A story of how the old, small, disabled horse brought my ego down and skill level up...

**JuniorxMyxLove** · 02-20-2012, 10:49 AM

The past few months of riding have been...interesting. I've ended up nearly in tears quite some lessons and on the verge of a panic attack for others. Basically, I've been riding the horse that I had a really bad fall off of, a few years ago (one that resulted in a major rotation in 3 of my vertebrae and a midline shift, among other things). He used to be a really dirty stopper and as a result, when I started riding him again last year I kind of automatically assumed he'd still stop and had NO confidence, couldn't go to anything bigger than 2'6" without being on the brink of a panic attack...it was bad.

A few months ago we finally had a break through, in which I jumped a 3' course on Scooter (the aforementioned horse) for the first time ever (the only other time the jumps got to that height, I fell off and landed on my head. So.) Since then, we've had some awesome lessons and I'm falling in love with the old man all over again. In the grand scheme of things, a few 3' jumps isn't a HUGE accomplishment, but I'm still proud.

I'll admit that I was kind of upset when I first started riding Scooter in my lessons - he was old(er), small(er), and not a horse I'd had to ride for a few years. Not to mention the fact that I had several deep-seated mental blocks pertaining to him and his formerly dirty stops. However, the past few months on him have certainly brought my ego down and my skill level up.

He's a complete sweetheart, and even being 17 yrs old and blind in one eye, is teaching me more about being a rider vs. a passenger than I would have ever expected. He's also an awesome horse for me to work on MY position (on the flat) with, since he's a schoolmaster and can pretty much handle himself. I've gotten loads stronger from spending so much time hacking around in a half seat on him. He's also calm enough that I can comfortably start to work no stirrups again for the first time in a few years (trying to ease my hip back into it).

I'll also say that I was feeling a bit pissy about being stuck at the "small" jumps while the girls I rode with (who are probably some of the best riders in the barn) were moving up with their horses to 3', 3'6", 4'. However, I kind of let that go and realized that they don't care that I don't jump as big or fast as them. They're amazingly supportive and after my first 3' course a few weeks ago, they spent the rest of the night congratulating me and telling everyone at the barn how awesome it was

We've also taken to reading over George Morris' book like it's the bible, sitting in various stalls with horses and debating over lateral aids vs. diagonal aids

I'm sure we'll have some pretty awful rides again in the future, but I think we've crossed a point where I know I can ride through it.

Thank you Scooter. You're pretty awesome

And unphotogenic...

And just for kicks, because he's an adorable jumper, a super old video.