Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Green Horse Battles

As expected emotions have been strong in the barn. It is hard when so much brings memories. With all that, there are still horses that need work. And Roscoe seriously tested both Mom and I. He was a spook with Mom when she worked ground driving the day after we lost Winston. I really think he was feeding off of  Mom's emotions. So when I rode him on Friday, I did not know what to expect.
He came out resistant. I tried to to stay firm, but zen. It was tough. Roscoe gave me his foot stomping, high headed giraffe impression. Plus he decided to try and run through my aids.

So I threw canter transitions at him. And he threw bucks at me.



Going to the right he seemed to forget he had a right lead. That created another battle. I tried spiraling him in then asking as I pushed him out. Over and over he kept giving me left lead.


I seriously had to dig deep for that unemotional ride I had at camp. I needed to think and examine. Roscoe was bulging that left shoulder. A bigger bend did not help, so I tried for straighter. He still gave me left lead. I ended up slightly counter bending him to get the right lead.


After that I decided to end on the left. Roscoe gave me one left lead and then just to stick his tongue at me, he picked up right lead going left. Well I just kicked him forward, did a ten meter turn and cantered right.

These green horse battles will happen. Roscoe has figured out it is hard work and he is going to test my insistence. I think things are going to be ugly for awhile. That's okay. Growing up is hard to do.


Sweaty Boy


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7 comments:

  1. Alanna MMarch 2, 2017 at 12:29 AM

    Growing up is hard and training a young horse is hard too. Hang in there!

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    1. NicoleMarch 2, 2017 at 11:02 AM

      I am okay with it since now I know what it will produce :)

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  2. TeresaAMarch 2, 2017 at 8:50 AM

    What Alanna said. Plus the emotions of loss do not help but they are real. I have found that when I try to take my emotions out of it I end up suppressing them and it seemed to make things worse for me. I have better luck when I speak them out loud. I know it sounds foolish but I find if I speak them I can let them go and get on with things.

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    1. NicoleMarch 2, 2017 at 11:06 AM

      I tend to get a bit numb when I grieve, so the hardest part was knowing I needed to change how I asked and not getting the right way faster. I almost wrote Winston's memorial post, but chose this one first. Soon I can do him justice.

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  3. emmaMarch 2, 2017 at 3:24 PM

    Oooh what Teresa said about speaking to them out loud is something I do a TON. Not even just saying "whoa" or "good" or whatever, but also just plain English almost as if I'm narrating our ride. Bc it helps me focus and not get caught up or too annoyed plus it literally forces me to stay in the moment. Bc yea. The green horse saga is strong over here too, even without dealing with the tragedy of loss.

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    1. NicoleMarch 3, 2017 at 7:48 AM

      You're right, there are times I find myself talking to the horses. Also I use music or audible books to clear my mind while I ride and not over react. Someday Roscoe and Charlie will lose the green. And PS I laugh at the picture in my head of Roscoe next to Charlie.

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  4. CarlyMarch 5, 2017 at 3:10 PM

    It seems like things always get ugly before they get pretty!

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