Letting go

November is typically a hard month for me. Shorter days, often cloudy, cold and wet. Luckily, this November was not too bad. We had lots of sun, no freezing rain and the ground did not really freeze until last weekend.  I went sunrise riding a few times before work too. You don't have to get up that early in November to see the sunrise!

Luba and I also spent November finding our fit with the new farm. It is great to have a group to ride with when we want some company. Friday night riding from 6-8pm is magical. Last Friday, everyone else was sick or thought it was too cold. But it was a marvellous night for a moondance. The forest became brighter as the full moon rose, making moon shadows. No need for a headlamp. There was no wind, so the only sounds were Luba's hooves crunching on the snowy trail and the coyotes singing.

Night riding is great for learning to feel your horse. Last Friday night, I realized that sometimes it is better not to pay attention to every little thing that catches Luba's attention. I can't see what she is looking at, so I don't bother with it. This seemed to help her settle more quickly and bring her focus back to the trail.

I have worked very hard to have a "rateable" horse. We go the speed I want pretty much all the time in all the gaits - which usually translates into slower than Luba's preferred speed. Since our goal is to go faster, the plan is to let her set her own faster pace (after a suitable warm up, of course). Learn how to let her go as fast as she wants and then slow her down. Even teach her a cue for going as fast as she wants, like "Let's go!".  My friend, Nancy Beacon, says the trick is to "feel the horse back", slowing her down just a bit with each stride. 

This reminds me of Uwe's advice to me after Luba bolted (see Run, Bolt, Bail, Walk), to just stay with her and ride it out, guiding her in the direction of my choice until both of us slowed down.

It is going to take some time for me to get used to letting Luba go. We have a 0.4 mile track around her paddock aka the Paddock Track. The first time I experimented with letting her go on this track, my first instinct was to rate her canter. I had to really focus on letting her go as fast as she wants. So going faster is more my problem than Luba's problem :)

Now the ground is frozen and there is just a skiff of snow cover. Today it is raining and it will freeze tonight. So the footing will not be good for canters until the real snow arrives. However, that doesn't stop me from letting Luba pick the pace more often. 

It's Luba's ride too :)