Not totally sure where this blog is going to go, or if it will be active longer than a month, but here I am at the request of a friend. For those that don't already know me, my name is Pam and I lease Joker (a 12 year old QH gelding). My journey to horses has been unplanned and interesting. Long story short I spent 40 years terrified of them and in a forced moment discovered they were my passion and the best thing in my life. If you would like the longer version feel free to visit my other blog http://totallypredictableunpredictability.blogspot.com/ .
It has been about 21 months since the first time I got on a horse, and in that time I had
ridden a handful of horses (for more than 10 minutes). My first two school horses
(Snapper and Cody), my first lease horse Cheyenne, my riding coach's horse Kola, but
primarily my time in the saddle has been on my Joker. I started leasing him in September of
2011. I was as green as they come when I started leasing him. Learning to ride and him
teaching me to be a rider was the first chapter of our journey.
The second chapter was stepping into the show ring, with Joker by my side. Last year we did something I vowed I would never do and competed. And to my shock and amazement we did pretty well. Really well if you consider my lack of experience and that he hadn't been shown in 7 years. I plan to show him again this year, and that goal is a lot of what has lead to this new chapter on my journey.
My goals for showing this year that I have shared with others are to a) show in my age group not novice (at least part of the time); b) to show at shows beyond my home saddle club and c) place at least once this season (moving from novice to age may make this a challenge). But the reality is all those goals really are secondary to me. My current goals are much less related to how we do in shows and placings and more about what I don't want to struggle with while showing (and riding) anymore.
I want to fix my seat- and by that I mean I want to not bounce around like a fool, I want to create a better picture when riding, I want to be able to achieve downward transitions and stops off my seat. On paper these seem so easy but they are really a struggle for me. Partially because I am new to riding, but partially because I have learned to ride with some additional challenges.
In 1996 I was paralyzed during a surgery gone wrong (during the surgery major nerves were damaged and I suffered two strokes). The long term outcome is polyradiculopathy and severe drop foot on my right side and decreased sensation in other areas. Learning to ride when you cant easily drop your heels or feel major parts of your body has been challenging, but I am proud to say I have far surpassed where I ever thought I would get. But I refuse to accept where I am at.
With the help of my riding coach I decided to head to Atlanta this spring to work for a few days with a professional coach, Wendy Murdoch, who specializes in seat and body issues when riding. You can learn more about Wendy at http://www.murdochmethod.com/ .
There was one huge problem with this plan. My horse is in Minnesota and I have no option to bring him with me. Finding a horse to ride at the clinic was easy. The coordinators were awesome. But the idea of riding another horse, at a different barn, with people I don't know was a lot harder. Terrifying to be honest. And that is where "Equindultry" comes in (a term the owner of Joker's brother Bob coined),.
For me learning to ride other horses is a lot more about a mental exercise than a physical one (although I hope to grow in that direction too). For as much time as I have put in on Joker, I have never truly gotten to where I believe that I am a capable rider. I have learned I am a capable rider on Joker, but attribute a lot of that to him and how talented and capable he is. My self esteem and confidence extends only as far as his hooves will reach. He is my security blanket, my safety net and my courage. But for me to head to this clinic I need to move beyond that.
To help me get ready for Atlanta Etta (my riding coach) and I agreed to put me on a different horse in a private lesson each week between now and then also in group lessons. As I shared my experience doing this with a friend she encouraged me to share my story, so here we are. A new blog, a new adventure. I will do my best to post each time I am on a new horse, share what it was like and what I learned. Sadly I don't have pictures of the two I already rode, but I will try to do better going forward.
BTW if anyone would like to learn more about my riding with Joker, he has his own FB page: http://www.facebook.com/pamandjoker?ref=hl
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