Can you teach an old dog new tricks?

Well, I'm definitely not an old dog, but I am having to learn a "new trick". After riding on and off (mostly on) for over 20 years, I'm having to learn all over how to properly use my legs and hands. And boy, is that going to be a HUGE work in progress. I'm not entirely sure why my trainer decided a couple weeks ago to tackle that challenge, but she did. It's going...

Gus had been progressing fairly well. I truly felt like we had made some progress with bending/flexing, etc. And then the farrier struck. Go figure, he's off again. I wouldn't call it lame, but he is most definitely EXTREMELY short-strided undersaddle and on the lunge [see previous blog post regarding hooves]. He was trimmed last Wednesday (the 2nd) and that evening when I was out he was very choppy in the trot and had a disunited canter. Both directions were very disorganized... but it felt a bit more unorganized to the left then to the right... I think.

My last lesson was October 26th, since my BO came down with the flu/cold/etc last Wednesday. So since the 26th, I've only ridden like twice. Definitely trying to keep up with the anti-nagging that I do without even knowing it, but it's hard to do. I literally have to tell myself to GET MY LEGS OFF MY HORSE. Do you know how hard that is to do? I feel like I ride like a "dude", you know the city-slicker types that go to a "dude ranch"? Oh well. I'm trying and believe it or not, Gus is responding much better to this type of riding. If only I had started to change my habits years before.

Funny thing is, I think my resolution from 2010 is finally being put into effect. I distinctively recall stating to my BO/Trainer about this time last year that I wanted to work on Gus becoming more responsive to my aids. Well, he finally is and I must say that our rides are a bit more enjoyable.

I did manage to get out to see Gringo this past week as well, actually Thursday in fact. Gringo is such a good boy. I didn't really do anything at all with him, didn't even make it into the barn, to tell you the truth. Ended up just snapping some photos with the camera phone. He's very photogenic, even if he enjoys standing around poo...

 

I still think he looks preggo... but my MIL won't change the amount of hay he's being fed. It just isn't worth the fight, so atlass he's just a chubby gelding.