Well, I managed to get back in the saddle again today...finally!! The rain stopped momentarily so that we could finally get a ride in! Too bad the monsoon will be back tomorrow, because good Lord Mary Collin needs the WORK.
I haven't actually ridden since the 14th so it was a LONG break for me to be out of the saddle. Along with the fact that I feel like I live in Seattle here lately, Katie came down with a bad case of strep throat and mono (ugh!) so I haven't really had the chance to get out and ride until today...and lord it showed.
It really amazes me how fast I revert to bad habits when I don't ride on a set schedule. I guess in theory it is good thing that I realize I am bad and not at my best, but when you ride Styx you have to be on your "A" game every second. This horse isn't giving you an inch if you don't ask right...and apparently I wasn't asking right very much today.
With Katie having mono I wanted to take the reins (haha no pun intended) into my own hands and try to pick up some slack. So I did what she usually does for me and lunged him and rode him myself first today. This is the first time I have worked him with me riding him first since the "accident". I could tell an obvious difference in him too...and not in a good way :) I wasn't sure what exactly what it was at first that was throwing him off, and I'm not real sure that I can adequately describe what I was feeling that felt off, other than just saying that it felt...well...just off! Almost like he was a bit explosive underneath somewhere. Evidently he was not fully warmed up and it makes a much more difficult ride for me when he isn't warm. I can hardly ride him when he is warm haha!! Geez...
SO Katie got on and finished the warming up for me and he was just beautiful with her on his back as usual (I'm telling you this girl is a superstar rider). He had a few minor blow ups with her while he worked out his bugs, nothing major, but still Styx is usually fairly decent while he is still warming up.
Well, after her amazing display of what riding should look like I climb back on him...yes climb not mount. I say this simply because I managed to kick him in the haunches on my way up, dropped the stick on the ground, and plopped my round derriere down in the saddle like a bag of oats. It was almost as if the horse Gods were frowning on me from the get go today. I am certain that the kick on his rump and the plop in the saddle didn't please my beautiful pony so we take about 4 steps and my perfect sweet angel of a horse decides to throw a temper tantrum. TO him it is now 5:45 he is "like totally STARVING", the barn is in the other direction, and he still has to ride this sack of oats (me) around the arena while wildly bouncing in the saddle and tugging on the reins. I am positive that it wasn't nearly as bad from another persons point of view as it was from the saddle (it never is) but my God I thought that I was fixing to be killed by my perfect angel that quickly grew horns and was snorting fire. Someone may ask, "Well, just what did he do to you?" and I simply would say...hell, I'm not sure. I did feel like I was slaying a dragon and astride some wild stallion removed from the prairie by some rough smelly cowboy. But like I said, I am not really sure what happened other than when I would ask for him to move forward he would not really move forward but rather upward. Plainly I was a little bit intimidated by him (which in retrospect is exactly what he wanted) and then Katie told me to just go...walk it out. She says "Sit back...don't lean on his neck or hold on to the saddle pad." to my reply "What the hell am I to grab a hold of then?" and she simply stated "Nothing...just sit back and hold on with your legs." Ha...freakin Nazi.
SO I just stopped for a second and felt my heart rate pounding in my chest like a million drummers...and took a deep breath. I have always heard that a horse will know if you are scared of it. Hummm....After all wasn't it I that said "Successful horseback riding is the art of taking yourself outside of your comfort zone, reaching for goals that are attainable, and living in the glory and satisfaction of your success..."
So I took my own advice here and just chilled out. Took a good deep breath, slowed my heart rate and set into determination. I rode my horse. I stepped way beyond my comfort zone for the moment and made my horse go. Was it pretty...not even close, but this wasn't about pretty. This was about me being in control and making something happen that he so obviously did not want to happen. And it was really easy!
So we got through that blow up and things were pretty non-existent from there on. I could get maybe 2-4 nice strides from him and then it would fall apart again. I was so frustrated with everything that I wanted to just give up and call it a day. But my fabulous German-bred trainer kept me from quitting today. Some days I wonder if this blond haired blue eyed beauty really is related to Hitler. I am notorious for getting frustrated, then angry, and then just plain quitting because it goes no where FAST for me when I am angry at myself. But for the first time in my life...like EVER someone chilled me out, made me keep going, and made me believe that this could happen. So I continued to work him after I had decided that this was a disaster today and guess what. He did finally get some nice round pretty work in before we quit.
So all in all, was my riding beyond greatness today? Not by a mile. Was Styx the beautiful dressage horse that I wanted him to be? He came close, but still no go (not with me anyway...geez Katie...overachiever). But the main message here today is that I didn't quit. I will openly admit that I am a spoiled brat and all I usually have to do is complain and someone will fix it for me or sympathize with me and tell me "Yes, you can quit now" but my trainer (whom has allowed me to so graciously pick on her today in my blog) kept me moving. She believed in me and made me believe in myself. "Yes Mary Collin, you will quit bitching and NO you are not getting off yet." Like I tell her, I will hate you while we are training, but you can be my best bud when I am out of the saddle. And because of that I truly believe that I am going to make a pretty darn good rider someday. All it takes is a little bit of courage and a LOT of training :)
So until we meet again, which is likely to be another 2 weeks because of rain-ride strong and full of courage, expect the unexpected, and Halt at X.
P.S. I did get a square and straight halt out of a trot today! YEE HAW!
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