leaps of faith, are not always through the air

Since the beginning of the year (especially), my lessons with my older mare, have been geared towards my faith in her. Like all married couples, we have entirely too much history and not so much of it is amazingly good, happy, fluffy memories; lots of bad habits. Bad habits including but not limited to, my explosive temper, lack of self-confidence (which is slowly, but surely improving) and my sub-conscious level of expectation for Tori, which is surprisingly set very low. 

I have a terrible habit of hand riding also, partly because I have a terrible time figuring out how to engage her hind-end (mostly due to her amazing evasive abilities). You tap her on the rear with the whip = she throws her head up, moves her neck around, changes the rhythm of the trot - aka. every evasion she knows to avoid using her hind-end.

I have to give the reins, ask and actually expect her to do.

(sorry if some of these things make very little sense, i probably shouldn't be trying to write this after an exhausting, but productive horse day)

A lot of my issues also stem from my lack of core strength, directly related to my lack of enthusiasm for working out (don't have the money or time to dedicate the gym). So instead, I did a revisit to my past. I'M GALLOPING RACE BABIES AGAIN!!! Didn't realize how much I actually missed educating & exercising baby racehorses.

Feb. 24, 2009 - (L) Snoopy, best pony horse in all the land. (R) Judge Sonya & I, one of my first racebabies to have the pleasure of starting. She broke her maiden first time out, and she placed in her 2nd race, which was a stakes.

My favorite thing about riding, and dressaging, is putting a correct foundation on a horse. Once the correct foundation is laid, the horse can then progress in whatever direction it needs to, in order to succeed in life. I love riding young horses. I love the genuine enthusiasm they have for work they enjoy or figuring out how to make the work fun for them so they learn to enjoy it. 

Best thing you can do for a baby racehorse is to teach them a.) forward at all costs (otherwise life on the track will go badly in a serious downward spiral; a backwards thoroughbred is a lethal thoroughbred) and b.) to move off of the seat and legs.

(L) Dezdemona [dezi] - (R) Amber Flame [tori]

And let me tell you how awesome it is to ride 6 days a week (i live an hour & 1/2 from the barn and an hour away from the racebaby farm).

The benefits of racebaby riding:
a.) core strength building! you need to sit up, and sit back and be able to have an independent EVERYTHING in order to "sit your ass back & get tied on".
b.) realization of crookedness. nothing like a squirrely 2 year old tb to immediately inform you of how CROOKED your ass truly sits on a nearly non-existent saddle.
c.) adrenaline rush. i've been feeling kinda crappy on a whole lately, and I feel great the one day a week that I wake up at 4am, to ride both of my mares; but I can't afford to do that every day, not to mention just can't pull that off multiple days in a row.
d.) riding race horses reminds me what it feels like when your horse sucks back and behind your leg. you have to send that horse forward at any cost because it could literally be the difference between life & death for horse or rider if they're allowed to think ONE backwards thought.

Speaking of racebabies... I hopped on my friend's 2010 ottb just for fun (on derby day of all days! lol). I was hoping to light a fire under her, and try to convince her that it's not all that bad riding a baby that isn't always disobedient! (as much as I love and appreciate difficult horses, it's relaxing to ride a horse that does what you ask, correctly, on the first try).

Little baby Jack! (17.2 hh baby...)

I've decided that I don't take nearly enough pictures of my horses.... lol.

My 3 year old (soon to be 4!!!) has been great. Dezi & I went to our first under-saddle recognized dressage show; the saddle pad caused the saddle to bridge during my rides, and with some exciting footwork in the canter, still managed to earn a 64% at Training 2 & a 62% at Training 3. We've now had the saddle looked at, switched to a different saddle pad, and now I have to micromanage my tension levels and the left side of my body, and we should be able to blow the doors of this popsicle stand at Heavenly Waters for MDW!

She's got an amazing work ethic and I have to work better at being a more responsible rider/parent. I've come to the realization that I have to shape-up or ship-out, before I turn our relationship into the same one I had with her mother. I have to learn from my mistakes and make this life the best one for Dezi, one where her mother (me) doesn't throw hissy fits when she doesn't understand something; one where I don't yank on her mouth because she yanked first; and one where I don't tense my whole body because I'm worried about canter, and that she might buck and switch leads behind because my tension is the reason for the problem in the first place. I need to be a better equestrian. One day at a time.