The Ever Elusive Consistency...

Frustration.  I am feeling tons of it at the moment...especially during flat work.  I can't keep a consistent contact, a consistent in front of my leg, consistent transitions...you name it.  And, I am getting frustrated.  I also haven't had a Boss lesson in about 3 weeks - vacations and work schedules have gotten in the way of that and well, it has left me feeling as though I am starting at square one.

Uncle John giving me instruction on how to 'do it better'...

Okay, maybe not square one, but definitely square 4 or 5 on a square of 10 scale. Knowing me and the kind of rider that I am, I will guarantee you, I am thinking about it too much, trying too hard and not riding properly.  Actually, I know that is what is going on.  I have been so worried about her head, that I forget that I need to use my legs to get her into my hand, there by correcting her head.  Simple when I sit and think about it.  How does the saying go...? Easier said than done.

Not to mention, yesterday was one of the most infuriating rides I have had in a while on her.  She had absolutely zero desire to jump and rather plowed her way through, yes through, the jumps.  Which in turn led me to have strongly 'encourage' her over, which lead to her turning into a demon, which lead to me getting more frustrated, which lead to a complete meltdown on both our parts. 

I stopped - literally stopped - for a good 2 minutes and then started again.  Hallelujah, I had a horse again.  I forget sometimes that she is only 4 and there are going to be growing pains along the way....and even when she is 'well schooled' there will be growing pain.

We are headed to Uncle John's tomorrow morning for a session with a couple other boarders from the barn - if the weather holds up - and then the plan is to take her to a little schooling show on Sunday...so she can start to get used to that sort of atmosphere.  The hope is that exposing her to low key show environments, going to an event won't be THAT big of a deal. Ha.  Yeah right.  It will either go really really well, or be a complete disaster.

Funny - when I mentioned my ride last night to Uncle John - he said 'don't worry about it, they won't all be perfect.  You know, sometimes, it would be interesting to get the horse's perspective on what made a ride so shitty.'

I hate it when he says stuff like that...