Confessions of a Recovering Perfectionist
The Lesson Journal of Judith Tarr

Thursday, August 20

Lesson today. We missed the last couple because of me being sick and/or prostrated by humidity. You kind of have to be able to breathe to ride. Funny how that works.

Now writing friend T is in town and there is company for the misery, and besides, I'm getting motivated to ride more. It helps that we had a spate of low humidity. Afternoons were fiercely hot (still are), but mornings were beautiful and evenings were tolerable. Now we have monsoon again, which actually I don't mind, but oh the humidity.

So, this morning we had Lessons. T went first while I finished up in the barn, then Pook got his turn. We've been working on me staying out of his way, and him cantering on the longe and, as of this week, convincing him he can pick up the gait anywhere in the arena, not panic if the depart isn't perfect, and get balanced once he's in it. He's settled in to various exercises, no longer resists the step-forward-and-back exercise that gets him off his shoulders and onto his sacrum, and is generally a happy guy.

We had a review of this, did some zigzags in walk, then S chuckled evilly and set up a pole across the centerline about 20m down from C. She marked off the quarter lines with blue half-barrels (our all-purpose arena markers/hay containers). The exercise was to ride a figure 8 in walk around the barrels, with change of bend before the pole. This meant he had to be straight and not swing his butt in the change, which made it a little challenging. Going left, his stiff side, he had to have a good bend throughout his body and neck. No faking it with his neck.

When he was comfortable with that, S upped the ante. Walk the left, trot the right. And there was a Lipizzan Moment.

I had not, you see, explained the exercise to him. In English. Respectfully. Before springing it on him. Of course S had explained it to me, but that didn't count. Protocol, you know. (Seriously? I think saying it in English confirms the exercise in my head, and sets me up in such a way that he's ready for the change in procedure. He felt he got it sprung on him, and he didn't think it was fair. Lipizzans are big on fair, and stallions are really big on it.)

There was, therefore, Drama. And Swearing. And Crowhopping. And Cussing. And much amusement among the humans, including the human on his back, which didn't improve his temper. So, I apologized, explained, talked him through it, and he was mollified.

Stupid me. We learned years ago from other Lipizzans that the verbal introduction is important and in some cases essential. You'd think it would be automatic by now.

He was happy enough after that to keep upping the ante: trot both circles, good bend, good outside aids, me looking UP and not down at the changes, then another change: very small walk circle left, crossing over in front, so that the change to right became a spiral out. I had to be more careful about the butt-swing, and to help us along, got two poles parallel so instead of going over one, we went through the two. Then walk right, trot left. At which point I pooped out, or we would have gone into trot left/canter right. I'll have to work up to that in schooling – and then see about that left canter. I see more longeing in our future.