I saw a meme on Facebook the other day saying something like, “I have learned that owning horses and riding horses are two completely different hobbies”. And amen to that! Most of the time, I’m a horse owner. Why am I a horse owner? For the occasional privilege of being a horse rider.
Something I have learned in my adult years is that life comes in seasons. I’m not talking about the weather or time of year, but about the timing of situations in our lives.
In years where I have been “settled” with minimal or no life changes, I have gotten to ride daily (and reap the rewards of that effort!). In years of change, I am lucky to get one ride per week in. Shoot, most of you know I spent a few months completely separated from my horses, them living in Montana while I stayed in Washington.
I have struggled with guilt over this reality, struggled with weighing the money spent on these huge beasts in exchange for the minimal saddle time. But in the end it always comes down to “who am I without horses?” and since I can’t answer that, I can’t let them go. I love horses. More specifically, I love my horses dearly.
I have never claimed (and will probably never claim) to be a horse trainer. My horse knowledge is mostly self taught, from riding with other people, reading books and magazines, watching DVD’s and attending a couple of clinics in recent years. I sent both Jackson and Spur out for their first few rides, and I sent them both out for 30 days later in their training for “wet saddle pads” and some consistency (because seasons of life). Wrangler was a lucky purchase, I’m pretty sure he was born broke. Or at least, he was born wanting to be broke and that may very well be the same thing.
I don’t really have “routines”, but I expect all of my horses to know their groundwork and that’s where I still start on Spur. I always make a horse move their feet in some way before I step in the stirrup, but with Spur I always always ALWAYS ask for a little bit more. I at least have him bend around me both directions but usually have him trot a few steps and I watch two things to see if he needs more time on the ground: his eyes and his ears.
I’ve gotten in the habit of flexing my horse’s heads around to the left as I step on and then flexing a few times (both directions) in the saddle, then bending at the poll, then backing a few steps, and yielding hind quarters before walking off. This carries over from their greener days but also, in my opinion, helps collect their minds for the task at hand and stops them from becoming impatient or walking off as I mount. I’m not a speed demon, I appreciate a good “woah” more than too much “go”. (Although if you’re reading this, Spur, we could use a little more “go”.)
Most of our riding is either on the trail or in the arena. A few times a year we get to move cows, and that’s always fun, but mostly we don’t really have a “job”. On the trail, my horses are still young enough and haven’t “been there done that” that they don’t miss the “job” part, their minds stay pretty busy taking in their surroundings. But in the arena, I have to remind myself to ride with purpose.
When we ride in the arena, I walk a lap each direction to warm up and “get the kinks out”. (Marvin, the kitty at the arena, likes to hang out in the arena with us and for some reason Spur just doesn’t trust him.) Then I’ll do some trotting and loping, working on transitions, asking for a few steps of collection at a time. If the barrels are set up, I’ll do some bending around them, maybe use them as an aide to get some crossovers on the front end. I utilize the arena fence to help with side passing. Aaaaaand then I’ll take some pictures.
You may be reading this thinking, “that’s all the further along your horses are?”. Yes, that’s all the further along they are! But it’s no fault of their own. They’re smart, they’re athletic, they’re talented. But I’m busy. And this year they didn’t get the consistency they need to further their educations. I’ve been a horse owner more than I’ve been a horse rider.
But even my inconsistent work pays off, they are safe horses, they are well cared for horses, they are loved horses.
