Practicing

Unfortunately no pictures for this post.

On Monday we rode in the back and practiced a few of the things we learned at the Mark Rashid clinic over the weekend and Betty's experiences with Julie Goodnight in Colorado.  We stayed in the back because it was the first time we have ridden Morgunn and Sugar in three weeks so we needed to reconnect with them and get our minds and bodies back into riding mode.  The wind picked up pretty heavy as we finished and we know what it was like the rest of Monday -- it blew really hard.

This morning we worked again in the back for a little.  It was still windy and the wind was from the North so that it was cold.  Betty had the right attitude when she said, "If we want to ride throughout the winter (and we do) then we better start getting used to the cold."  I don't like cold wind, but it was a beautiful sunny day and that helped.

After doing some softening exercises we rode over to the South arroyo.  I focused on three things while I rode Sugar.

First, I wanted to keep my hands as quiet, as still as possible while I rode.  I remember Mark saying, "Quiet hands make for a quieter horse."  Second, I kept just a light contact on Sugar's bit for the whole ride.  If she kept her head down, in a relaxed position, she wouldn't feel any pressure on her mouth.  If she turned her head or raised her head she would feel pressure that she was causing.  I tried to never pull on the bit at all, just let her make her choice.  She did very well.  Even though we rode in a lot of wind she was pretty relaxed the whole ride.  Third, I tried to be conscious of my lower back.  Mark said that one of the most common problems for riders is tightening their lower backs which tightened everything else.  The horse will reflect this by tightening their backs.  The best way to loosen the back is to engage the core muscles in the stomach.  Every time I was conscious of doing that I felt my back muscles relax so it made me realize that I ride with a tight back more than I want to admit.

Betty and Morgunn did very well.  She has Morgunn riding nice and relaxed.  When I rode Morgunn he often would walk slower than Sugar and hang back.  Betty has Morgunn striding out in a much more lively walk and we walk side by side whenever we can.  He has a new life with her as his rider.

So, it was a great day of riding -- even with the cold wind.