Yesterday, my good friend and professional dressage rider Kymmy came over to school Homer (and me!), and to ride my best friend Meghan's horse Orion. Ry is 18, bay, and a horse that, in Kymmy's opinion, works hard to please. Their ride was fabulous - within mere moments he was moving out, on the bit, behaving beautifully.
I glanced at them now and then while I warmed Homer up, waking, trotting and cantering in each direction, and then working on some shoulder-in to loosen him up. He was forward, which is good, and behaving well.
Then Kymmy got on my horse.
Homer has a bit of a stubborn streak. He is not mean about it, but he does not hesitate to show his displeasure at something he's being asked to do if he does not feel like it. He also likes to test out new riders. Kymmy's first ride on Homer a few weeks ago was exciting. He tried to run her into a few of the jump standards set up around the ring, using his current favorite trick of cantering sideways, and threw in a few bucks, just for fun.
He was slightly better yesterday. Homer tried to get around trotting nicely for Kymmy (nose in air, hollow back), which she wasn't having any of. Kymmy is a much braver rider than I am, and worked his little Thoroughbred butt right out of it. Trotting settled down pretty well. Cantering, however, was an adventure.
It took a little over a year of dressage training for my horse to realize that he does not need to jump-start his cantering with an explosive buck, but now that we've improved his suppleness and built his topline and strengthened him overall, he's developed new and exciting ways to avoid working. For Kymmy, he tried a hand gallop, and then tried to run her into a jump standard, all of which she handled with aplomb. She turned Homer so that his rear would be the only thing he nailed into the jump, and kept him cantering. And cantering. More trying to drive her into the jump, more turning, and lots more cantering. He tried speeding up; she pushed him through it. He tried dropping into a trot; she picked the canter back up. They cantered for about 10 minutes straight - he was a sweaty mess by the time she was done, but he was cantering, in a frame even, and doing it like a pro.
The verdict? I am babying him too much. As in, I need to push him more, and ask him to do more. I need to let him know that status quo is not enough, because, as Kymmy said, you only get the true brilliance out of a stubborn horse like Homer if you push him to that point.
Fun, eh? Can't wait to ride him tomorrow.
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