06.15.08
Herd visits HorseGal Days 13-16
[continuing report from Connie's friend, Guest Writer HorseGal...]
HERD VISIT DAY 13 – I rode Momma for the first time yesterday (I have come a long way since Day 2!) It wasn’t my best riding though. First I fell OFF the mounting block. That was humiliating. I think it was at this point that Em asked me “how long have you been riding??” And of course, I know what a phenomenal rider Connie’s Emmie is, so I was feeling REALLY insecure about riding in front of her, because I think she is just SO totally amazing at this horse business!!
HorseGal on Willy momma mare
I think that because I haven’t ridden Momma for so long, that there is a learning curve for me in learning how to adapt to her more “bouncy” gaits all over again. Momma mare being Arabian is quite different from the smooth, long and low quarterhorse I ride at my lessons. I also had Emmie instruct me how to post– I’ve never been taught how to do it since it’s something we don’t do at my lessons (I ride Western). I’ve been wanting to learn how to do it correctly, so I asked Emmie to teach me.
HorseGal learning that momma mare doesn’t care much for cantering in a ring… and that she’s very sensitive to her rider’s balance and positioning. This horse can improve riders!
At the canter, while I did have some decent strides, some of the time I felt like (and it looked like) I’d never been on a horse before! Emmie was standing in the middle, and every single time Momma would come to a dead stop by Emmie as if to say “Will you PLEASE get her OFF me”!! I tried to anticipate her doing that and tried to keep her away from Emmie, but most of the time, I was on the losing end of that battle of wits!!!
Finally, we could see that Momma was getting aggravated with me, so we ended our lesson. I was also using a Hackamore for the first time, which for me was so exciting because it was something new for me and something I can add to my riding experience!!
That all being said, Momma was a dream ride! You BARELY need to use any leg aids! In fact, I think the only time I’d use my leg was to canter, and even then she could feel me getting ready before I even asked for the canter!!! She just KNEW!! Any problems I had were totally rider problems and I take 100% responsibility. I’m going to ride her again tomorrow night and I think because I rode her yesterday, that I’ll be more comfortable next time so I think we’ll both have a better ride!
Momma was PERFECT again yesterday as far as leaving her boys behind!! A few callouts between her and the boys, but other than that she was TOTALLY calm and respectful!!! What a good mare she was! I just love her so much!!
HERD VISIT DAY 16 – I rode Momma Mare again last night and it went much better than the first time. Under Emmie’s watchful eye and patient coaching, I definitely felt more comfortable. I think my posting was better also.
Then we went to the outdoor ring to ride– not so good there for some reason and I don’t understand why. I felt tense at the canter I felt myself falling all out of balance. I wasn’t as comfortable there as I was inside, but it still felt great to ride outdoors! I hope to have one more lesson with Emmie either inside or out. Hopefully, both.
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You’ll never guess what Emmie did with Gilford last night… she jumped him over some cross rails!!!!! Last year when she tried it with him (at age 4) he crashed through them… not this year!! I was SO proud of that young gelding!!!
I also learned what a “standard” is and got to adjust the rails on the standard for Em. I had SO much fun doing that. I’d never done anything like that before and it was exciting for me to learn even more riding terms. like what a “standard” is (I’d heard the name and knew it had something to do with the jump itself, but I didn’t know exactly what). [NOTE: a standard is the vertical upright post part of a horse jump that holds up the horizontal rails.]
Emmie on Gilford
Of course, as you all know by now, when it comes to anything horse related, Emmie can do no wrong in my book, so once again I was totally blown away by her expert riding. She not only jumped Gil over those rails, but she TAUGHT him how to jump and guided him over the jump. Watching her and Gilford sail over those rails was goosebumpy for me!!! It was so artistic and beautiful.
I couldn’t help but feel that not only was this great for the young horse to learn something totally new and foreign to him, but I was happy for Emmie to be able, after all these years, to jump again. She said it was a small jump, but it MUST have felt so good to her to have that feeling once again that she and Momma had all those years before of jumping together!!! And to do it on her beloved Momma’s son AND to be the one who taught him how to do it must have been a wonderful feeling.
Em takes Gil over a couple of crossrails, his first time jumping!
For me, I was seeing Emmie’s past horse life come back to life in front of my eyes. I felt like THIS is what I would have seen had I known Em and her mom back then. This was the young Emmie of the videos I’ve seen! It was EXTREMELY exciting to see her work her magic with this young horse. And I was part of it!! I was there to witness this wonderful horse jump for the first time! I helped with the cross rails and that made me feel like I was a small part of this!
As I mentioned, it was truly a goosebumpy moment the first time he and Emmie went over those cross rails. I know Emmie enjoyed it as much as I did. She had the BIGGEST smile and I could see and feel her pleasure at what she had just done. It had to be so rewarding for her to have been the one who taught Gilford to jump over those rails.
