meet Isabel

True story - the first time I rode Isabel she bucked me off. 

She was accustomed to not really having to work. Her owner enjoys the freedom of galloping around in the woods, but is bored by endless circles in the sandbox. However, by skipping out on flat work, Isabel had become rusty at a very fundamental level. 

that place bores me. let's not go in there. 

Quick side note: It's actually pretty random how I found Iz in the first place. Her owner was a regular customer at my mom's cafe, and mentioned that she was leaving the country for six months and wanted to lease out her horse. So my mom told her to call me. 

I was actually kind of ticked because my mom isn't a horse person and doesn't really know anything about the different disciplines. (Does anyone else have relatives who say, "Oh you jump over stuff? So you steeplechase. Cool." No. No I don't steeplechase... it's totally different.... but I digress)

So I figured it'd probably end up being a barrel horse or something else equally alien to me. But fortunately, when the owner called everything sounded like it could actually work, so I went to meet them. 

it's a pleasure to meet you?

At the time, I had just started riding again a year earlier after a 4 year hiatus. Those four years off had seriously diminished my riding abilities, and it was frustrating to *know* how to fix a problem, but be physically unable to do so. Plus, I was discovering that my confidence was totally shot. Like, it just totally disappeared. #adultproblems

So my plan was to use Isabel to build my strength back up between my weekly lessons at a hunter barn. Of course, it was clear from the first moment that Isabel was no hunter. 

'this is my preferred discipline' -Isabel

Isabel wasn't bad, she just kinda wasn't very good. The owner's demo mostly looked like they were putzing around. She was really easy to get going coming towards the gate, and really easy to stop going away from the gate. And she would bury herself in the corners of the arena near the gate. But it was clear the owner wasn't really asking for much. 

Then it was my turn. Izzy is a very sensitive mare, and she was HOT. Her owner told me that she has a very light mouth and goes on loose reins. So I rode the horse described with a big loop in my reins, rather than riding the horse I felt under me. My mistake. 

out of shape pony is out of shape 

Isabel had no rhythm and was very inconsistent. She'd really suck back going away from the gate, and try to zoooom home. She steered well, and was responsive, but you kinda got the feeling like she might bolt at any moment if she didn't like your vibes. 

Plus, at the canter she did this weird bouncy thing - like, barely moving forward, just kinda up and down. Cantering around toward the gate, I could tell that she wanted to break but I just kept my leg on, thinking 'ok pony, you can do your up and down thing all day long, that's fine. but you must canter past the gate.' 

So she did keep cantering. And she kept doing the up and down thing. But she added a nice bonus of putting her head between her knees (recall that my reins were just flapping around in the breeze). 

It wasn't a huge buck by any measure, but it was more than enough to unseat me. I landed on my ass facing her with the reins still in my hands. And I was livid. 

I think she realized that it was a bad move on her part. I got back on, and PICKED UP my reins, and rode her around some more without another single hiccup. 

She needed work, but I knew that this horse would help me reach my goals. And amazingly, the owner was cool with it all. Two years later and the owner is back in the country, and I'm still working on it with Isabel.