How to Train Your Warhorse

Happy Friday to you all! I hope the week has found you well and you are all prepared for a nice relaxing weekend. As for me, I will be headed into the arena aboard Miss Maggie, hoping all goes well and excited to put into action the principles Art taught me. Unfortunately, today we took Art to the airport to send him back to California, however, I am so grateful for the time he spent working with us out here!

The past few days have gone very well, and I feel like I have so much more in my toolbox of horses thanks to Art. I’m starting to get to that point where I can take something I learned from one horse, and apply it to another horse to help fine tune them. It’s truly a great feeling when you can take something you learned to fix one problem and use it to help another problem. I’ve really started to scratch the surface of how much my seat and hands affect my horse, and I know there’s so much further to develop in my riding. When you are able to simply tilt up your wrists and sit with you core to make your horse sit down and stop under you, it’s just an amazing feeling.

The first day Art worked with me, he told me that I need to ride more with my body and less with my hands. Which made me laugh, because it is the exact same thing Dave has been telling me for the past few weeks… I guess sometimes you just need to hear something 21 times before it finally starts to stick! But it’s definitely a concept that I’m working to refine more. The whole notion of pulling back to stop and kick to go forward is thrown out the window here and I’m really working to redefine my riding style. Sometimes when I’m really struggling with something, it takes a hit to my confidence, and I imagine that I can’t be very good at riding horses at all. And then I look at the big picture and see that Kelly is putting Maggie in my hands and Dave is confident that my horse skills will allow me an advantage in learning to be a jouster, and I have to stop beating myself up and realize I must not be as bad as I think I am. But having to essentially re-learn how to ride in the style that Dave and Kelly train their horses in has definitely been a process for me. Ah horse training, such a physically and emotionally trying job…

Speaking of Maggie, she has been progressing well, and I am very proud of what we’ve accomplished so far, but at the same time it’s so draining to have to work with a slew of different difficulties every day. But I understand that is what horse training is, and every horse is going to have something that needs to be fine tuned. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with the difficulty I have with her, but on the other hand, I know that if I was riding a push button horse I would go crazy with boredom. I have to constantly remind myself that Maggie is still learning, and I need to be a positive reassurance for her and not a controlling discipline Nazi. Today Art told me that his goal when working a horse is to make them happy without having them develop any bad habits. I’ve been sitting on that a lot, and really like it, because that’s what riding is about, a happy partnership. It’s also a struggle when I know my anxiety and frustrations are being relayed to Maggie, so in order for her to be happy and confident in her job, I do to. I’ve really learned a lot through working with her, and not just about horses, but about myself as well. I’m very grateful for the opportunity I have with her, and am excited to see what the future holds for us.

There’s really not much to report in jousting news at this time. I know that I probably should of gotten up in armor at least once more this week, but I really wanted to spend as much time focusing on refining my riding with Art that it sort of got pushed to the side. I did practice with a lance the other day, and just doing passes with that left me realizing I need to step up my game. We’ve also had a shortage of horses, due to numerous injuries, so there has been limited mounts for me to get on and practice after I finish my time with Maggie. Next week I’m going to hit the ground running and I promise I’ll bribe Shelby into taking some pictures of me working in armor. I also promise that next week I will spend some time going over the rest of the group here so you all know who is who and can meet my joust family. They really are a fantastic group of people.

With that promise, I bid you all goodnight! Tonight is a school night, and I see a busy weekend ahead of me! Please all do an anti-rain dance so it stays dry this weekend and we don’t have to perform in puddles, and wish us all luck! Oh, and here’s picture of Art with Maggie and I after our ride, he’s actually taller than me! Huge thank you to Art and all that he taught me, I can’t wait to spend more time with him in the future!

Maggie and I with the horse-wizard, Art!

Much love to you all!