My (aching) body of knowledge

Every week, during my riding lesson, I can't avoid blurting out the same silly thing at one point or another: "Well, Meeka's definitely not a car." I'm so perceptive, aren't I? Of course I am always referring to what I'll call "steering" for comparison purposes. 

Our beloved coaches all start by teaching us the most basic of rein aids. Still, the plain direct rein turn to the right, or left for that matter, just leaves you speechless when you feel your horse change direction without you turning any handlebars or wheel  (thus my recurrent car analogy). Then comes the blessed day in which you understand that the direct rein turn is not like steering the wheel at all, it's actually more like turning on a flasher to indicate which way you wish to go.  

And it's safe to say that you've gotten that incredible insight because comes a point in the process of learning to ride when you HAVE to start using your body to communicate with your horse. Just try a shoulder in or a leg yield with that wonder-making direct rein. Result: nada. Try halting a 1500 pounds horse on an extended trot by pulling as hard as you can on those oh! so magical reins and see what happens... You got it: nothing too elegant. So comes a point when the reins are still very convenient, but kind of take the backstage when it comes to controlling your horse's actions.

A good example of that is a simple exercise we worked on this week. I simply had to go over 5 closely set poles: in suspension over the first 2, halt before the center one then quickly resume the trot and suspension over the next 2 ones. No problem, I'm already thinking I am going to nail this on my first attempt and get the "you're-the-best-rookie-rider-ever award" from my coach. 

Well... not!

On my first pass over the bars, I thought I should try with a super-collected horse. To have more control, you know? But it turns out you can't really trot in suspension with a highly collected horse since you have to release the reins at some point in time to reach for your neck support point. I know, I tried... And once the reins were released, along with all that built up energy, it proved impossible to stop Meeka before the center pole. I pulled as hard as I could (I know... poor Meeka) and she eventually stopped, but way after the pole, all crooked, disorganized and leaning heavily on her hindquarters. Again, nothing too graceful...

Mourning my lost award, I gave it another try (a few other tries actually, but let's cut to the chase). My coach suggested I put Meeka on a very relaxed & controlled trot, using the trick I had learned last week (with horse adjusting to MY gait...) which I did, and then trotted in suspension over the 2 first bar, my own body relaxed as well, trying to maintain a steady rhythm. So far so good. Then, all of a sudden, I stiffened ALL the muscles I could think of between the top of my eyebrows and the sole of my paddocks, then g-e-n-t-l-y pulled on the reins. Results: a clean, square, well-balanced halt, a good 2 feet BEFORE the center pole! When are the next summer Olympics again??? 

So to come back to what I was saying, the success of this whole thing was entirely a question of using my body efficiently to communicate my intentions to Meeka. Certainly no rein pulling or fancy rein effect could have done it. And that simply amazes me.

It amazes me that a horse WILL feel it if you're scared of anything. And it's not your mind it's reading, it's your rear-end! It's the subtle cues of your seat, your balance, your self-assurance, the fluidity of your body movements, everything! I hope it never ceases to amaze me, honestly. I also hope that week after week, my body gets the hang of this and develops new reflexes - just like the ones it developed that now allow me to put on the flashers, turn the wheel, disengage the clutch, shift, answer my kids who want to know what's for dinner then reengage the clutch BEFORE I even finished turning the corner. 

I also hope it develops a bit more muscle in the meantime, because while this body controlled riding is lots of fun, I now have to say a daily prayer so that I can walk again without the help of anti-inflammatories before my next lesson.

I guess that's a small price to pay for the privilege of such great progress!