Asia is a Mystery

Asia is such a mystery to me sometimes. Yesterday's ride in the Big Field brings up a large gap in her training and it's one that I'm not sure how to fix. The day was gorgeous: bright sunshine and pretty warm for January, so I met Maurisa and her grandmother, Elaine, at the farm. Elaine's mare, Lady, had thrown a shoe, so Elaine couldn't ride. I volunteered to ride with Maurisa because not to ride would have been criminal.

We tacked up and Maurisa and her pony went to the arena just to warm up. I was slower to get everything pulled together, so after I got on, we headed out to the Big Field. It's the hay field. It's huge, probably 15 acres or so, and it's got some flat spots, but also lots of undulation. Here we are headed out by the pond on our way to the Big Field. It's up through those woods at the top of the hill.

I'd given my nice, SLR to Elaine to use while we rode and she decided to hike along with us, so we ended up with lots of pics. As we went along by the pond, Asia was fine. She moved on out when I asked, balked just a tiny bit just past the decorative windmill, but she wasn't spooking at the windmill or refusing to go forward, just saying to me, "Are you sure?" and I replied affirmatively with some leg and thinking forward, and forward she went. No big deal.

We got to the big pasture and I saw a huge tree has fallen down since I was last up there. JUMP! That's my first thought. I got off Asia and moved some smaller branches that littered the take off and landing and then remounted.

I used the tree itself as my mounting block.

Here we are looking at the tree after I moved the limbs.

We trotted around in a circle and Asia was excited, but not acting badly. It took me two cirles to get my nerve up. I knew without any doubt that Asia could clear this tree as we've jumped larger fences down in Dooly County with Grits and Jim. However, as I've gotten older, I'm more fearful. My back is messed up (horse accidents) and I really don't want to hurt it again, but I'm also thinking to myself that 30 years ago, heck, 10 years ago I would not have thought twice about the size of this jump and now I am. It's freaky to find myself freaked out. So, I trotted a warm up circle twice and then decided that I'd be more upset with myself if I didn't jump it, so I did. Alas, Elaine only got a shot before we'd even left the ground.
Asia trotted right up to this tree and never hesitated. She soared right over it and I thought as I went over, "Kathleen, you silly thing. That was easy" and then, on landing, Asia put her head down and started to buck. I rode it out, I pulled her head up, but there was one moment when I thought I was going to come off. Asia did not like being told that she couldn't buck. I got her stopped and then immediately set her off to work at a trot, thinking she would settle down.

We stayed out in the Big Field another 30 minutes or so and I never let Asia canter. I kept her to a trot. We trotted lots of circles and with Maurisa, we went down to the far corner and back, sometimes walking, sometimes trotting, but she never calmed down, she always felt as though she was wanting to buck. Here we are trotting together. For the record, Pony Pie was a great pony yesterday!
And as we worked, Asia just got herself more and more wound up. And as she gets more and more wound up, she collects herself into a ball of tension.
Note the tail and the eye. This picture is the most extreme, but it's a good representation. She was really ticked that I would not let her canter. Maurisa and I headed down the field and I thought that a good long trot following the fence line might help, but no. We returned, I got off to take off my sweater, and I set out again. And heading out, she started to calm down, but as we returned, she got more and more wound up.
Here you see here when I really thought she was about to explode. I got off. Five years ago, I would have stayed on, but now? Now I know how bad my back feels and I don't want to make it worse. I have a pretty good seat, and yet, I fear falling like I've not done in years and this is a fairly recent thing with me.

Part of it's because Asia is such a mystery. I have no idea what her early training was, but from her actions, I think that she was drilled to walk, trot, canter both ways and always in the same pattern. If I let her walk, trot, canter both directions, she's often very easygoing, but if I mix it up, she gets upset. In the arena, she's calm and almost a plug, but out in the Big Field? She definitely channels her TB side. Did I make a mistake asking her to jump before we did any other work? Maybe, as I think that's what got her excited, but until then, she'd been her usual calm self. We trotted the approach. There was no reason to act the loony horse, but she did.

And what also confuses me is how excellent she is out on trail. I take her to Horse Camp or Dauset Trails or Hard Labor and she's responsive and calm. She rates. I do tend to ride her in the Mikmar if I'm going to take her out in a large group as I appreciate the extra stopping power, but I've also taken her out in the D ring snaffle and she's been fine. She's been fox hunting several times and she was on high alert, but she was having a blast and never felt as though she was going to explode. But put her in the Big Field and ask her to school and she goes crazy. Take her on trail and she's a great ride. Is it the trees? I don't know and I realize that's grasping at straws...I think it's because out on trail, we trot purposefully, but we aren't trotting patterns like we do in the Big Field. Of course, we trot circles in the arena too and the reaction is never the same as it is in the Big Field.

So, once we got out of the Big Field I remounted and rode her back to the barn. She was fine. Really. I took her to the arena and asked her to walk, trot and canter and I had to use a lot of leg to keep her in the canter. What a change and I just am mystified.

I think I'm a quiet rider. I noticed that I lean forward a bit more than I would like and in a few pictures (there are about 60 from the ride that Elaine took) I note that I cant to the right side more than the center in a few pics, so I'm going to pay attention to that the next time we go out, but really, I think I'm a competent rider and I know that Asia trusts me as she will go places for me now that she wouldn't the first year I had her, but I just am stymied by the Big Field and her reaction to it.

Horses...they always keep it exciting, right? And yes, I sure prefer horses to just about anything else, although mountain biking is a very close second. Beth and I rode the Thomson trail this afternoon and it was almost five miles of rooty, glorious fun. It's so different from Dauset in that there's really no flow, but dang, it's fun anyway. It's technical and intense with short bursts of climbing and descending and it felt good to get out there, the first time in about a year and a half that I've ridden the entire trail. In 2008-2010, I was too wrapped up in personal problems that I didn't ride as much as I should and Thomson would wear me out by half way, so I'd take the shortcuts back. Now that I've been riding regularly with Team Big Foot, I am in good shape. It's gratifying as from 2002 through 2007, I rode Thomson so regularly, often once or twice a week, often twice around that to not feel up to riding it all was mortifying. Today? I was ready to go around a second time, but decided to stop after one lap and not push it. Yesterday I ran five miles before heading to the farm, then hiked the Hitchitee with Elaine and Maurisa after our ride, so my legs are tired. Age does bring some wisdom, like let your body recover and don't fall off the horse.