Yes it is true! I was saddling Teddy up and he tried something new. Each time I got on the mounting block (aka old coffee table) he stepped away from it. Three times he did it and he's never done this before. It was almost like he was telling me that he had decided we weren't going for a ride, he had plans to do something more exciting like eat grass!I looked him square in the eye and then pulled out the mobile phone and said, "That's it! I'm calling for someone to take you away right now!" He walked over to me and put his head down.
"Nope, #%@! Off!" I said.
He put his head down lower and tickled his lips across the top of my boots. I stepped back and just stared at him. He didn't move. I put the reins back over his neck, took him to the mounting block and hopped straight on. We spent the next hour riding around in a full cheek snaffle and he was fine. Of course there was some head tossing but nothing I couldn't work through.
What a cheek that horse has got! Always something LOL! Well if he thinks he's going to try being the boss of me he has another thing coming!
I also went for a lesson with Kim. It was good as I had a lot on my mind about my horse situation and it was cathartic to get it out and just have a casual chat about it. I also think that the last two weeks have effected my confidence and this lesson really settled me down. It made me see that all in all I'm actually riding pretty well. I can do the required aids at a walk, trot and canter, I don't ever feel like I'm going to fall, I'm actually progressing well with my balance, the bottom half of my body, particularly in this last lesson, has really loosened up and I'm a lot straighter.
It's funny, as a kid we were always told to lean back; by the other kids that is, because we never had instructors. Leaning back couldn't be more wrong so I am really learning from scratch. In the past I couldn't care less as long as I stayed on the horse, but now I have learned a new way I can really tell the difference in feel and movement and being able to ask the horse to do things. It's just a lot more comfortable for me now.
One of my friends, who was a good rider when we were teens, had a slight curvature of the spine and I now wonder if our style of riding has had any effect on her back as an adult. I guess it would be too hard to judge as we can attribute back issues to so many other things that we do in life. Her enthusiasm for horse riding hasn't been damaged so that is all that matters. Another friend has serious back issues from an accident at work and hasn't ridden in 8 years but still has horses and is determined to get back on. I guess that's the kind of effect horses have on people.
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