Moments

I've always enjoyed teaching, whether it be teaching people on horseback, tutoring in school, or helping horses underneath me understand what they're supposed to do. I've always gotten such great satisfaction from the results, but especially when my student has that "lightbulb" moment, that moment when I realize that I actually made a difference. That, to me, is the sweetest moment there is.

Amazingly, I've had a few of those these past couple of weeks. The barn that I'm riding at had a rider who was, I guess, too "controlling", a push and pull type, which is why I managed to get the job. It's quite obvious when I started riding there; I'd put my leg on to try to push them into my hand a bit more, to try and get just a bit better of a connection, and many of them would pin their ears, stick their neck way out, and pullllllll. My response, at first, was to relax my hand and leg. I didn't want them to get away with it, but  more so, I didn't want them to think I was trying to trap them. I just wanted them to relax.

One of these horses was also extremely unfit and, when cantering, felt like he was pretty much scrambling around on his face. Being 17.1h, it was a tad scary. But, last Friday, I felt the change. Cantering around the ring twice each way is an accomplishment on its own with this horse, but that day, not only did he keep the canter, he was round and soft, not pulling me around the corners and down the long side. It was amazing, and I was so proud. I've had a few more of those "moments" with those horses, most notably with a 4yr old who, when I started riding her, wouldn't go forward if a bomb went off under her tail. But something has clicked and I actually noticed myself needing to half halt this week.

I could keep going on and on about those moments, but I promised to update everyone on how Flora was during her first jumping clinic. One word: spectacular. She did her first trot poles, and eventually her first grid. It took a LOT of leg to get her to actually jump and canter away from the cross rail, but by the end of it, she was cantering all the way through the three jump combination. SO PROUD! It was honestly amazing to see her come so far in just one lesson. Waylon said she just needed to get some confidence, and today, I think she found it. I did trot poles to a cross rail, 4 strides to a small vertical and then HER FIRST OXER EVER!!! I was definitely more excited than her... I don't think she really even noticed. BUT YAY FLORA!!! I went and got all my memberships in preparation for show season... it's gonna be a good one!

One last thing... I'm sorry to anyone who actually reads this for how long my blogs are!! I just can't help it, I love my pony :)