Simply Complicated

Remember my past posts about getting good lateral leg yields out of my boy? How I thought it was just my weight aids blocking him?

Turns out it was something even simpler (and yet more complicated) than that.

See I have a short inseam. I'm 5'2 and while I LOOK like I would have an average inseam for someone who is 5'2... even Kerrits Kids breeches are long on me... my knee patch is more like a calf patch.

I was riding Ashe bareback, for which he was an awesome boy! And I decided to get some leg yields in as he was always better doing them bareback versus in the saddle. Tonight proved to be no different and he was perfect in going left to right (we're working on right to left) with no temper tantrums or feats of gumby. I also was perfectly (as one can be) even in my seat bones, as a little left or right and I slither off like a sack of potatoes.

It baffled me immensely so I had my trainer and I do some troubleshooting. After a few minutes I dropped my stirrups and Lo! we are leg yielding wonderfully again. So apparently he KNOWS how to do it, but his cue spot is just lower than where my leg can sit when it is in the stirrups....especially jumping.

So now I have the joy of re-wiring my boy to listen to a cue where my leg is. Thighs of steel from stirrup-less riding here I come!

Also would like to note that I now love the Blocker Tie Ring. He will always be a panic tie-er ( you wouldn't think of it this last time, he was falling asleep!) but after a great test run when my trainer approached with the dreaded measuring tape where he didn't A: break his halter, B: break the lead rope or C: both, I am grateful that I know I don't have to worry about him panicking while tied anymore. (Note: Yes I had always tied him to bailing twine before. No it did not break instead of the halter. The past few months we have been just ground tying but he has ADD to a certain extent plus a stubborn streak.)

My boy is both brave, and insecure all at once (tractors, ice falling off roofs and general hoopla at the barn didn't phase him, but heaven forbid I measure him with a cloth tape for a blanket)