#77 Do As I Say - Not As I Do

The title of this blog says it all.  I am always saying how important it is to know your horse and his little idiosyncrasies - be aware of them, respect them, and mold your behavior to them. 

So, I love riding this one particular horse and I absolutely KNOW he has issues - I have done all I know to help to lessen them but in a pinch they do show themselves again  - and I am most always aware of this - as in 99 per cent of the time.  However, alas, there is that 1% of the time that I become complacent and unaware and not really tuned in to him.  Because he has improved so incredibly much I started taking too much for granted.


And, voila, here comes the crash !  Not one, mind you, but two !!!  Two weeks in a row - now, how dumb am I ?  Obviously, pretty dumb.  The first one occurred because I was just having too good a time ramming around and forgot that sometimes when I want to go left, he wants to go right - which is exactly what happened - at a relatively fast speed.  So, I flew right off him, smack on my back, and in front of guests no less!  Talk about embarrassing!   The crash happened simply because I FORGOT that he does this about 40% of the time and I just wasn't paying enough attention.  Duh !


So, you would think that after a good crash like that I would smarten up - but no, I sure didn't.  Like I say, I know his issues, he has improved greatly, but those issues are just buried into him so deep and they do peep out every once in a while - which is why I need to ALWAYS pay attention and not take the improvements for granted. 

 So here we go again - at a nice easy walk, we come upon my husband and two guests and their horses;  I was aware that this might spook him a little and I  was ready for it, which it did, but then he immediately settled right down - and so did I - BIG MISTAKE  - he then decided to get scared and he whipped around so quicly that I flew off him - again - he didn't bolt - he just turned so fast and I, being too darn relaxed in the saddle and paying attention to my husband and not my horse, just went off him.  So, that was crash #2.

So, why did I crash ?  Because I simply didn't practice what I preach.  Almost all accidents are the rider's fault - not the horses.

Hopefully, you will learn and remember what is here in this blog.  I sure hope I do !!!





Adventure Horse Riding in NYS            Smilla13@gmail.com  (Mary Dixon)         www.RideNYS.com

#54 The Meaning of Crashes

#54 The Meaning of Crashes

A friend of mine (a different one than who I wrote about earlier) got thrown off or bucked off a while back.  I think she was worried that maybe she just wasn't doing as well with the darlings as she had thought.  So I wrote her this note.

What your crash probably means - it is simply a reinforcement to you that you need to stay more  aware of  the importance of communication and understanding of the prey/predator relationship between horses and humans.  We have such a tendency toward complacency and achieving goals - and the darlings always, always, always remind us that they expect more from us and will not tolerate anything less.

I have to re-learn and get re-taught on this at least once a year - always a great exercise in humility - and it sure kicks me right back to the reality of the prey animal and that I'd better have my brains on while in their company.

Remember - the darlings are MASTERS at teaching us fear, disappointment, discouragement, humility & they are also masters in teaching love, compassion, patience, partnership, and understanding
.

 And, it's the kick in the ass by them to us that reminds us of this.

Adventure Horse Riding in NYS            Smilla13@gmail.com  (Mary Dixon)         www.RideNYS.com

Tip #32 Stupidity and Riders

STUPIDITY

It is really important to check out your horse before you put your rump on him.  Your life depends on it.

True Life Example:  A couple of years ago a group of women headed out to a park for a day of riding.  The horses in the trailer were a bit keyed up.  Two people took their horses out.  Those horses, too, were keyed up. One woman was apprehensive about getting on her horse, so the second woman, an incredibly experienced horse rider said that she would ride him out for her.  So the second woman got on this horse she didn't know, who was already keyed up, and the other horses still in the trailer are still keyed up.  This was a recipe for disaster.   And a disaster did occur.   The second woman, an incredibly experienced rider as I stated before, got killed.

You have no business riding in circumstances as described above.  The negative energy of horses travels like wildfire and can ignite your darling.  This is not the time to decide you can just ride him out to settle him down.  Are you kidding?  Don't do it.  Do some ground work with him until he settles down.  You can see that when he lowers his head, licks and chews, blinks, focuses on you, cocks his leg, etc. Even a helmet won't save your ass in such situations. 

Mary Dixon    Adventure Horse Riding in NYS         www.RideNYS.com