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I just got back from a long ride on Ru. Road riding through Amish territory, down State Line Road. Calves, goats, buggies, turkeys, deer, cars trucks and tractors. Great training, and she is coming along real fine. Real fine.
It is so good to be gaiting down the road. A broken four beat gait. smooth. Supposed to be sustainable for the horse for long distances. We'll see. We are doing more and more gaiting, for longer continuous stretches.
It is so wonderful to have Ru back. I was there the night of her birth: April 19th 2007, middle of the night, outside in a snow storm. I spent the first six or seven hours of life with Ru. I think she remembered me. We didn't start from scratch.
Vicki did a good job on Ru's training. She is sound, sane and steady under saddle. All she needs is miles. All I need is miles.
My fear, confidence, balance and muscular issues are well suited to this horse. If I can relax. I can let go of the muscular tensions I hold in my right hip. As I get my seat, legs, and back...back...I can help Ru learn to relax into the ride. The farther we ride, the more she'll learn.
Like on the shore to shore.
We took a little time last week to work on the head down cue. Glad we did. It helped on the ride today. A couple of times we stopped and just worked on the head down. when she lowered her head, it was easier to walk off with lowered energy. We have dialogue.
Strange difference with a gaited horse. When she is gaiting, her head is high. It feels like it needs to be that way. Not sure how we'll address relaxing while gaiting. But we will. We will. There is no hurry. We will take our time each ride. We have all the time in the world.
The dream is alive again. I think its time to post a few more posts to this blog.
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