Photo credit: Robert Dawson

For the last three years I've been riding my mare exclusively. This has had many advantages: we've forged a strong bond, especially on the ground, and for the most part I have learned how to deal with her many idiosyncracies, moods and behaviors. However, since I had less than a year on different lesson horses prior to moving to Missy only, I have felt like I'm not so much learning to ride as much as I am learning how to ride her. Now that I've had three lessons on three different horses with a new trainer I can really see the benefits of this plan. I've been spending a lot of time focusing on my leg and now all of a sudden the focus in on my hands. Just a few simple adjustments have made a huge difference, things I didn't even realize I was doing that had become bad habits. Last week I was on a big flea-bitten gray draft cross named Griffin, a sweet old guy in his mid-20s at least. I'm used to big and big strides so I felt quite comfortable, even at the canter and even though I'm in a group of four. Then our trainer decides we should switch horses. Whaaaaaaa? I've never done this before. She puts me up on the smallest horse of the group, a fat QH mare with a pony stride. After a few circles of cardio-posting I ask her to canter and she bolts into it and throws me forward over her neck, and she has no neck! I had to pull back again and again to the trot, I just could not get my balance. *sigh* I guess that's why it's called a lesson.

I've looked at the classifieds a few times in the last couple of weeks but my heart isn't in it, so I guess by default I will continue to work with Missy. My trainer wants us to give it until the end of the summer and reassess at that point. She is really making an effort, something she should have done long ago, but at this point I'm willing to play along. She's sound and healthy for the time being, but that's always been the problem...we are going great and then something comes up and she's down for a few weeks or a few months, then we have to start over from two or three or four steps back. Willow (my trainer) and I are on the same page I think, she's said more than once that she isn't sure that Missy can handle the consistent hard work it will take to keep her ridable, physically. She says Missy will either be broke to ride or she'll be broken and they will retire her.

I received the Dr. Cook's bitless bridle I ordered but the regular horse size is a bit too small. It sits too far down her nose and the chin strap is on the very last hole, so I'm going to send it back and get the oversized. Hopefully by then the reins will also be here -- when I ordered the website said they were both in stock but the receipt says the reins aren't scheduled to ship until April 22.

Hard to believe it's been a month since I was in Jordan and since we lost Bailey. I'm still digesting both events and will be posting more pictures and thoughts as I sort them out for myself.