What? No reins???

Indeed my friends, today my teacher decided to make a huge knot out of my reins and told me I couldn't touch anything BUT the knot. No steering, no brakes, no hanging on to my horse's mouth for dear life, nothing! This could prove one of two things: she absolutely doesn't read this blog and is oblivious to the fact I am terrorized, or on the contrary, she reads it inconspicuously, saw yesterday's bit about fear and decided to play a nasty trick on me (of the very efficient kind, I must admit).

So there I was, trotting in a circle, with a knot both in by hands AND in my stomach, instructed to lengthen and collect the trot solely with the use of subtle cues from my body... Would you like some hash browns with that coach??? But even if I'm sounding a bit frustrated here, in fact It brought out all the determination I had mustered writing here yesterday and I willingly accepted to try the exercise... not that I had much choice mind you... 

I tried but at first I had no control whatsoever on my mount, neither in terms of direction nor in terms of length/collection. It was disastrous. Then, Cynthia told me that one sentence that really triggered something (she always has a very good one-two-punch up her sleeve): there is one very important rule that is well known in the dressage arena, the horse should be following YOUR gait, not the other way around. Really? How could that be? All right then, let me try... 

So after lengthening the trot on the long side of the ring (easy, no steering involved), on the short side, where I was instructed to collect, I locked my pelvis, tightened those abs and started to post the trot at a slower gait than Meeka. It felt awkward at first as I kept hitting the saddle, but after two or three beats, she actually adjusted to MY gait. It was (to me at least) nothing short of a miracle! And soooo much easier than the usual tug-of-war between my hands and her mouth! I could have asked my coach in marriage had she not been... a "she".

And after fifteen minutes this exercise, I was riding with the knot in one hand, the other relaxed on my thigh, sitting the trot like a champ... who would have thought this possible from me? Well, SHE obviously did because she actually had a plan: relax me for the next exercise in line, you got it, CANTER! 

Full of my newly found confidence and sitting on my super-collected horse (I must say Meeka was top-shape today), I started to canter. She had asked me to remain as relaxed as possible and to make a down transition to trot if I felt myself stiffen the least bit, in order for my brain to stop associating canter with something terrifying. Well, good idea. And everything went just fine: I breathed like I said I would, I relaxed like I said I would, I refrained from singing like I said I would, and where I used to canter three of four beats then panic and brake, now I cantered two or three circles at a time without stiffening. My down transitions were better as well. Hey y'all! I just might be getting somewhere!

Praise the Lord for great coaches!

Horse riding: conquering the fear

Today I briefly spoke to a friend whom, after pondering for a while, finally took up riding. Good show! But she was just back from her dreaded first lesson and she had been scared out of her wits... Remember your first lesson? This memory may be more vivid for those of you who took up horse riding as an adult, but it’s certainly no ordinary feat to climb onto the beast – or so we see it – for the very first time. You have absolutely no idea what to expect. And before the next lesson comes, another problem can arise... now you do know what to expect! So fear creeps in, slowly but surely, especially after that first plunge / mouthful of dirt (yes, let’s call it dirt just to keep things palatable here...). 

As a beginner (it’s been a year, do I still qualify?) my nerves still get all topsy-turvy before a ride. Of course, this transfers right to horsey and we both are a mess even before lesson begins. But what to do??? Last week my coach suggested I sang some silly cartoon theme song – anyone for Caillou ? – while I cantered, just to keep my mind off of falling. And even if it did make for a hilarious moment, I decided right then I needed to come up with something else if I wanted to avoid scorching her ears again in the future.

A quick e-mail exchange with a fellow horse lover, who by the way sent me very inspirational documentation and provided kind words of encouragements (thanks again “20 meter circle of life”!), got me thinking: I need a routine to get me into the groove of things, a credo, something to ensure I am ready to face the challenge of learning these new skills without getting all tense and anxious!

So here’s my prep plan for tomorrow’s lesson (inspired in part by Jane Savoie’s works). I’m going to:

1. Visualize a great ride: concentrating on my current challenges i.e. mounting block issue because horse starts trotting uninvitedly with rider – yours truly –  barely balanced atop, jerky or harsh hands compensating for lack of legs, down transition from canter and... err...the infamous canter issue, of course.)
   
