Upping Those Odds
Sophie Turned Her Pony down the long side of our arena. She headed toward the spot where horse-eating monsters sometimes lurk just beyond the tall brush at the ring’s end. “Honey, why don’t you keep him down at this end for a bit, until you’ve warmed him up?” I suggested to my daughter. “Oh, Mom,” she replied. “He’ll be fine.” Would he? I hadn’t longed him that day. The prudent side of me wanted to insist that she stay down at the less brushy end, where a spook would be unlikely. But another part of me, the part that wants her to learn to trust her own judgment, made me hesitate. Most often, my prudent side wins out. I’m nearly obsessive about keeping my daughter’s horse experience safe and sane. Obviously, I don’t want her to get hurt. But beyond that, I don’t want to risk her losing interest in riding, an all too common response to niggling fear. WORDS FROM THE WISE In my job as an equine journalist, I’ve been privileged to pick the brains of some of the most talented horsemen and women in the world. Over time, they’ve imprinted a key theme on m own brain, with respect to keeping my child safe; Make sure her horse is ready to ride, mentally and physically, every time she swings into the saddle. This advice assumes, of course, that the horse she’s riding is appropriate for her age, size, and level of expertise. Brego, her 12 year old 14.1 Arabian/Mustang cross gelding, is such a mount. But because he’s still always “a horse,” there are things I do to make sure he’ll be safe on any given day. For example this past winter, Sophie and I had a layoff from riding as a result of a family illness. When started back up, we didn’t just pull the horses out of the pasture and saddle them up. Instead , the fist few times we did ground work and quiet longing only. Well, it was meant to be quiet. I prefer to do lots of walking and jogging, gait transitions, and changes in direction; all of it helps sharpen a horse’s obedience while preserving his legs. In those first few days, though, there was also a fair bit of running, bucking and kicking up of heels. The horses had had three months of being their own boss, and they didn’t want it to end. Every time I saw Brego scoot like a race horse, I was glad he was at the end of the longe line, and not under Sophie. COUGAR CORNER By the third day, Brego and my gelding were consistently remembering their manners, and Brego was looking a bit less round. ( I’ve learned that the old expression “fat and sassy” is extra weight, they’re more mischievous.) After I’d longed them on that third day, though, Sophie and I mounted up and rode without incident. Then, I continued to longe the horses every day before we rode them, until they were back to coming out of the pasture with a level head, workmanlike attitude. Which brings us back to the day in question? If I’d longed Brego first, he’d have been good to go anywhere in the arena, no problem. But now it seemed well, prudent to get him to break a sweat down at the “safer” end, before tackling cougar corner. In the end, Brego decided the matter for us. Two steps after Sophie’s “he’ll be fine,” he scooted t the side, sure that one of the end of the ring ogres had hidden itself along the arena’s long side. “Guess it is a good idea, Mom,” Sophie said, turning Brego onto a circle at the near end. She then warmed him up without incident, and had a wonderful, spook-free ride. It was, for both of us, a great reminder to do all you can, every time you ride to help your horse behave like the good boy he is. By Jenny Meyer Editor At Large |