What an interesting ride it was.
Apollo had been laid up with an injury for a month, and then went an additional month without any work due to weather. The indoor where I board is still being built, but it's been so cold here that I wouldn't have wanted to ride anyway. A little vacation is good for a horse, so I'm fine with him having two months off. The ring thawed out over the last few days, so we had our first ride today. He came out of the barn quite uppity and distracted ("OTHER HORSES LIVE HERE???") He started out very fresh and quick-footed, so we just trotted circles and walked serpentines. He was so unbalanced and all over the place because he isn't muscled up. He started to settle and think about what we were doing, but his buffoon of an owner decided "hey, cantering sounds like a good idea!"
It was not a good idea.
He was heavy, pully, leaning and fast. At this point my thighs were visibly shaking because I'm so out of shape, and it's taking everything I can to ride him successfully. It also doesn't help that because of the weather (cold and frozen or muddy and wet) that he hasn't gotten good run around play time in the pasture because the footing just won't allow for it, so he has pent up energy, no muscle and no balance. Why I thought cantering was smart is beyond me. It's my own fault he got so quick and pully, although we did do a nice canter at the end halfway around a circle. I decided that was a good place to call it quits with cantering. We did a very nice trot to end the ride--he was soft and lowered his head. His whole body relaxed and it felt like a good time to end.
Getting quick and rushing has been our major flaw--I have bad habits. I perch like an eq. princess, which to a fresh ex-racer says GIDDYUP! I also tend to lift my hands too high and jam my heels down instead of keeping them level and soft. I've been working very hard at breaking these habits, and it's really helping HIM improve when I improve. Our next ride will be strictly trotting, and I think we'll be doing just w/t for at least a month until he's able to canter comfortably and safely. We've also been on the search for his "perfect bit." He hates single jointed bits. He also hates loose ring bits. He hates bits that are too thin and bits that are too fat. He isn't fond of eggbutts. What DOES this horse like? He's *okay* in my Myler comfort snaffle, but it didn't ever have the "ah-ha!" effect. We're borrowing a french link full cheek right now, and that seems to be working REALLY well for him. It's the first bit he's reached down to grab into his mouth for bridling, and he seems to really like the stability of the full cheek with the softness of the double jointed mouthpiece. I'm giving it a few more weeks to make sure before ordering myself two of them (one for each bridle.)
Despite all of my less-than-perfect riding and all the mistakes I've made, this horse has NEVER offered to buck, spin, kick out, rear or even pin his ears at me. He gets frazzled and worried, but his feet stay on the ground and his personality remains upbeat. He's such a trooper, and I'm so happy to have him as my eventing partner.
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