De Novo Training

We had a great day out schooling at MREC over the weekend! An excellent way to put all the skills we have been practicing to good use.

When I was growing up, I wanted piano lessons and horse riding lessons. My mom could only afford one or the other, so I chose horses. I took lessons on Saturday...s for many years. My friend and I were the ultimate barn rats, spending all day Saturdays at the barn, exploring and playing. We must have driven the barn owner nuts, but she put up with us. I stepped on a rusty nail once, out by her chicken coop, and I had to go for a tetanus shot. It went right through my cheap, rubber riding boots (which I am pretty sure I kept using after that because boots are expensive.) After our lessons, my friend and I used to pretend we were horses and take turns jumping courses. Our moms would give us $5 to go down the road to get chicken fingers and fries at the local dive. We’d sometimes have a few extra dollars so we’d walk up the highway to the gas station store for candy. Imagine two young girls, barely 12 if that, wandering up the side of a highway by ourselves nobody would allow that now. But we learned independence and we had so much fun. We couldn’t afford nice tack or expensive shows. We learned to ride in those flat, ancient all purpose saddles you see now for $50 on Facebook. We rode school horses. When I was 14, I got a job at a stable down the road mucking stalls and later tacking up horses for the trainer. It paid $4 an hour and then I would save up my money and the owner of the stable would charge me $20 to ride their old, retired thoroughbred out in the hay field. Sometimes I would leave owing them money, but I didn’t care. Once, I decided I wasn’t going to ride that old tb in the twisted wire bit I was supposed to use, so we went on a very quick ride that day. I tore my hamstring so I posted sideways for a good two years and I never told my parents in case they would not allow me to keep riding. The barn rats of my generation were determined. We did not have the fanciest horses or the opportunities some kids had, but we had fun and we learned grit. I saved up my $4 an hour wage (what was left of it) to part lease a thoroughbred mare at the barn where I had learned to ride. I got to go to a few schooling shows with her, but I couldn’t afford the big shows. My mom would drive me to the barn for my once a week lessons on Saturdays, but if I wanted to ride otherwise, I biked the 12 kilometers each way to get there, a good portion of that route being along the side of the highway. My gran bought me a beautiful, custom dressage show outfit, that I still have. I still ride in the boots she bought me Konigs that I have cleaned after every ride since 1996. My old coach upped her prices for everyone but me, I think because she knew we couldn’t afford it. She probably couldn’t either, but I think she couldn’t stand to see me have to quit. I went to summer camp for a few years and one year, my cheap rubber riding boots ripped in half so I borrowed a very much too small pair from the camp owner’s daughter. I still have a scar on the inside of my calf from where those boots gave me a massive, painful blister. I kept riding in them anyway because they were all I had. It did not occur to me to call my parents and ask them to bring me new boots. Probably they would not have driven that far anyway. They would have told me to make do. I grew up thinking I would never be able to have my own horse, so I was wrong about that! But remember, when you see kids riding ancient, half lame ponies in outdated and ill-fitting gear those kids feel SO DAMN LUCKY to be able to ride at all. I hope you cheer them on instead of being mean. And I hope they grow up, like I did, to buy the nice saddle and have the nice horse. We don’t all have it handed to us and we learn the value of hard work. I will never go to the Olympics, and honestly I never cared about that. But I’ll cheer on every single kid in a wonky saddle and the wrong clothes on an old horse because I was that kid.

Just found this fantastic article and diagram explaining bending and turning and the importance of having the horse connected between your inside leg and outsid...e hand. ‘MORE INSIDE leg!’ or ‘more outside rein’ is a common comment by Trainers and coaches. (I say it all the time ) What does it really mean? It means that your inside leg creates the energy when riding, and your outside rein regulates it. The inside leg, being at the girth, asks the horse to bend around it. Then the outside rein is there to elastically maintain the horse’s shape around the inside leg, by supporting the inside aid so the horse doesn’t move away from the leg. Your inside leg and outside rein should constantly be talking to each other and coordinate. If you were to only use the inside leg for instance, without the support from the outside rein (and leg), the horse would move away from the leg instead of around it, and he would fall out through his outside shoulder. Using the outside rein and leg we can support the outside of the horse. The inside rein is used as a direction by opening the hand to guide the animal to the direction your wanting to go. By turning your body and shoulders your horse will find it easier to turn and bend around the inside leg. Of course, it’s not just the inside leg and outside rein that’s doing all the magic. They are just individual instruments in the orchestra of aids that combined creates the symphony of harmonious riding. But they do play important parts of the beat. If you want to be sure you’re riding on your outside rein: Do a shoulder in, and let go of the inside rein. In walk, trot, and canter. The movement should not be disturbed if you’re coordinating the aids correctly. *correct bend shown on the right of the diagram

Early morning lessons in the fog loving the autumn feel today and loving this life #lovewhatyoudo #babykisi #barnlife #coachlife #horsesofinstagram

Always 2 of my favourites,these guys have been working hard lately and it shows! Looking good @_madiwoods ! @tl_woods84 #fancypants #bootcamp #lovewhatyoudo #horsesofinstagram