Wizard Ride 172: I Can’t Wait

Friday, 8/20/10

I rode Wizard in the indoor arena in the evening. Although it was a late night, we were not the last ones out of the barn. A boarder was showing in the Monmouth County “AA” Horse Show the next day and her horse was getting his mane braided. Although Wizard and I won’t be spending any time at a show of that caliber, it made me think of our upcoming clinic and any potential horse shows on the horizon…

It’s a huge thrill to be considering such fun projects, but it also gave me the jitters. Have I created any gaps in Wizard’s training? Is he really ready for all these plans? Is he still considered “green”? I rode through some of our usual exercises as a barometer of our training, doing forward work, transitions within gaits, and some lateral work at the walk, trot, and canter. Wizard felt much better than he did two rides ago, and any of his anxious behavior was gone. Hopefully that night was a fluke- perhaps he had a bellyache or he hated the different tack or something.

The hardest thing we’re doing these days is shoulder-in. I’m a much stronger rider to the right and my leg and seat and hand cues are better timed and more effective; therefore, shoulder-in and leg yields to the right are better than the left. This actually works out well, though, since most horses (and riders, from what I can tell) prefer to travel to the left. Perhaps my left-handedness plays a part in this. Whatever it is, it creates a decent lateral repertoire to one side and not to the other. I really concentrated on our work to the left, trying to straighten my seat and shoulders. Another issue I battle is riding with a caved hip and crooked shoulders. I aligned myself several times during the ride.

The canter work was quite nice, with Wizard picking up his leads with reasonable ease. We trotted some ground poles, did some closing stretching exercises, and cooled out. I’m a little jittery when I think about our future plans, but when I’m in the saddle, I can’t wait.