Oh good LORD.

So, I took my first lesson on Moe yesterday (since he's been in training).

It was the most discombobulated ride I think I've ever had.  Going to the right was "okay," meaning, I did actually communicate with him about 15% of the time - got him to go soft, counterbend, bend, spiral (somewhat), and do a couple of passable transitions.  Granted, it took me several tries.  He knows what to do (thanks to Patricia), I'm the idiot who's just learning how to ask him.

Then we went left, and I was a complete brick.  And when I mean brick, I mean 5'11" of complete concrete.  My left arm would NOT move.  Nor would my leg.  I was screaming in my head - MOVE ARM!  and nothing would happen.  MOVE LEG!  nothing happened.  It was the oddest sensation - like, my whole left side just shut the f*ck down and was completely immobile.  We're talking a completely simple and easy thing to do, and I was physically unable to execute it... you can try it right now.  Sit up straight, bend your arm into a 90 degree angle, and MOVE YOUR ELBOW BACK.  Yeah, that's right, I couldn't do it.  Now try a simple "leg aid."  Stand up, bend your knees slightly (like you're doing a squat), then squeeze your left calf muscle.  Yeah, that's right.  I couldn't do it.

My shoulders completely locked up.  My elbows locked up.  My legs locked up.  The only thing moving was my wrists, which is the one thing you DON'T want to move... oh, and my heels going UP UP UP the entire time.  And me falling forward.  And my legs not anywhere on my horse's side. 

It was like someone took a "this is what you don't ever do in dressage" photo, and pasted it on my poor horse.  He was so pissed off at me.

*SIGH*  I'm going to go stand on my left leg for about an hour, then go lift a gallon of milk with my left arm.  How horrible.

Week One - Complete.

I swear, I've been cheesing like a goof for the last few days, and here's why:

Feel free to draw comparisons from these to the photo I have in the background of this blog.  This is how Moe SHOULD look with someone riding him.  Notice how in these photos, he's actually on the vertical, soft, and not running around with his head in the air like a giraffe?  Also notice the leg position.  This is what we call "tons of leg."  He is doing awesome.   EDIT: My trainer started reading the blog, and she laughed at it.  Apparently, this is not actually "tons of leg."  It's more like, "a little leg."  Shows how much I know about this whole "real riding" thing.  I have so much to learn... *sigh*

It's also pretty apparent that I bought him for the right reasons.  He's quiet, he's not a dick, and he moves fairly well.  The other horses at the barn look better than he does, move better than he does, and will probably be more competitive than him in the long run, but for what I can do - realistically - he's a perfect match.  He still needs to reach under himself a bit more - which will come with time - and he needs to be a bit more balanced, but again, that'll come with time.

I start lessons back on him next week on Thursday.  We shall see if I can make him look like this for longer than a minute.  Hopefully these stupid gym trips will pay off.

Moe and the Pile of Horsehair

Here in Washington State, we have two kinds of weather.  A Little Rain, and A Lot of Rain.  Right now, we're transitioning between the "Lot" and "Little," and the sun has actually come out for a few days, oh miracle of miracles.  During this time, we drink less coffee - it's not overcast all day, so you can actually sense the difference between morning and evening.  We also tend to drive a little slower - the sun blinds us without its protective covering of clouds and wrecks havoc on the roads.  This also means that the horses are shedding like mad.  Yesterday, instead of going to the gym like I was supposed to (naughty me), I decided to go down to the barn and groom the hell out of Moe.  This turned out to be an undertaking of extremely hairy proportions.

We're talking GOBS of hair.  It was on me, the ground, on him.  It flitted into the stalls and made the other horses sneeze... 2 hours later, when my back and arms were sore and it seemed like I'd gotten most of the loose hair off him, I realized that my sweater was now "bay" and you could barely see the aisle floor.  It looked like browny colored shag carpet had been laid down where Moe was standing.

And he still had more shedding to do.

Today, I will take some photos.  And try to get more of the hair off him.