Freight Forward

That one time I rode a normal-sized thoroughbred...

Since taking my own pony for a lesson this weekend was clearly not happening, my trainer offered me the chance to take a spin on her lovely OTTB, Freight. I eagerly accepted the opportunity, despite my inner sense of trepidation as I thought back on the several occasions I had seen Freight dramatically express his feelings. He is, if nothing else, athletic and occasionally emotional. To my relief, Ms. Trainer said that she would hop on first to make sure he was being civil.

After attempting to coerce Freight into being a good boy with copious face and ear rubs and whispering 'Please don't launch me' into his ear, the three of us headed out to the empty outdoor. 

Watching my trainer cruise around on her horse, my anxiety melted away. Freight was absolutely foot-perfect! He floated along like the most adorable little hunter horse and loped over a few small fences with zero drama. My trainer chatted with me as she rode, explaining how Freight needed to be ridden, and how best to correct him when he got above the bit or too heavy in the bridle.

When I got on for my turn, I discovered that he was way more my type than I had been expecting! I figured I'd be sitting on a more sensitive, forward horse that needed a super tactful ride, and what I found instead was that Freight reminded me a lot of my usual parters - a workout and a half to keep him going forward! His narrow frame also helped me feel right at home on a "big" horse; Freight is about the same width and depth of barrel as Dino, and I felt instantly comfortable on him.

Freight Forward gettin' his groove on! 

The first few minutes were a little awkward as I felt out how much contact Freight wanted from me (lots in the outside rein and little flutters on the inside to remind him to bend) and how much leg I needed to push him up into the bridle (an obscene amount). We shuffled along in an inverted, ugly trot until I found the magic formula, and after that it was smooth sailing. With little tips from my trainer here and there, I soon had Freight floating along in a lovely, round cadenced trot. Even with a guy on a four-wheeler blasting around the ring with a drag, he was steady and solid, and it was a good feeling for me to be able to really put my leg on him, take a good contact, and ride firmly instead of having to manage a more uppity horse with a lot of excess energy. Freight was definitely not the kind of ride I expected him to be!

When we moved up into canter, I couldn't help but smile. Freight has the most lovely, rhythmic, smooth, easy-to-sit canter, and I had so much fun just playing with how adjustable he is in it. It's the kind of effortless hunter canter that you could ride all day, and Freight's willingness to adjust within that canter really gave me a huge confidence boost. Keeping that lovely canter was work, however, and the second I took my leg off to ask him to trot he just about collapsed! But let's be real, slow and steady is just my kind of thoroughbred.

We finished up the ride with some work over cavaletti, practicing cantering over two small jumps set on a quarter-circle with smooth turns off the outside aids. Freight's easy adjustability and honesty over fences allows him to leave from pretty much any distance, and I had to really work hard to do less in front of the little jumps and just concentrate on making smooth turns. In that regard, he's VERY different from Dino, who requires a more specific ride in front of the fences. Thankfully this horse can also take a joke, because I definitely biffed a few jumps when I didn't ride the turns well enough or get him up enough in front! But even when I made a miscalculation and Freight reacted by throwing his head up in the air and darting off, it didn't freak me out. Freight came right back down to earth and I was able to do the exercise a couple more times, correcting my mistakes and finding more success.

I had so much more fun than I thought I would riding my trainer's "big" horse! An experience that I thought might be a little bit scary or overwhelming ended up being a total blast, and really improved my confidence in my ability to ride different types of horses well. Freight was such a good boy, and I'm looking forward to getting to ride him again soon! 

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