   
2. Leave the “what ifs” at home: Fear can be a good thing, but recently, it’s been too much of a good thing. I still want to be careful on and around horses, but my being scared is definitely holding me back in my progression now. So I’m going to stop wondering about “what if I fall?” and “what if she hits the breaks?” and try to be in the present moment. You got it! I am bringing Eckard Tolle at the stables tomorrow!
   
   
3. Embrace fear as a good sign: See, I could have chosen to spend these precious hours of my life watching some pointless daytime drama on TV. But did I? No. Because a year ago I chose to push my personal envelope and hop on a horse to grow some self-esteem. Has it been working? Absolutely. And fear is nothing but a most welcome symptom that the stuff is STILL growing. It is a symptom that I am continuously stepping out of my comfort zone and therefore it should be welcomed if I want to be the least bit coherent with my decision. Right? 
   Right...
   
   
4. Review any technical question I might have with coach prior to lesson: I thought little reminders of what I need to be working on for the lesson could help me get more focused and determined. Dressage is very technical and as you all know, requires a lot of independence of the aids. But how difficult!!! This hands (left and right) and legs (again, left and right) independence thing is even more difficult to me than when I used to play Bach on the piano – with melody and accompaniment changing constantly from the right hand to the left and then back. At least my legs weren’t involved then! So if I review the technical stuff before mounting, I think I might be more concentrated, maybe I'll finally-get-it-this-time, and I hope I then succeed in bringing some of this newly gained wisdom with me in the saddle and throughout the lesson...And finally:
   
   
5. Breathe... Breathe.... and Breathe...
   

Experienced riders out there, have you got any other tips for me?

Cantering, the last frontier

Sweet Meeka was particularly relaxed today, not leaning on the bit at all, happy to extend or collect the trot, happy with the leg-yields, she could have been happy with the flies for all I know. I was not about to pass that opportunity to work on the infamous canter issue.

First of all, it has not always been that arduous for me. I used to ride horses that had revv-up buttons all over and started cantering effortlessly. But Meeka, well, let me put it this way: she's a bit thick-skinned. No amount of pressing, urging, kicking or hair-pulling will convince her to canter if she is not so inclined. What to do?

It seems one of the secret is in the collection of the horse. Yes, yet again, the infamous collection. After a series of exercises on the flat to put her on the bit and between the hands and the legs, my coach suggested that we cantered on the circle. I raise a dubitative eyebrow but I guess that it wasn't enough to make her change her mind because she pressed me to "start trotting already". My mount had been a little prime for the whole class, so I kind of expected her to bolt as soon as I remotely thought about "maybe" cantering.  So I rode her on short reins in a highly collected trot. At that point in time, it was not in preparation of anything, I just didn't want her to make a dash for the stable! But after a while, I felt that she had so much collected energy that I just lightly loosened of reins and voilà! No kicking, no crop, no fight! Just a smooth transition into an even, well rounded canter...

And then there was me.

I can't help it, sometimes I'm scared. They say it's normal but I can't forgive myself for being so terrified of the canter. But my coach always seems to get the better of me. As a teacher, I need someone who is just as strong-headed as I am and I believe I've met my match. Cynthia always finds the right words to either trick me into doing something she knows I can do (while I'm busy being frightened) or to make me understand the subtleties of the moves (and even the state of minds) I need to work on to make some progress. 

Today was no exception. As soon as we picked up speed, I tensed. And you might know this, but our horse’s brains and ours are directly linked by what I believe to be a high speed USB 2.0 cable. They know how we feel when we feel it, and they WILL take advantage of it whenever they can (I also know people like that but that's a whole other story). So when Meeka felt my conviction level drop, she just fell back into a much disorganized, uncomfortable but supposedly less demanding trot.

But as soon as my coach got me relaxed, using the exact same methods she uses with the horses (which is no compliment to my IQ but...) I cantered like a champ (well, a future champ...). So yes, there's the horse collection, but the rider's part seems to be just as important: keep a cool head, relaxed hands and seat, and in your mind's eyes, picture yourself in Normandy, cantering towards the sunset and "Le Mont Saint-Michel" on a wide sandy beach. Well, that last bit was from me, but it certainly worked!