Trainer in Training
We had the pleasure of “helping” our friend, Paula, with a pony she’s training. The pony’s person (people?) are the same age as The Goblin Child and she wanted to see how the pony would do with someone of that size. The Goblin Child is a good, aggressive rider and was happy to help.
The wind was howling the day we went over. Fortunately the place has a nice indoor arena, even in there it felt as though the walls would be ripped away and moment. The pony stood quietly. Paula hopped on in The Goblin Child’s saddle and the two were off like a shot, in a speedy little pony trot. I had a few moments of doubt. But I trust Paula and if she says the pony is safe I believe her, with only a little trepidation.
They came back at a much slower pace and we threw G.C. up. She stayed on the lead line at first, then we turned her loose. They did great, pony wasn’t very interested in listening and G.C. wasn’t overly enthusiastic about going that day. Paula grabbed her horse and they rode around together for awhile. Then G.C. was done. Once she has declared that there is no point in pushing her any farther.
I got to get on Paula’s horse and they handed 8 up in front of me. Our neighbor, Tanna, who comes over to ride with me had come along and she swung her incredibly long legs over the pony’s back. They didn’t drag the ground, it’s a perfectly sized pony. Together we played around in the arena until Paula offered to let me try her horse on the cutting dummy. I jumped at the chance, he’s a good cutting horse and I hadn’t had a chance to play like that in a long time.
He was awesome, I was not so great. I allowed him to creep in on the dummy and we kept ending up right on top of it. It was a rush getting to feel a good cutting horse under me again. Then she let Tanna try him. She did her best, he took advantage a little. For a sport that is supposedly all about letting the horse work by its self, it’s amazing how much rider input is sometimes required. Tanna has been coming out and getting some lessons and is doing incredibly well for a beginner rider. She has a great seat and is willing to listen and wants to learn but we spent our lives learning seat aids, leg cues and how to do this stuff, she still so young. If only I had started paying attention to this stuff at her age. She is going to be a great rider and this was an excellent opportunity for her to learn.
Then Paula got back on and fixed all the things we had broken on her horse, just before their first cutting of the year. Hope she was able to get everything back to normal and does great this weekend.
