Horses Again - Last but one day

So by the end of today me and Zuni were starting to get together. Mark has this new way of explaining the balance between the horse and the rider - perfect balance being five and five. Here we are talking about what you each bring to the deal, not physical balance, so on day one Zuni bought a one and I needed to bring a nine. With my nine we could get up and running and then I could start to look for Zuni to up his contribution towards a five.
Well, if you know me you will know that coming up with a lot of forward when I'm on the back of a horse is something I have found quite difficult. For lot of reasons really. I have always thought, because of the way I am, and because of the influence of what you might call the trends in the leisure horse world over the last 20 years, there should be a way of doing things that is 'pretty pretty'.
Well whatever, I worked at getting this horse going and now when I put my legs on, most of the time he responds with a faster walk, or jog. Sometimes he forgets, or doesn't notice my ask, which over the years has been his default, so I back my ask up with a fairly strong second ask. It's all very simple - just at this level having and finding the belief in myself to do it was quite something. I've got that sorted now and the Zunster is starting to show up at last.
This afternoon I got him going forward in walk and jog, soft and round, and bringing what I would say was maybe a four, to the party. It felt good!
So tomorrow, more of the same. It's kinda funny, cos I imagined I would be working on a perfect horses and honing my riding skills - in fact I have been working on a job that needs doing, and actually I have learnt more about me and my approach to horsemanship, which in the end is the job that needs to be done.
Tough stuff - not for the faint hearted!
So by the end of today me and Zuni were starting to get together. Mark has this new way of explaining the balance between the horse and the rider - perfect balance being five and five. Here we are talking about what you each bring to the deal, not physical balance, so on day one Zuni bought a one and I needed to bring a nine. With my nine we could get up and running and then I could start to look for Zuni to up his contribution towards a five.
Well, if you know me you will know that coming up with a lot of forward when I'm on the back of a horse is something I have found quite difficult. For lot of reasons really. I have always thought, because of the way I am, and because of the influence of what you might call the trends in the leisure horse world over the last 20 years, there should be a way of doing things that is 'pretty pretty'.
Well whatever, I worked at getting this horse going and now when I put my legs on, most of the time he responds with a faster walk, or jog. Sometimes he forgets, or doesn't notice my ask, which over the years has been his default, so I back my ask up with a fairly strong second ask. It's all very simple - just at this level having and finding the belief in myself to do it was quite something. I've got that sorted now and the Zunster is starting to show up at last.
This afternoon I got him going forward in walk and jog, soft and round, and bringing what I would say was maybe a four, to the party. It felt good!
So tomorrow, more of the same. It's kinda funny, cos I imagined I would be working on a perfect horses and honing my riding skills - in fact I have been working on a job that needs doing, and actually I have learnt more about me and my approach to horsemanship, which in the end is the job that needs to be done.
Tough stuff - not for the faint hearted!