„Sorry to disappoint you but… this hasn’t been your work. Alison tries to dive through the snowflakes; that’s all.” The words of my riding instructor at the end of the lesson did not come as a surprise. For almost the whole time Alison had carried her head and neck down without me working on the reins at all. I could feel her back muscles actually carrying me and supporting her spine during the whole lesson.

It was that same feeling that had confused me two weeks ago when my instructor used a tiedown to help Alison bend her neck down (as my use of reins does not really offer much help or information). Suddenly I had a horse without neck and head. And the feeling between my legs was totally different and whenever I shifted my weight to induce a turn Ali would simply not listen at all; as if I was pushed back to square one.

Much the opposite today; I actually enjoyed feeling her strong muscles supporting my weight. And as I relaxed my shoulders I felt the Hanoverian mare reacting to the slightest of my movements. “See? Now you can tell the others that you were riding in the snow”, called my teacher as more snowflakes started to fall.

Snow… The last night had added another nine inches of fresh, white snow. My lesson usually starts with me walking at Alison’s side up and down the outdoor riding ring. It helps her to relax and me to see what she’s up to. Today Alison tried everything from forcing me to walk at her speed to pressurizing me as she started to walk into my way. Of course I couldn’t allow her to do either. And so we spend long minutes “discussing” until she lowered her head finally, kept one ear pointed into my direction and focused on my silent commands. If you don’t receive a horse’s respect on the ground you’ll never earn it in the saddle.

However if you have earned the horse’s respect on the ground you can’t take for granted that you’ll get it as easily once you’re sitting in the saddle. Alison was slow today, really slow. And there was this one spot on the long side of the riding court where she would stop again and again. I was pressing and pressing with my shanks but Alison would just stand there completely ignoring the pressure. And that’s when I finally understood: she’d only listen to a short, explicit command by my shanks – not to continuous pressure.

So the next time she slowed down I relaxed my shank for a second and gave her two short thumbs. And it actually worked. This must sound stupid to experienced riders but to me it was another step I had to take forward. Of course I had to pay for the rest of the lesson that I had allowed Alison to stop a few times on her own behalf before I understood what I did wrong. Alison would try to stop again and again especially when we turned, forcing me to fully concentrate and drive her forwards. So no – I wasn’t cold at all at the end of the lesson.