After a humbling lesson, where I felt like I completely forgot how to ride, I rode Kiki for the second time yesterday. My lesson was on a great school horse named Bucky (a small black thoroughbred) who I have ridden once before, but sort of forgot how he moves, and it took almost the whole lesson for us to figure each other out. We worked on transitions in between a line of fences...Easier said than done when your head is in the clouds. I was all over the place. We did have a couple of really nice walk-canter transitions and a few good passes on the three fences. I definitely prefer taking him over something substantial as he jumped every crossrail like it was a 4 foot oxer. Nerd. After last week's fantastic ride on Finnegan (doing my first full jump course in years and in the outside arena) I was a bit disappointed with my performance this week. You can't win them all. I came away with some very sore legs, as B had me stand in my stirrups, straight up for the first 15 minutes of my lesson to help me lengthen my body and use my core. I also feel really secure about my half halts in 2 point again.
Back to Kiki...she came in at the end of our lesson and although I was bummed I didn't get to groom or tack her I WAS excited to ride her! She hadn't been worked since our ride on Saturday and my anxiety was all over my face. B took one look at me and said, "oh, there's that face again, like Niamh's going to throw up"...I laughed because she totally has my number. This woman who I have known for just a few months almost has me completely figured out! Now, in the past that anxiety would have manifested itself into something awful, burying itself deep and not letting go until I probably DID throw up, but I have really mastered my anxiety. A big part of this transformation has to do with my relationship with B and L. I trust them and they know me well enough not to push me beyond my abilities, but I rely on them to encourage me to stretch a little further each time I ride. I need to be challenged to stay ahead of any anxiety that may creep in. So I hopped off Bucky, grabbed his saddle and put it on Kiki who was dancing around like a maniac. B gave me a leg up and off I went, with Andrew leading me for a few steps and then unclipping. She felt great, she remembered me and felt relaxed (or as relaxed as a green horse can feel). B had me trot her around for 20 minutes with lots of change of direction. She protested a little calling to her herd and not quite understanding why the two other horses in the arena got to just stand there while she worked, but overall she was great. We even had a couple of really nice moments where she dropped her neck down and stretched into the bridle all the while moving forward in her beautiful floaty trot. I congratulated her thoroughly during our ride and she responds really well to praise. B commented that Kiki really likes me much better than her exercise rider (he's a race horse rider) and that our bond is quite apparent. She trusts me. Finally.
She still pulled some dumb maneuvers on the ground, but she's getting better. Since all the stalls were full for the night I had her stand at a cross tie station (not actually tied) attached a lead rope and ground tied her while we untacked etc. She was great! Little by little everything seems to get easier for us. She got a carrot and was turned out with the herd for dinner! Happy little mare!
Tonight, I will be riding her without having Andrew warming her up. I am crossing my fingers that she's not too amped up, and I think we will long-line her first to get her in the right mindset.
I really have a get a photo of the two us soon. Two fiery red heads!
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