Make the right thing easy

Yesterday I was asked if I thought I could have Chase & Abby ready to go for the Horse Fair in April. They want to open up the drill team pattern with little kids. I think this is a cute idea but I’ve very cautious about it.

For starters it is one if their first events this year. They have new horses in a new environment at high speeds and from past experiences something is bound to go wrong. Add into the mix children on horses that are in new environments at high speeds and I just see an accident waiting to happen. Abby’s worst gait is loping. She just isn’t a high energy pony. She also hasn’t been exposed to those types of environments. While I realize most of the time she takes things with a grain of salt I’m not sure I’m prepared to see what she “might” do. Yes, I’m being the overly cautious mother. I’d almost feel safer putting Chase on Max. At least I know he’d lope and he’s been in the coliseum before.

With that being said I’ve known I needed to invest some time in Abby for a while so last night I decided to take her out. I knew what I needed to do so I had no goal (distance wise) to meet. I just wanted her to walk down the road on a loose rein without balking.

One of the things that *I* am trying to do (which is really difficult for me) is ride more like Chase. So when I first asked Abby to go and she didn’t I thumped her with my legs lightly like Chase would have. We got to the road and got about 5 feet down it before she decided to turn back for home. I asked her with my reins to continue down the road but she refused. This was when the “fun” kicked in.

I wasn’t going to keep her from going home but if she did she was going to do it on my terms. We headed back home at a strong trot. As soon as we got to the barn gate I used it to do rollbacks (she’s fairly athletic). Once I thought she was going to die I trotted her back to the road and then politely asked her to walk down the road. Periodically I would squeeze w/my legs like I was scared and if she sped up I slowed her down. When she ignored me or slowed down I released the pressure.

We did this for quite some time until finally I was able to walk her past the neighbors house nice and quietly without her even thinking of going home. When we got to the open field I let her stop and rest and flexed her. We stayed there for about 10 minutes and then I dismounted, rubbed her head and walked her home. I’m going to try to do this again tonight to see how much she retained.