Today is super windy and cool which is not the best combination for riding but I was excited to try out something I had read in the Eclectic Horseman magazine by Wendy Murdoch. I love to read Wendy’s articles and her book Simplify Your Riding is great. Many times Wendy gets into so much detail that I am overwhelmed and end up feeling like I need to start over completely in my riding but this article was exactly what I needed to understand a bad habit I can’t seem to break.
I have a tendency to pull back slightly when I ask for a turn rather than reaching forward and this collapses my ribcage on the side I am turning to. Cerise, my little Fire horse mare, will simply not tolerate this. Having a thoroughbred breed personality or temperament on top of being Fire she shuts down her forward motion at even a backward thought on my part.
Remi, my Yang Ming gelding, on the other hand has a quarter horse breed personality and my lack of perfection is not a big deal to him. I have several people tell my how much better I look when I ride him and I let them know he is filling in for me quite a bit. It is not that Remi is not sensitive because he is but quarter horses have been selected for centuries to do a job and this breed personality or temperament tends to be very forgiving.
Thoroughbreds on the other hand have been selected for speed and very little if any focus on cooperation with a rider. Their breed personality or temperament is very self centered and they need to be invited into a working relationship. Don’t get me wrong, I do insist at times that Cerise move forward even when my cue is not perfect but I also keep looking for reasons for her not to be doing what I ask. I love Remi’s QH breed personality and temperament that allows me to make more mistakes and still look halfway decent but I also love Cerise’s TB horse personality and temperament that keeps me doing my part to learn to be a better rider. Madalyn
PS The suggestions from Wendy’s article made a huge difference. Cerise is very glad I read it.