Heritage Bound

It begins again.  The up and down of nerves.  The obsessive check for bumps, nicks, cuts, scrapes, swellings, shoes.  The constant pressure to get in one more productive ride, five more strides of that nice trot, two more strides of the newly found bouncy canter.  Its pressure and I love it.

I have never needed extra motivation to ride.  But life gets a little bit busy and while I still don’t need motivation to ride, I find myself needing motivation to ride well and to ride better.  It’s easy to make steady improvement when you’ve got a coach watching each stride, reminding you to keep your wrists straight, eyes-up, and shoulders back.  They’re on the ground watching those subtle changes, like the curve you develop in your spine from too much time in a desk chair.  But when you ride by yourself, after a full day of work, it’s easy to go through the motions and be happy.

Horses have a way of taking the edge off.  People at the barn have probably noticed I’m a lot easier to talk with after I’ve ridden.  This calming sensation is great for my social life, but not as helpful for our continued improvement.  It’s way too easy to be pleased with one stretchy circle and walk.  I need something to spur me on (no pun intended) and make me ride a couple extra transitions for good measure.  That’s where the pressure comes into play.

When we are entered in an upcoming event, I seem to be able to push forward.  I demand more of myself and therefore more of my horses.  I have an excuse to be tuff and to put the horses higher up on the priority list.  It’s a shame that I can’t seem to do that every day of the year.  My pocketbook certainly would prefer the self-disciplined approach.

It’s not that I haven’t tried either.  Creating a plan of attack, setting goals, studying exercises from all the greats.  I know how to do it, but darn that implementation is hard.  Of course, excuses are easy to come by.  Work was really stressful.  It’s quite hot.  Nutmeg feels a little stiff.  It would be so much easier if I didn’t have to drive two hours round trip.  I’ve used them all, but in truth there is no excuse.  It isn’t fair to my equine friends to demand top performance one week and nothing more than a polite hack the next.

So, I’m taking a not so fresh perspective.  I’m setting up my goals, again.  I’m planning out my exercise to get us there, again.  I’m tracking our progress in my record book (yes my Pony Club friends, I still keep one).  We’re going to get better.  I’m going to get my old form back.  We’re doing those few more strides in the bouncy canter and a few more transitions for kicks and giggles.  We’re Heritage bound.  The pressure is on and we love it.