Askng For It
While he's a great pony, Dino is definitely not a packer. He makes his riders work, and if I'm not willing to put in the concentration and effort, he's not willing to give the job his full effort, either. Our working relationship can be best described in one phrase: Ask For It.
I want more pace? I have to Ask For It. More flexion? Collection? Bend? Responsiveness? Ask For It. Long spot? Short distance? Tight turn? Ask For It. If I ask, Dino gives. If I get lazy and expect him to do the work for me, bad things happen.
Like yesterday.
We were jumping around in preparation for the show I plan on taking him to this weekend, and I had cranked the jumps up to 3' - 3'3 so we would be prepared to move up to the 2'6-2'9 division. The idea is to jump higher at home so the jumps in the show ring look reeeeaaaaally tiny. It builds confidence for both pony and pilot, and minimizes embarrassing moments in front of a lot of people. We had just successfully completed a mini course of about four fences at that height, and since I was short on time, I decided to come out of the ring, come back in as if we were at a show, and canter off and jump one more fence. After that we'd be done for the day.
The first fence on course was a big, airy 3'3 vertical, but one we had just jumped beautifully a few minutes before, so I decided to come at it one more time to be sure I could create the pace and 'bounce' we needed for a jump that size right off the bat. Things were going great until I saw a shorter distance to the base of the fence, and instead of actually RIDING for it and using my leg to ask Dino to take off, I leaned my upper body at his neck and flailed around like some sort of intoxicated puppet. Dino said "No thank you, ma'am." and stopped in his tracks, since my poor riding was clearly not going to get us safely to the other side, and my useless body flew over his head and landed in an ungainly pile on top of the jump.
I'm fine, Dino's fine, but man I was MAD. I did get back on and jump a couple more fences, including the one we crashed at, ending the ride on a good note and restoring both our confidences.
The moral of this story is: if I don't Ask For It, I'm, well, asking for it.
I want more pace? I have to Ask For It. More flexion? Collection? Bend? Responsiveness? Ask For It. Long spot? Short distance? Tight turn? Ask For It. If I ask, Dino gives. If I get lazy and expect him to do the work for me, bad things happen.
Like yesterday.
We were jumping around in preparation for the show I plan on taking him to this weekend, and I had cranked the jumps up to 3' - 3'3 so we would be prepared to move up to the 2'6-2'9 division. The idea is to jump higher at home so the jumps in the show ring look reeeeaaaaally tiny. It builds confidence for both pony and pilot, and minimizes embarrassing moments in front of a lot of people. We had just successfully completed a mini course of about four fences at that height, and since I was short on time, I decided to come out of the ring, come back in as if we were at a show, and canter off and jump one more fence. After that we'd be done for the day.
The first fence on course was a big, airy 3'3 vertical, but one we had just jumped beautifully a few minutes before, so I decided to come at it one more time to be sure I could create the pace and 'bounce' we needed for a jump that size right off the bat. Things were going great until I saw a shorter distance to the base of the fence, and instead of actually RIDING for it and using my leg to ask Dino to take off, I leaned my upper body at his neck and flailed around like some sort of intoxicated puppet. Dino said "No thank you, ma'am." and stopped in his tracks, since my poor riding was clearly not going to get us safely to the other side, and my useless body flew over his head and landed in an ungainly pile on top of the jump.
I'm fine, Dino's fine, but man I was MAD. I did get back on and jump a couple more fences, including the one we crashed at, ending the ride on a good note and restoring both our confidences.
The moral of this story is: if I don't Ask For It, I'm, well, asking for it.
I don't mean to laugh at you but the mental image of an "intoxicated puppet" is one that I can't think about without chuckling... :) Glad to hear Dino is going well still!!
ReplyDeletelaugh away! humor helps keep things in perspective, i think. ;) hope you find a good barn up in MA soon!!
DeleteAwwww I'm so glad you're okay and I give you a lot of credit for getting back on. Falling is always such a shock to the system for both rider and horse. Good luck at the show!
ReplyDeletethanks mel!!
DeleteYou mean you're NOT supposed to flap your arms and flail hopelessly around before the jump? Damnit. I've been doing it wrong!
ReplyDeleteisn't it crazy how that doesn't make you jump better?!
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