(Warning: This is a *very long* post. If you decide to read this post, be sure to first visit the potty, gather up some refreshments, and get comfy.)
I can’t begin this post without first introducing my dear friend Roni.
I first met Roni over 3 years ago while I was on a trail ride with my neighbor friend Val, of Fantastyk Voyage. Val was riding her Paint/Appaloosa/Arabian gelding, Scout, while I was riding her lovely Arabian mare, Nadia. We rode down one of the roads near our neighborhood and rode past Roni’s property and Roni came over to say Hello.
I hadn’t seen or spoken to Roni until about 2 months ago when I was photographing the April “Gone with the Wind” CTC.
Well, Roni knows my friend Theresa, the gal with the gorgeous Lipizzaner/German Warmblood named Zeema, that my camera loves to photograph and Theresa told Roni to not only contact me to buy a Photo CD, but to also get together as riding partners. And Roni did that and we got together while I was working at the Hug a Horse Thrift Store one day and spent the afternoon just hanging out and talking.
Roni is a real cowgirl and was raised on a Cattle Ranch and spent many days in the saddle herding cattle on her family’s ranch. She was very encouraging of me getting back in the saddle and offered me her help in reaching my goals.
At the time I wasn’t quite ready yet and was still overwhelmed with fear, so my heart wasn’t open to the idea of riding. And quite honestly I had no connection to my horse, nor did I trust her enough to carry me around on her back.
I did keep up with Roni, or so I thought, through Facebook. But like me, she rarely ever checks messages on her wall on FB or creates any posts, so she wasn’t getting them. Well about two months ago, I made a goal for myself to get prepared to ride and compete in the July ACTHA NMSAR CTC at Founders Ranch/SASS, being held less than 5 miles from my house. Theresa had originally asked me to be a photographer for this CTC, which benefits The New Mexico Mounted Search and Rescue Organization, but encouraged me to get back on my horse and ride in it instead. I had lots of ideas on how to reach that goal, but I didn’t have any motivation or inspiration. Well, I did…but I didn’t know how to get everything to fall into place.
Unbeknownst to me, little seeds were being planted along the way and soon were beginning to sprout.
Back in March, I was over at Theresa’s house visiting and she encouraged me to contact a trainer named Jessica G., who had helped Theresa get her 3 year old rogue, un-haltered misfit of a colt under control and trained so she could ride him in Dressage Competitions. Yes, that horse is the famous and handsome Zeema.
The seed was planted.
Then one day, I was in the dentist’s office, with my twinling Jem, both of us getting our cleanings done, and my Dental Hygienist saw Jem’s America’s Favorite Trail Horse t-shirt, and it sparked a conversation about horses. She owned two horses, both young, and could not speak more highly of her trainer that was helping her train them and turn them into model equine citizens. Yes, that trainer was Jessica G.
Another seed was planted.
Another month later, I was chatting with my friend and riding buddy, Loeta, who is now the Ranch Manager of Walkin N Circles Ranch Horse Rescue, after my friend Colleen moved on to start her own Equine Boarding and Training Facility at the old Cedar Hill Farm location. Loeta told me that the ranch is planning on bringing in a highly respected, very knowledgeable and experienced horsewoman and trainer to do some clinics for all volunteers at the ranch and thrift store. She encouraged me to sign up when posted. I asked who this trainer was. Yep. It was Jessica G.
And yet another seed was planted.
Then last week, I was checking out the Ride Roster for the July ACTHA CTC at Founders Ranch/SASS and I saw my friend Roni’s name on the list. I knew it was a sign. I knew I had to contact her.
And another seed was planted.
As I was reading through the ACTHA CTC at Founders Ranch/SASS information I discovered that The New Mexico Mounted Search and Rescue had organized two Obstacle Clinics on Sunday, the day after the ACTHA CTC.
You can probably guess who the trainer is, right? Yes. Jessica G.
The final seed was planted and it was time for me to get them all watered so they could start to grow and bloom.
I contacted Roni that evening and she and I spoke for quite a while. She wanted me to ride with her in the ACTHA CTC in two weeks and invited me to attend a weekly group lesson with her in just two days.
Oh yeah. And can you imagine my surprise when she told me who the trainer of that group lesson was?
Yes, Jessica G.
Wow. The Stars and Planets were all in Alignment and things were falling into place, moving forward easily and quickly. This is how you know when something is meant to happen. When fate has decided that the walls must come down. When God shows you the way and gives you the answers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, on Saturday Roni drove over, just 5 minutes from my house to pick me and Apache up for the clinic/group lesson. John has our ranch truck in Phoenix where he is working now so I don’t have a vehicle to tow our horse trailer. Phoenix has more hours available than Albuquerque does, so he had to go where the money is. He just wishes it wasn’t so dang hot there. His tube of toothpaste and bottle of hand sanitizer exploded from the heat in his truck last week. John works outside in the 120 degrees and is thankful his airline provides drink stations for their employees. He came home this weekend and at night our temps were down to 54F degrees and he was in nirvana.
But I digress.
