R E S P E C T - No more 'just co-existing'

Whew – what a weekend! Busy, hot, tiring, but a great learning experience.

Friday night we had a good schooling session. Our Saturday classes  started well, despite Remy’s little bucking fit in the warm up. His attention and focus, as expected, were a bit skewed. He was calling for his friends, ‘humping’ up his back, but all in all we had good moments.

Sunday was a good progression on Saturday, Sandy finally got through to me J in that Remy needs to RESPECT me more and do what I say. Yes, this is nothing new, but it seems I need to go out in public to really get it. Nothing like your horse acting up in the warm up in front of the professionals and other competitors (George’s comment: “Your young horse seems to have some spunk”).

Barb, another instructor and also one of Sandy’s students, put it really well. She said that she noticed that at home she and her young horse ‘co-exist’, meaning she is not pushing issues (that should be addressed) too much in order to keep the peace. Well, thanks, Barb, that hit home!

So, once I rode with more authority, with some growling in French thrown in for good measure, we did quite well. I was really happy with this weekend, and in addition to a mountain of laundry (horse and human) to remind me of it I have good judges’ comments and scores.

The other big ‘aha’ moment was when I realized that Remy IS NOT Saumur! Huh? Well, with Saumur I am constantly on the lookout for anything that could upset him. Remy, OTOH, is a cocky little guy, he doesn’t scare easily. I can ride him like a ‘normal’ horse. Wow, after all these years – I can actually have FUN at a horseshow J

Speaking of fun: Sandy’s students really cleaned up at this show. Sandy was by far the most successful trainer, with five students accumulating:

-        Three championships

-        14 1^st places

-        one 2^nd place

-        six 4^th places

-        one Dover Medal.

 
We had our share in it J