Baking Lessons

Misty and I had our 4th baking lesson with Sir Cowboy today.

I call them baking lessons because during lesson #1, Sir Cowboy called Misty a half baked cake. He said we need to turn up the heat and finish baking.

The heat is on and Misty and I are baking together.  Stick a toothpick in us, and it will still come out with some batter on it, but we are progressing and on our way to becoming fully baked.

Lesson #1: We walked and trotted in the round pen, working on my use of reins and leg aids.  Sir Cowboy evaluated my tack and made some adjustments and suggestions.  He loaned me a breast collar and rigged up a makeshift  flank set out of  a light horse sized flank cinch, nylon straps and baling twine. (Baling twine...almost as versatile as duct tape.)  It did the trick until a local saddle maker could make those items in draft size to fit Misty.  It is hard to shop "off the rack" for Misty.

Lesson #2: We trotted a lot and did exercises around barrels.  Sir Cowboy surprised me when he instructed me to put Misty into a fast trot around the round pen and kiss her into a lope.  She kicked out a little bit the first time we moved into the lope.  The furthest we loped was 1/2 way around the round pen. Loping under saddle is unfamiliar to Misty and it was the first time I had loped (cantered) in 25 years.  Then we finished up with some trotting exercises so Misty could end the lesson with confidence.

During lesson #3, I was surprised Sir Cowboy didn't make us lope some more.  Instead we did our turning and trotting exercises in the round pen.  Then we ventured out of the round pen to the front pasture where Sir Cowboy had us trot through a line of poles suspended from a high wire.  We worked on leg cues and releasing pressure through the poles.  It wasn't  pretty, but we did it with only one mishap.  While turning around the end pole, Misty stumbled on some uneven ground and went down onto her front knees.  Don't ya just hate it when that happens?!  She recovered fine and I stayed in the saddle.  Sir Cowboy said, "It's OK, she just tripped. You are riding a horse with big feet, you know."   Next we walked over a wooden bridge Sir Cowboy uses for training.  We walked over that bridge as if we had crossed it a thousand times.  The next time over the bridge Sir Cowboy told me to stop Misty on top.  No problem.  Piece of cake (even if it is just half baked). But Sir Cowboy likes to challenge us. He told me to back Misty off the bridge.  What?  Back her off the bridge?  We've ridden over these types of training bridges before, but always in one direction....forward!  I'd never thought of backing her off of a bridge before.   Misty was a little surprised with that first step backward off the bridge, but handled herself well.  The next time, Sir Cowboy had me say the word "Step" to prepare her for the step down, much like I do when I back her out of her horse trailer. She stepped backward off the bridge with ease.  I really need to have Mr. OnceUpon construct a bridge for us at home.  I like riding over bridges.  We ended that lesson by trotting a barrel pattern.

During the two weeks between lesson #3 and today's lesson, I've been practicing trotting in an arena, around barrels and through a line of orange cones.  I've also been putting Misty into a lope on the lunge line often.  That is something I have not done with her until the last 4 weeks.  I've stayed in my comfort zone too long, lunging her at the walk and trot only and that's probably why she kicked out a little bit when we went into our first lope under saddle during lesson #2.

Lesson #4: Today we stayed in the round pen for the whole lesson.  We started out with ground work to warm Misty up like we do at the beginning of every lesson.  Then I mounted and we did some trotting.  Sir Cowboy had me stop and get off while he made an adjustment to my saddle.  He tied a rope onto the rings at the back of the cantle.  I still tend to perch forward a little too much and he said this would help me get the feel of sitting deeper in the saddle and will give me confidence at the  lope.  He doesn't want me sitting back with my butt all the way in the saddle.  He wants me sitting on my pelvic bones, with weight in the stirrups, but not pitched forward so much.  He instructed me to hold the reins in my left hand, hold onto the rope behind my hip with my right hand, move to the rail at a fast trot and then move into the lope.  Misty picked up the lope without kicking this time.  We did this several times and she was very good, if only a little difficult to get into the lope because she was tired, and it is harder for a horse, especially a draft horse, to lope in a circle in a round pen.  I was tired too and made some mistakes.  One time Misty started trotting faster and faster, but wouldn't go into the lope and I felt a bit out of control.  Sir Cowboy said I was tensing up and using my legs to tell her to lope, but was hanging onto her mouth at the same time; giving her mixed signals.  We started over and I concentrated on moving my hands forward with her and not pulling back and we went right into a nice relaxed lope and traveled several times around the round pen.  It was great and we are a little more baked.

Sir Cowboy wants me to practice loping Misty on my own when I take her to an arena.  He told me not to lope around the corners, but to put her into a lope as we travel down the long side of the arena; start with a short distance and work up to loping the length of the arena.  He told me to be brave and that I've got to turn up the heat to get to the next level.

And so we bake...