Lizard's Lament

When you're training for competitions, it's hard to find the time for a really long relaxing ride. So today, I take Crownie out to do one of my absolute favourite's - Lizard's Lament.

Firstly you head out along the road. It's nice and peaceful. There is an option to head along the ridge track, via the quarry. It's been raining. It's slippery. So I skip that option, and continue along the road. Finally, you hit the bottom of the valley, where the road forks. I take the left fork, and within a few strides I am at the bottom of Lizard's Lament.

Crownie pricks her ears, ready to gallop up the steep hill. The motorbikes have left a few deep grooves in the track, and I hold Crownie at the walk, until we are on smoother ground. Still steep and slippery though. Then I let her take off. We gallop along wildly, enjoying the freedom, wind rushing through Crownie's mane, and whistling through my helmet, trees rushing by on either side.

At the top of the rise we slow to the trot. Lizard's Lament leads us on. It twists and turns gently. We trot, we canter, we gallop. Crownie clears the puddle in her stride. We canter. We canter right to the top of the hill, to the end of the track, into the sunlight.

The sun blinds us, as we dash out of the forest and into the second plantation. Acres of pine trees stand below us, like an army of faithful soldiers. We snort and head home.

Training with rewards

I come up to Mark's to have a lesson on Gally. Mark puts me on a 20m circle. 10 circles in walk. 10 circles in trot. 10 circles in canter. Change rein. Repeat the exercise. Then, halt, and park in the middle.

"Has your horse walked, trotted and cantered well?", Mark asks.

"Yes".

"So now you halt. This is his reward."

Then Mark goes on to have a laugh about something or other. As usual with Mark's lessons, there is something much greater going on, than he lets on. I don't know, maybe he does't even realise it. The halt is not just a reward for the horse. It's a reward for the rider too. It's time to relax, to reflect and to hang out with your horse.

In a minute or two the lesson resumes. We do turns on the forehand. Heaps of them. One step at a time first. Then 180 degrees at a time. In between each turn we halt. We relax. This is the reward for the horse. This is the reward for the rider.

The next stage of the lesson covers turns on the hindquarters. And again we halt in between each turn. The reward.

Finally, we put the turn on the forehand together with the turn on the hindquarters, and get a side pass to the left, and side pass to the right. Then, halt. Relax. Reward.

The News

I'm not going to beat around the bush. The long and short of it is, the news is bad. I've got cancer. Breast cancer. The diagnosis was confirmed yesterday. But to be honest, I already knew during the mammogram last Thursday, when they were taking photo after photo after photo, and wanted second and third opinions during the ultrasound. Then the doctor rang me on Friday afternoon - could I come in for an appointment immediately. Doctors don't ring you like that to tell you good news. So I went off to the TTT Horse Trials on the weekend feeling very flat. But I went! And I had a ball!

If you want to see how I am progressing with the breast cancer, then read my other blog (http://www.prideranch.blogspot.com/). In the meantime, the horse riding and horse training goes on. Sure, there might be breaks, but I'll be back in the saddle as soon as I can physically lift the saddle onto my horse. And I might even have the opportunity to do the most riding I have ever done!

The "Let Go" philosophy

When Mark told me about his "tug, tug and let go" concept, I tried it out as soon as I possibly could on Crownie.

Wow. It was like riding a totally different horse. I thought I had "let go" after reading the "on the bit" chapter. Of course I had let go then. But, now I had let go even more. And my horse started gliding along, and seemed keen to come up to the bit.

Every time I would go "tug, tug and let go" I would not just let go with the bit, but also let go of the tension in my shoulders. It felt really really nice. And horse training became this really pleasant relaxing activity, that horse riding should be.

The other thing I discovered, is how hard it is to actually let go after just two tugs. Yes. After just two tugs, the horse doesn't necessarily come onto the bit. And the mind is screaming, and the shoulders tensing, that you should keep tugging until the horse comes onto the aids. But surprisingly enough, if you can just convince yourself to let go, the horse is much more likely to come onto the bit, than if you sit there tugging in frustration. Funny that.

This might all sound counter intuitive. So think of it from this perspective. The only reason you tug is because the horse is not travelling on the aids. So you tug to say "this will profit you not". After a couple of tugs any horse will come onto the aids, even if for just a split second. You may not be able to feel or see that response. But by letting go, you give the horse the benefit of the doubt that the response was there, and you are saying "this will profit you". You are rewarding the horse for the smallest "try".

The other thing that happens, is by doing a tug on one side, then on the other, you are fiddling around with the bit. And why doesn't your horse come onto the bit by itself in the first place? Think about it. It's scared. Your horse is scared of the bit, and what it can do to him, the discomfort, the pain. By doing a tug, you move the bit, but it's for such a short period of time, that the horse doesn't really have time to get worried about it. The next time the bit moves it's "old hat". And when things become "old hat" the horse is no longer worried about them.

Tug, tug, and let go

About 10 days ago I had my first lesson on Gally with Mark. It was just after I had read the "on the bit" chapter. Having read that chapter, I then rode Crownie, driving her up to the bit.

When I met up with Mark, I was brutally honest that I may well have been somewhat heavy handed with my horses. Mark is great in the sense that he listens to what you say, then he converts it into his own understanding of horses, and goes from there.

When I hopped on Gally, Mark immediately asked me to tug on the left rein, tug on the right rein and let go. The horse's head went down, and he relaxed. I relaxed. And here is the key. Tug once, tug a second time, then let go. Let go of the bit, let go of all tension, let go of your breath. The minute you start riding like this, you will feel riding take on another dimension.

Of course, the minute you have let go, you may need to start the next "tug, tug and let go" sequence. But the key is to let go after two tugs. I highly recommend trying this exercise, if only just for size. And if you're out competing, and are feeling nervous, this exercise can work wonders in settling your nerves.