To ride dressage is to dance with your horse, equal partners in the delicate and sometimes difficult work of creating harmony and beauty.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Long-distance report

I'm still in Lincoln, NE, where the temperatures are bouncing between fine (50 degrees) and frigid (3 degrees). But I thought I'd share the reports I got on Kate's adventures with Lance.

On Friday she and her daughter hauled Dinah to my place, and Kate rode Lance while her daughter rode Dinah. Kate emailed, "Lance is quite the solid citizen! With plenty of leg he is delightful. Took him a time or two to figure out what I wanted; once we were communicating successfully Lance was a sharp responder. You are right; Lance's steadiness and rhythm makes working on my seat easy. What a to die for sitting trot! Thank you for the opportunity. I plan to ride Sunday as well."

It was like getting a glowing report about your kid from his teacher at school; I was so pleased! I eagerly awaited a report on her ride yesterday. It came last night.

"Mr. Lance was pretty frisky this afternoon so, since I was by myself, I chose to lunge rather than ride.
After crowhopping after me when I went into his paddock to check his water tank, and crowhopping after me back into the stall, then stealing the grooming tools, and almost stealing his blanket off the door, I thought it would be better to lunge. He was just exuberant, but I'm old and brittle. My, did he buck! So he got 40 minutes of trot, walk and canter on the lunge. Again, we had some initial miscommunication so I, too, had a 40-minute lunge. No standing in the middle for me. 

"Your tired friend, Kate"

Oh dear; so much for my "solid citizen"! Still, I was SO appreciative that Kate gave him a chance to get his yahoos out. Otherwise he would have been locked up (stall and attached small paddock) for a solid week, which is no good at all for a young, fit horse. He's such a character . . . I can't wait to see him again!

1 comment:

Alanna M said...

It's so nice to get a good report on your horse! It's hard to beat that feeling.