Lessons my Rocky have taught me

Here goes, day two. I'm not sure if anyone is reading. But here it is.

First my Rockies have taught me the importance of staying in the saddle. I am speaking of my first mare. She is the only one I have fallen off of. when I took up riding again, I thought with these horses it would just come back to me naturally. I had done a little riding in my twenties and it didn't seem so hard then. But this is oh shall we say some years later. So when I started riding Mt Girl I soon began to feel very confident in the saddle. Sadly too much so. I learned quickly that I didn't know she was better at reading me than I was at reading her.

So she taught me a number of very valuable lessons. The first is to get to understand your horse. She understands what my nervous voice means and it means to her that it is time to run for her life and her rider needed to reassure her and let her know all is well with her world and I am not going to let anything happen to her. I learned that when I didn't give her this reassurance she would react the only way she knew and go into the flight mode. I hadn't refined my seat in the saddle enough to know how to ride through that. So three times on the ground later, I have rethought my approach to her.

I have learned the best way to reassure my young horse is to get to know her. This winter she has been hanging out on the farm in the pasture in the back of the house. We have gotten to know and hopefully respect each other. I am more relaxed and calmer when I approach her and she is responding very positively to me. Now she comes to me in the field and I scratch her all over and she is beginning to know me and enjoy my company more. Plus she is getting to be a horse for the winter.

I am learning from my youngsters now. Since January the 1st they are yearlings. December the 31 they were weanlings and all of the sudden now they are yearlings. I have learned to really relax around them although I do take care of the back feet always and especially at feeding time.
I held all of the horses while the farrier was working on them. He did a total of 14 and I learned a lot from that. I learned how to use my body and voice to get them to remain still and calm. I have learned that the more time I spend with my horses this winter the more relaxed I am around them. I am becoming cofident and more sure of myself.

To all of you horse people out there, you are probably laughing a bit to yourself. But I am a older woman and short on experience. If you haven't had experience with horses and want to learn, first find a good horse to get to know. Take riding lessons. Develope a good seat in the saddle and practice, practice, practice.