Cob Jockey

It occurred to me recently that Disco is the absolutely perfect horse for me to learn how to start.

He's just so darn easy. I trust him under saddle more than I trust Connor, and for good reason: he doesn't spook, doesn't buck, doesn't bolt. 

Left him standing in place while I set my Pivo up, and Brynne marveled, "I think he's the most chill stallion I've ever met. Normally they're quite full of themselves, and he's just...not!"

I mean - this was his first ever "buck" under saddle during my lesson last weekend. 

Did you miss it?

His good behavior has meant that I get to focus entirely on the process of starting a youngster without dealing with some of the more challenging behaviors that often occur. And I need that - I'm not the most confident rider, and this is a big deal for me, to start one and not screw him up in the same ways I screwed Connor up.

What I haven't done yet is worry about where his head is. Brynne has been great for me in sketching out a roadmap of skills that we need. The first thing we needed was forward - go when I say go, maintain a given speed/gait without nagging until I say otherwise, and take me forward. Absolutely nothing else mattered.

Now that we finally have that, at my last Brynne lesson, we introduced the idea of following the bit, which is a precursor to a lot of other things. It's also something I was not going to introduce myself without trainer supervision to help me with the timing and just knowing how far to push it in the moment. It would be so easy for me to get against him or to not release in the right moment and leave him confused and frustrated.

Erring on the side of giving and letting him walk out of it a second too early rather than a second too late.

Brynne, who has started many young pulling breed horses in Dressage, gives me so much confidence and is such a good fit for us right now. On Sunday, she figuratively sat me down and said, "You're going to need to ride him a bit differently to teach him this skill. He needs a big, clear aid for this and the space between the reins to feel like he can turn. It's still effective riding, but it's not going to look like you'd ride a trained horse."

I needed to hear that, because I mostly have been riding him like I ride Connor, which is good and bad. Good, in that he's generally rose to the occasion so far, but bad, because when he needs me to be loudly clear, I sometimes am not giving that to him and it might make certain things harder for him to learn. 

Rocking vetwrap on his bridle because his forelock got stuck under his grazing muzzle halter and rubbed him raw last week

As she was walking out last weekend, she said, "I know it probably feels like you're not getting anywhere fast with him, but trust me, you're making a lot of progress and you're right on track. Just keep doing what you're doing and trust that this is just a stage."

...and what we're doing is creating sleepy baby horses