Fine Tuning

One of my teaching mantras is "Every horse will teach you something new or different."

After a four year break, I recently started taking riding lessons again - a perk of my job. Though the concepts are familiar, I'm always learning, and in this case, gaining practice on technique and application. Whenever I ride other horses, at other places, I'm more motivated to come back and work with Ransom.

My lesson mount for this week was a big palomino named Sunny. Initially, he pulled against my rein pressure as we trotted a circle, but then he softened and yielded his nose, bending his neck. As I brought him down to a walk, I thought, "I can't wait to work on this with Ransom."

I stopped by my barn on the way home, despite the fading light of the evening. With the lesson still fresh in my head, I hopped on. Ransom responded beautifully. I felt strong and he felt light. He moved off my leg, floated through a canter, and softened to my touch on the reins. The small changes in my technique made a difference. We were more productive in twenty minutes than we'd been all week.

I've gained valuable experience from riding lots of different horses. But sometimes it takes a horse of your own to learn what fine-tuning feels like.

Bronco

My friend stood outside the fence as I led Ransom into the round pen. I had decided it would be a good idea to evaluate his frame of mind before she rode. This turned out to be a wise decision. As I picked up the long whip, Ransom put his head between his legs and launched himself into the air, bouncing around the pen like a rodeo bronco for several laps.

The only time he’d done this in the last year was the day I offered to let my mom take a ride around the arena. After he put on a similar crow-hopping show in the round pen, I vetoed that plan. It was like he knew someone was watching. Why did he only do this when I planned to put a beginner on him?

I knew he’d settle down quickly today, but I wondered what my friend thought about this crazy creature I was going to put her on. When people told me, “He’s not usually like this!” my mental response was usually, “yeah, right.” I wouldn’t blame her if she thought the same.

Fortunately, by the time I positioned Ransom next to the mounting block, he was his sane self again. My friend was brave, and with little comment on Ransom’s previous display of energy, threw a leg over his back. The bronco was gone, leaving only a gelding on his best behavior.