Dont Fight Fire WIth Fire!

First I will talk about my dear Moosey who is doing so well. I cant believe how I lucked out on this horse. I have never had an OTT anything that was this soft and responsive. He's such a laid back guy(most of the time) and tries really hard to please. Yesterday I did a "lesson" with him and he did excellent. It was a little windy outside so at first so we did a lot of long trotting just to warm him up and burn all his extra energy. After he was focused I asked him to get on the bit and stretch long and low. The more steady and consistent my hands are the more consistent he is. After a while he was keeping his head low and was very relaxed. He was even drooling a good bit LOL We went both ways practicing this. He definetly does it better to the left but does well both ways considering how short a time I have been working on it. English has taught me a lot so far and I am really enjoying it. My friend who was teaching me took a video of me and Moose trotting and going over a small jump and than cantering. If I can figure out how to get it off Facebook I will upload it. If not anyone is welcome to friend me and watch it :) Just keep in mind BOTH of us are green to English (Well moose is green to anything but racing ha ha) so I know I look terrible. I'm learning and trying hard.
After plenty of trotting we worked on his canter. First to the left since that is easiest for him. He went right into his canter easily and at first he braced and I held him in a soft but firm full halt until he dropped his nose and quit bracing and after that he went along fine. He gets a little panicky when you first canter him and wants to run off but it doesn't take long at all for him to relax and soften. When we went to the right it took a few times but we finally got his right lead. He is getting better and better about it. We worked a little on downward transitions and keeping him from "falling apart" as we went from canter to trot to whoa! Again, excuse my terminology, or lack thereof ha ha I'm learning!
At the end of the lesson we started trotting over some ground poles to get him picking his feet up. He did well with that and we eventually progressed to a tiny cross rail. The first time he just plowed through it but after that he jumped nicely. I worked a lot on my two point. Im soooo not good at holding it long but I'm gonna work hard at it. I was also able to use my friends dressage saddle instead of that reaaaally flat jumping saddle I used to have to. That helped a lot but also will take some getting used to.
Now im sure by now your wondering what in the world the title had to do with all this? Ill explain...as best as I can anyway. It was kind of like a revelation for me in the English riding world. The horse seems so dependent on the rider and that light contact, in a good way. Moose has started looking for the contact if I slack my reins too much (baaad Western habit) All too many times I see riders who when their horse starts acting up or getting heavy, they start snatching the reins or pulling the poor horses face off. Trying to get them to submit to the pressure by force. Like fighting fire with fire. The horse just pulls more and panics and stops thinking and becomes tense. Sometimes they even rear or flip in evasion to the pain....but if you have one pulling or tense and you soften your hands and you, yourself relax, and do half halts and become "playful" with your reins. They soften and relax and become almost like putty in your hands. Fighting fire with water. I know this is old news and everyone is probably like "okkk and your point it?!".  My point it all along I have known this and subconsciously applied it to my riding but when doing the English with Moose and having that constant light contact has just amplified it for me and really shown just what a difference it makes. Maybe I am making sense? Maybe not LOL but either way it makes sense to me and it works :D

As for Miss May and Riley Boy they are doing well. I have been just exercising Riley as usual. One day I tacked him up English and took him over a few very small jumps and he really enjoyed it. He has been really fresh lately and hyper but in a good way. I think changing it up a little has been refreshing for him. Cant wait for the next race!

May on the other hand is doing well but I have been really working on slowing her down with my seat. She get so hyper and forward and wants to just half listen to my body commands. You really have to negotiate stuff with her ha ha. She is a good girl but keeps ya humble! :) The last five times I have ridden her we haven't even gone over a trot! We would stay at a walk until she relaxed than slow trot and than do long trotting. Every time she would accelerate and try to run off I would do check the rein lightly and bring her into a circle and than WHOA. We did this until she started staying consistent in her pace. I have also been working on moving them off of my legs at a slow and fast trot and a little bit with the ground poles. With May we also did lots of Whoa-ing (seat, voice, reins) and backing to keep her on her hind end. She is starting to respond better which is great. I want my horses to rate for the barrel when I sit up and deep in the saddle. I refuse to pull their mouth off and than crank them around the turn. It takes more work doing it this way but it is so worth it and the benefits are obvious in the form of a happy horse who enjoys their job!