...and, being very typical of me and not having the sense to change just ONE thing at a time, I cannot for the life of me figure out if it's because he finally decided to relax into my hands, or if it was because of the "new" bit - an eggbutt Dr. Bristol. Whatever it was, it was heavenly.
Gorgeous evening for a ride, even with the gnats as my ever-present companions. As soon as someone makes a fly spray that will kill the buggers without poisoning us or burning my skin, I'll buy gallons of it. There's nothing more unpleasant than having a horde of gnats kamikaze their way to die on your sticky, sweaty face. Yuck. Still, with the breeze, it was lovely. Sam was his usual self - interested in his surroundings, as they dumped a lot of dirt into the arena in a futile attempt to try and get rid of the ever-present rut (I say futile, because it will always be there while people persist on riding on the rail). Started off with lots of stretching, and Sam is really starting to get a bit of bounce in his stride and come forward off the leg. Didn't feel like putting on spurs today, as the blisters from attempting to break in my "new" boots are still raw and tender, and the spur strap just aggravates them. In addition to paying with my soul for a fly spray that actually works, I will also forfeit my soul for someone who will break in my boots for me. I love them, but I am beginning to regret trading my lovely, buttery, ALREADY BROKEN-IN Ariats for these Mountain Horse zip up torture devices.
Anyway, I am finally learning to stop allowing the reins to slip through my hands. I have this stop that I really like, and unfortunately, Sam likes it too, so we don't help each other in this regard. It's located between the second and third stop on my reins, and Sam is pretty darn happy with me placing my thumbs there. Unfortunately, just because I like it probably means that I need to be just a tetch shorter - like on the second stop. You wouldn't think that a 1/4 of an inch would make a difference, but it does. In the past, when I've ridden on that stop (or attempted to), Sam whines and cries and pitches such a fit about it that I inevitably let the reins slide back to that oh-so-wonderful place between 2nd and 3rd. Today, I decided that I was going to put an end to the fussing, so I forced myself to ride on the 2nd stop and then, of course, "cheated" by allowing my arms to stick way out in front of me. Oh well, gotta start somewhere. However, this actually WORKED because I was, lo and behold, not locking my elbows in an effort to get him to soften, and I was actually able to ride from my leg into my hand, and Sam braced for a few seconds, then softened visibly and tactiley. Un-frickin-believable. It was so soft and up and lofty that I actually thought for a second that he had cheated by dropping the contact, so I tested it by lengthening the reins to see if he would take it down. He definitely did. I found that 2nd stop again, and he found relaxation again. We did 15 meter circles, then out to 30, and back to 15, shortening and then lengthening the stride, and he stayed soft the entire time. Picked up canter - same softness. Leg yield - soft. Lovely!
Lots of stretchy work in between, and lots of concentrating on pulling my shoulders back, keeping my leg back and my heels down (and NOT contracting my calf in a vain effort to push him off my leg), and everything seemed to click into place tonight. We both ended the ride very happy and pleased with ourselves. I have high hopes again for the dressage at Lumber River!
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