I think it was on day 2 that I asked Buck a question about my horse being obedient but I felt he was mentally elsewhere. He was responsive and respectful to my aids, but he didn't quite feel 'in the room' with me.
Buck told me as nicely as he possibly could that I needed to be more interesting for my horse. Essentially, Tuff has to tune me out to tune something else in (this also applies to horses that like to make war/crabby expression with other horses).
Hmmm, now I knew this in a roundabout way before I asked the question. I am very aware that I need to keep Tuff's attention, as with too much head space he makes up his own fun, but I never really considered that I needed to be more interesting, and more to the point what would classify as interesting to my horse?
Forever in the aim to become more horseman than horse mechanic I came home and really have sat and thought about this. Am I ever interesting when in the saddle? Or do I play out the same exercises in an attempt to make us both feel like winners? In one regard, refining feel and softness, but sometimes paying the penalty of being considered regimented and dull to my horse? What was lacking here (apart from wine dissolved brain cells)?
There is no doubt the exercises Buck showed us at Aintree have definitely helped spice up things in the menage, giving us both another level of communication, but I could not help feel I was fundamentally missing something.
Then it clicked.. whilst having a conversation about a cardigan, that in my husband's opinion made me look like a monk... Tuff needed a purpose and I needed to try something different. My cardigan had a purpose, and it fulfilled it well. However it was not my usual look, but it felt good. This is what I needed to apply to my horsemanship. I'll get to the drag queen bit later...
So I made a commitment to take my riding out of the arena, and find purpose out on the trail. Fairly simplistic in idea, but interesting in execution. There are potentially a lot of distractions out hacking. Be it other horses, riders, cars, sheep, cows, killer cyclists and ramblers or even the distraction as a rider to completely switch off and hand over the reins to your horse. Never a good idea, but as a tired and harassed mum, is sometimes tempting. So for a full two weeks I set off with Buck's voice in my ear and to begin with a simple ask of my horse... feel my focus and follow my feel in direction and speed.
So this exercise basically required Tuff to be on a loose rein and go in the direction I wanted him to go at the speed I wanted him to go. My job was to not micromanage and only pick up the reins once he made a mistake (or if we were in mortal danger) oh and to have lazer like focus. Now focus is one of those things I am supremely good at when needed to be (i.e in mortal danger or if there is only one piece of cake left) but I can sometime be a very lazy rider, and once I start nattering, switch of completely and be a incompetant leader. Tuff has the attention span of a gnat and is the nosiest horse I've ever met, so I was expecting a fair amount of correction both of myself and with him in the beginning, but what I found out about myself and my horse is when I upped the ante, so did he.
Treat them how you want them to be, not where they are. There it is again. This Buck fella knows his stuff :)
So Tuff and I continued our adventures, and I found myself introducing more and more of the exercises covered at Aintree, out on the trail. But more importantly I was using them for a purpose, not just randomly implementing them. They started to make sense to Tuff on another level. Soft feel and getting to those feet proved useful when riding out with dear Clara, an older slower lovely mare. Moving the front over particularly useful for avoiding gigantic rabbit holes, back up and moving the front and hind with precision for the many gates we encounter, following my focus is indispensable for many a situation, particularly when going through narrow gaps with your feet up on your horses neck! Of course it was not all rosy, there were times Tuff was worried but I found he trusted my judgement, and that his feet were becoming mine and I can start to take them anywhere I need them to go... also short serpentines are invaluable when coming across killer soya bean pickers!
But the highlight for me, someone who has struggled to trust my riding and judgement for so long, was the long fast controlled trots on a loose rein, over open countryside, with my horse feeling totally one with me and moving in complete synchronicity underneath me. Together in gait, speed, aim and focus. Complete joy. Buck is still teaching me long after the clinic has ended, as is Tuff.
So why the flat footed drag queen? Well in the spirit of change and with a family holiday looming, I dug out my sandals and painted my blue-white toes a shocking shade of coral in an attempt to look 'normal' for a week. Apparently I look better in my riding clothes... and like a drag queen in anything else...pass the wine!
See you on the flip side x
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