I’ve been riding my horse totally different the last weeks or so.  It has had to be a very conscious effort.  I’ve always ridden reining horses and because of that I’ve been an attention to detail perfectionist.  Well, lets just call a spade a spade.  A control freak.  I love the “power steering” and “power breaks” of the reiner.  Can’t get enough!  And usually I am very good about not pushing the horse, taking your time, doing things the “right” way.

Ask any of my students and they will tell you, I work in the horses time.  And ask any of them, when we go to a show it’s all for the horses benefit.  Winning is great, but it’s never “why” we’re there.  We are there to teach the horse, to teach the human, and to progress in our horsemanship.  No matter how the day ends, give that pony a pat and a peppermint.  But I am human and not afraid to admit that sometimes it’s easier to preach than practice.

I put a lot of pressure on my personal horse.  The reason being is I have a phobia of anyone thinking less of a Mustang.  They have enough bad representation, the last thing they need as a breed is a less than stellar example shown to the public.  When I worked for the animal shelter it was much the same for our pit bulls.  They didn’t have the luxury of messing up and making a few mistakes, simply because of the public’s opinion of the breed.  It’s no different with Mustangs.  You can take any young Quarter Horse to a show, it can loose a gasket, be dangerous, cause a complete ruckus and even be asked to leave and no one will think less of the breed as a whole.  But one bad move from a Mustang and you begin to hear the whispers.  “They are stupid”, “Not a brain in their Roman nosed head”, “Dog food”, “range maggots”, “untrainable”… and the worst “worthless”.  I’ve been nose to nose with people literally yelling and spitting in my face, for nothing more than riding a horse with a brand on it’s neck.  Is it fair?  Of course not.  Is it based in fact and not bias?  No.  Do they truly have a reason to hate these horses?  No.  Do they?  Undoubtedly, yes.

So although I can give my students great advice and insist they don’t drill their horse and insist they don’t panic over a public appearance, I sometimes let the whispers get the better of me.  I am only human.  I have on occasion, when knowing a show is coming up, trained too hard and blew their brains right before the show and had to limp through on a prayer hoping they are better than me.  And the horses always are.  They never fail to save my butt every time regardless of my irresponsibility.  But I am growing, learning, maturing as a person and a trainer.  You always grow.  If you don’t what is the point of life?  The fear is still there.  I still want to show these horses to the world and prove what a great asset they are, and hopefully in turn save a few.  A mistake is still a huge deal to me, but I cannot let the horse know that.

I set up some trot poles in the arena to spice things up for my mare.  Keeping her interested, and giving her something to focus on, as well as me.  I’ve been riding her on a long rein, one handed, guiding when I need, not caring if she’s collected, just quiet and relaxed.  She can handle the training.  She can handle learning the collection, moving shoulders, hips, haunches in, half pass… she can learn.  But not right now.  We have a show in March and undoubtedly little ride time between now and then due to weather.  I just need to keep her happy, and focused under saddle.  I need the relationship and I need relaxation.  That’s what I am hoping will get me though this show.  As I said before it has been a huge conscious effort to not “train” on her.  I am a trainer after all.  But just as it is counter instinctive for a horse to allow a predator to ride it, it is counter instinctive for me to just lope around without an agenda.  But this time, I’m going to try and take my own advice and see where it gets me.  Perhaps I’ll be as good as my students one day…