I've never seen a saddle sit so high on a horse before and be told - that's a "good" fit. But after watching a series of clips by this particular saddle fitter > http://youtu.be/U2mKz0uP_K8 I became aware that the modern concept of saddle fitting is sadly mistaken by what I was always taught as a kid. His explanation really helped me come to understand how different horse shapes mean saddles do need to be positioned differently. And made me relax a little with how high my saddle is sitting - since Honey is built with a little wither (what he describes a "mutton wither"). So not only is she obese, but she's also harder to fit a saddle to.

Here's what we're facing atm...

Fat horse with lack of wither +

Saddle that is unable to sit a little lower - but is on the horse's back =

Me sitting in my saddle like a boss on the upper half, but my short legs cannot mold to said obese pony because her belly is stopping the effectiveness as well as my stumpy legs! Haha but it doesn't appear to be a really *bad* fit. I did doubt it - to the point I rushed to facebook to my best mate/instructor and went "looook how do I fix this" and yet I already had come to the conclusion earlier that it was her fat under the saddle preventing it from sitting right and the only way I could think of getting it gone was by riding her anyways.

So the main theme for this blog was to set out and be all 'woohoo Honey's back in business!' and explain my saddle situation, but its actually turned into something eye opening and rewarding. Because I went and asked for help, I was pointed out by my good friend to realise, I'm not as stupid as I feel. That I need to believe in myself a little more. That just because I don't ride as exceptionally well as others - I can see mistakes those riders make, and make good ground support and advice. That I can direct others well with what I see. But when it comes to me, I'm blind. It's like I stuck the training wheels back on. I've had two years out of the saddle... out of what? Thirteen or so years? It's hardly anything to feel like I don't know a thing. I need to trust myself a lot more. And my ability to listen to my horse - I'm always listening, but I'm not regarding what she's saying as something I can come to a conclusion on my own about.... yet who was the one to back and start her - apart from a couple of sessions with my good friend, it has been all me, so who else is in this relationship that I need to consult other than myself and my horse?!

And reading through this blog, I realised its a number one theme. I doubt myself - whether its my ability, or how to discover what was wrong with my horse, or to eliminate problems - I'm so used to rushing for advice, that I'm forgetting the one voice who I don't have to wait to answer on a forum, or facebook. My inner voice. Who knows how to respond well. It's common sense. It's something that's always there and I over look because I feel inadequate to my friends who aren't held back by whatever. I have a lot of limiting problems in my riding - but the number one factor is doubt. That sly bastard, I really wish it could be something easier to fix, like having piano hands and needing to go "thumbs on top" every time I ride (uh... I do have to do that anyways but you get my point!). Doubt will be a hard thing to overcome, but I think I'm ready to do so. I gained confidence in getting my prognosis to the chiro correct, and I have a saddle well equipped to put me in a secure position up on my mare. I've become the type of person who is interested in educating myself - so I need to trust that judgement and stop hindering everything with "what if I hurt Honey?" "what if this happens" "what if that occurs, what will i do?" "What if" needs to be removed from my equine vocabulary.

So with that, the blogs should become more frequent again. I ride Honey for 10mins on Tuesday at a walk, and I'm sure I'll have things to say about that! So I'll leave this here.

Chelle x