Balance and Excellence

Nae saian luume', 

Raise your hand if you've asked your horse to do something you can't do. *raising hand*. I have been asking Cricket for balance, that is even hard for me. So what I did the past week is work on my balance as well; bending over backwards and coming back up, cartwheels, stretching, walking along the top board of the fence, etc. Getting my drift? These are things that require strength and balance that I can now fairly ask Cricket for. No, I don't want Cricket to do a cartwheel or a back flip, I just want more flexibility in our rides. 

So Rachel got back from Scotland this weekend and she was picked up at the airport by us, we also watched The Fellowship of the Ring- which is unrelated to this post. We were going to go ride of course, so I put on Abby's saddle with two shims. This was Rachel's first ride in the saddle, she told me it felt really weird and new. This was good because I'd like bareback to be normal for her. Cricket really quickly stretched into the saddle and was putting her head down, I was really happy. Then Rachel asked me what Finesse was because she'd heard about it here. As I was explaining to her about mental/emotional/physical collection I started to side-pass in zig-zags and Cricket was all the above! I was really happy with how well she did and went inside at the end a very happy horseman. 

Are you being fair with what you ask of the horses you train/play with/ride? What is your flexibility compared to your horse? Are you going the extra mile to strive for excellence, grace, and rhythm to match your horse? 

Vanya sulie!

Priscilla