KEEP MOVING - a good lesson to remember

Now, Benny has a tendancy to be a bit nervous and neurotic (surprise, so am I!). Because of this, he tends to go all deer-in-headlights and jiggy when he's by himself or in a new situation.

I was having a lesson on Saturday, and we planned it so that I would be alone in the arena to start, as for Bentley the only worse thing than being along is being accompanied and THEN alone. Seriously, lemme tell you a tale of how much he hates this. The last time I had a lesson with this coach the rider before me dismounted and walked around to cool her horse off before leaving. The second she dismounted, the ears started to swivel and attention waned. When she left, he totally checked out, which for him means screaming whinnies and freight training around on the forehand totally blowing through any and all aids, including the ones to stop. At that point, not even yelling "Atse!" at the top of my lungs would have slowed down the trajectory. We ended up doing pretty much the entire lesson at a walk working on controlling the shoulders.



Yeah, didn't work for me either Jose Chavez y Chavez



Getting back to the point of our story, while Bentley was not in freight train mode this particular day he was still a little on the anxious side.

When the coach arrived, we had a short meeting
to outline the goals for the day. Bentley bounced and bobbed, moving fore and aft and up and down as if he had become one of those old school spring horses that were at all the best playgrounds back in the day (in my opinion anyway).

The coach, in infinite calmness, urged me to just keep him walking. In moving, even if it's in circles, he feels more at ease. As a prey animal, movement means action. He is doing SOMETHING to get himself out of whatever percieved danger he feels he's in.

I feel this also speaks to the need for forward in all gaits. As a bonafide control freak, I have a tendancy to try to clamp down when he gets forehand-heavy and rush-y, shutting him down through my reins and reverting to the ole fetal defence position. If I want to build a confident, happy horse, I have to let him go, being supportive but not limiting through sitting tall, balance and half halts, always thinking free, free, free.