Our transition back into work went pretty smoothly...well, until half way through my lesson when he went rodeo bronco and I hit the dirt. Awww my butt meeting the mixture of rubber and sand, a familiar place during young horse training. It's been a good six months since our last session of rodeo bronco, so I guess you could say we were due.
B was actually really good on Tuesday, which was his first ride post injury, although I should have known he was plotting something as his head kept going lower and lower in the trot. Rule number one: Never completely trust a young horse. It is your downfall every time. During the lesson he was planting himself in my hands and was never completely in front of my leg. Yup, hindsight is 20/20. He decided to let his opinion be known when I asked for the first canter transition. He bucked a couple times, I tried to bring him back, but then he planted his head between his knees. Game over. I saw the wall and knew that wasn't where I wanted to be. See ya. I landed in the cushy rubber and sand on my butt and rolled onto my back. Rule number two: There is progress in everything. Even though B dumped me, I was secretly proud of him that he actually noticed I was on the ground and decided to jump in the other direction instead of on top of me. That doesn't mean I gave him a big pat and a kiss on the nose, but I certainly appreciated the sentiment. The first two times B went rodeo style he left me in the dust and didn't even seem to notice. He just spaced out. This time he was just being a 4-year-old brat. Meh. I'll take that. I don't hold this one too much against him. He hadn't been consistently worked for a week and had limited turn out due to the weather. It doesn't mean it's OK, but I'm not taking it personally.
After a quality "forward" session with my trainer on the longe I jumped back on and reinforced the brakes and the gas. We walked, trotted and cantered and everything was fine. So...the lesson in all this? Buy a protective vest. Snarf.
No comments:
Post a Comment