Well, today went a little rougher than yesterday. I had a chance to provide entertainment to the people watching! I came in and we decided to build on the soft steps we were getting yesterday so I lead him to the mounting block where he circled around and just was unsettled. He stopped for a bit in the right spot, so I hopped on and he walked off very quickly, feeling like he was going to keep speeding up. So Mark told me to circle him, and as I did, my saddle slipped off to the side and I reached forward, grabbed Apollo around the neck and slid off the side, landing on my feet facing Apollo with my arms wrapped around his neck, LOL! I got many compliments afterward about how graceful it looked, but it sure didn't feel too good. Luckily he stopped as I came off.
So we tightened up the saddle and I asked for a lesson in getting him to line up and stand quietly at the mounting block. Mark had him doing well with it in 10 minutes and I was able to duplicate what he did. He told me that the trouble had started before we even got to the mounting block, that Apollo wasn't settled at all and was in charge. He said he was standing there watching me thinking "she's really going to get on that thing?" But I learned a good lesson, he told me someone has to be the adult. So after we got that working well, we started with the soft steps exercise but ended up concentrating on his backing again. Apollo really struggles with it, and I was struggling to keep him straight. We got some improvement and then it was time for lunch break.
It was brutally hot today, and we worked in the outside arena. I think that may have contributed to Apollo's unrest and his rushing off, as a barrel racer he was expected to go in the outside sand ring. I was pleased to see Rick W show up and got to talk to him some before riding, and Lasell also made an appearance after lunch. Great to catch up a bit with both of them!
After lunch, Crissi and I worked a bit more on the leading and having him stop when I do and not taking extra steps toward me. He also tends to look away to the sides, and it felt like he was still going, leaving me in his mind. At first Crissi didn't think that was a problem, but it was happening every time so we addressed that and it got better. I was happy to finally have enough feel to even be aware that that was happening. Maybe there's hope for me afterall! I learned that the clue he should respond to was my turning my head back toward him and by the time my body followed, he needs to be stopped. Also, I need to complete the turn an be ready to address anything coming up, not just turn around and plant my feet. After that, we continued with the backing, and then
concentrated on the softening going forward. He doesn't have any problem with that and we got some really nice, soft steps. He even continued to maintain it after I stopped asking for it toward the end. Before we stopped, we revisited the backing and he's still having some emotional struggle with it. Hopefully by tomorrow, he'll work through it and feel better about it. I'm having a hard time with drawing him back with me, I'm going to try counting backwards and see if that helps either of us.
All in all a good day, even though the heat was grueling. I really needed to learn the mounting block training and we have to get past the resistance to backing. Looking forward to tomorrow!
When riding, we control speed, direction and destination. When doing anything with the horse, we control energy, space and time. That's being a good leader.
Mark has thought a lot about it and now believes that distance is the key to horsemanship. The distance from our hands to the mouth, etc.
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