Cob Jockey

"It's almost like we have to make him anticipatory right now."

I didn't fully get to process those words from my trainer in the moment as I sat on Disco panting from the effort of getting him to canter, but I sure did later.

Disco has finally earned the "nice" bridle. Also, the Fairfax drop is the most attractive drop noseband of all time and you can't convince me otherwise.

Once again, she had asked me how much I'd ridden since my last lesson 5-6 weeks ago, and once again, I told her "Not much." 

To be fair, he was at Lisa's for 3 of those weeks and waiting on the saddle fitter for almost one, but still. How am I going to "almost make him anticipatory" if it's quite frankly been years since I rode anything on a consistent schedule?

My partner asked if he could keep bush hogging for me during that lesson, and it helped SO much. There's only so much weekend daylight for bush hogging and it all has to be done every 3-ish weeks in the growing season.

It was during a heat wave that I figured out the answer. It was going to be way too hot and humid to ride after work, and although I'd never done this before, I had the thought that I might be able to cram a ride in before work now that the barn is a quarter mile stumble from my bed. 

Turns out? I LOVE riding before work. And it might be the key to everything given the stage of life I'm in right now.

Connor holding court for the main herd outside his dutch door during my morning ride, because he can be trusted to mostly ignore them.

...mostly.

Disco doesn't need duration, he needs frequency and consistency right now, so the 25 minute rides are perfect. We warm up and practice "old" skills for about 10 minutes, I pick one new skill to work on for the next 10, and we cool down for about 5. 

"Send help, call PETA"

The change in him was almost immediate once I started giving him consistency. Everything that was previously dull and slow started to become sharper, and I could feel him paying closer attention to my aids.

Proof that I am, in fact, sitting on a horse before 7am.

It's a whole separate post, my thoughts about where I'm at with starting a young horse for the first time, but giving him a schedule and patterns that he can recognize and think through has been a game-changer for his training. Who knew.

A slightly slow mo canter GIF. Canter is a normal part of our lives now, finally.

Finally, it has been a major personal win for me too. I'm enjoying these quiet mornings and the guilt-free kid/partner time I get after work now, plus the sense of "going somewhere" with Disco is so gratifying after treading water with him since he came home. If I can keep being diligent about my bedtime, this feels very sustainable, even as I look ahead to when these mornings will be cold and dark.