Friday, May 16, 2008
Dressage Training Session
When I first got this horse 7 years ago, neither of us had a clue. I had been taking lessons at a barn where the trainer was a legend in her own mind, but not really very good at teaching or even interested in it. The combination of a green off-track thoroughbred and an adult beginner was not my most brilliant idea. So there we were! We spent several years scaring each other, and then moved to a new barn. In the video you see my current riding instructor working with Montana; I used his Jockey Club name "Who's Dancer" to be a little more private, as YouTube is such a large community.
He is a horse with great big emotions - an ardent heart, a wary eye, a finely tuned flight response, devotion to his favorite mares no matter how many times they call him a dweeb. His body has changed in the new regime of proper training and riding - his formerly angular hindquarters rounded with muscle, his neck thicker and curved differently. Physically, he is a good evidence of the benefits of dressage training. He is super fit. The effect this has on his mind is a bit more debatable. Some days he seems to me hotter and fizzier than I'd like. I don't really care for those windy days when, leading him down the road, I am walking and he is dancing, or leaping like a big orange trout. There has to be a happy medium, doesn't there?!
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4 comments:
It's good to hear how far you've come and see it in a video too. I totally relate to your comment about spending several years scaring each other. With my first horse, he'd flinch, I'd jump, he'd jump, I'd jump higher, he' jump higher -- on and on it went. Fortunately, he wasn't a bolter.
P.S. I've gathered the materials and patterns for the potholders and hope to start piecing soon.
You describe our little spiral of mutual fright perfectly!! I felt awful when I finally realized how much of his "spookiness" was down to me.
He looks great in the video. I can totally relate to your "big orange trout" comment. I have a big brown trout and I don't mean the kind with scales. ;-)
Ranchette, we love our trout don't we?! Just hope they don't knock us in the ditch sometimes...P.S. I love your blog.
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