Roni arrived an hour early just in case we had any issues loading Apache in her trailer, but Apache was a good girl and loaded easily in Roni’s two horse straight load. Only difference between her trailer and mine is that mine has a ramp and hers has a pretty high step-up. This caused a slight problem at the end of the day because Apache was very hot and tired and had some slight trouble hauling herself up that high step. But she still did it within a few minutes without any drama. I was very proud of my girl.
We arrived at Jessica’s ranch in only 15 minutes, so we took our time grooming and tacking up our horses. Apache was very alert and interested in her new surroundings and just seemed happy to be away from home. Tacking up, I must admit seemed a little foreign to me at first, after a year of not doing it at all, but eventually it began to come back to me and my nerves started to settle down.
Apache was a huge help in that department with her patience as I fumbled with her bridle and cinch. She lowered her head and basically took the bit right out of my hand, gently of course. She was ready to go.
We walked our horses into the arena where 9 other horses and riders, including Jessica and her horse, were just starting to mount up. Roni mounted right up and encouraged me to mount Apache, too. But I just couldn’t will myself to do it. So, as Jessica got us all formed into a circle for introductions, I stood beside Apache by her shoulder. Jessica said she wanted everyone to stand together for a while so not only the humans, but also the horses could get to know one another and become familiar and relaxed around one another. She said that it’s often difficult for a large group of horses and riders to work in an arena together because of the tense and excited energy. She prefers her students to always have low energy. And it worked. Apache was nothing but calm and relaxed and seemed to enjoy the presence of all the horses. There were several babies in the group, who had previously been very high-headed and wide-eyed, but the low energy and introductions worked well for them to relax and feel safe, too.
I immediately liked Jessica.She not only has a connection with the horse, but has terrific people skills, too. She’s quiet, calm, thoughtful, encouraging, helpfully critical, and has a good sense of humor.
Jessica had each of us in turn take her whip and introduce ourselves while sharing what our goals were that day. Throughout the clinic, I was impressed that she remembered everyone’s names and their goals, too. And our goals became hers. Later in the day as we were sitting on her barn’s front porch, I shared with her that her energy and instructions reminded me very much of one of my favorite trainers, Mark Rashid. She seemed honored and shared that she has many of his books and has a lot of respect for the man.
Normally, she has smaller clinics/group lessons, and she only offers them through word-of-mouth. But even with 10 of us, I never felt neglected or ignored. And I learned so much. Best of all was the price. For a three-hour group lesson it is just $25.00. I can honestly say it was by far, the best $25 I have ever spent.
Here’s Jessica on her talented dressage-trained gelding, bareback and in just a halter. Her terrific son is sitting (arms crossed) on his champion reining horse with just a neck rope for control.
Since no one has been on Apache’s back for a year and Jessica knew I needed some confidence, she asked me to lunge her in the middle of the arena. I’ve only tried to lunge Apache twice and it didn’t go so well. Apache just doesn’t seem to know what to do. Her previous owner told me in the year that she owned her, she had never lunged her or worked her in a round pen, and guessed that Apache hadn’t been lunged at her last home either, because she was basically used to pack kids and beginners around until the kids grew up and she was basically ignored and neglected in the corral for over a year. So suffice it to say, lunging isn’t something she’s familiar with. I used to lunge or round pen my mare Baby Doll, before just about every ride…..believing the work would carry over into our riding. Baby Doll was a lunge/round pen extraordinaire and she always did whatever I asked of her. But in the saddle….not so much.
I used Jessica’s whip to get Apache moving in a circle and even got her up into a trot and changing directions. I was very proud of Apache, especially with how she kept her energy level low when another rider had gotten off her excited filly to lunge some nervousness out of her and regain her control and attention. The filly was bucking and rearing just beside us and I had to move Apache out of their way a few times. But Apache stayed calm and paid attention to me the entire time.
We only lunged for about 10 minutes when Jessica said that was all that Apache needed and then Jessica invited everyone, who had been warming up their horses around the sides of the arena, into another group circle.
Everyone in our group seemed like such experienced horse people, confident, fearless and good riders. Noone looked down their noses at me (well, except for the fact that I was still on the ground. haha!), but I still felt like such a novice.
At one point in the conversation, Jessica spoke about fear and asked everyone, who has ever been afraid while riding or handling a horse, to raise their hand. Everyone’s hand….even Jessica’s went right up and I can’t tell you the relief I felt upon seeing that physical sign that I wasn’t alone in my experiences.
But, it was noticeable that I still wasn’t sitting on my mare’s back so Jessica took Apache’s lead and invited me to jump on. But because Apache’s not been ridden for a year, I still didn’t feel comfortable enough to do that yet. Jessica understood and without batting an eyelash, asked her handsome and friendly son, Chance, if he would ride Apache first. He was happy to oblige and it did me a world of good to see him on Apache’s back and see that Apache was not a fire-breathing dragon. It made me feel good when he said she was a nice mare and very calm.
As soon as he hopped off Apache, I decided it was my time and I stepped into my stirrup…..on Apache’s right side.
Jessica took that moment to make a comment to the group, because a couple of riders were talking about how I mounted on the wrong side. She told the group it was very important to teach every horse to accept mounting from either side, from the very start of their training. You just never know if you’ll need to mount from the right side while out on a trail, and it’s better for the horse, too, because horses tend to over-bulk their left shoulder and their back to support a mounting rider, and then throw out and injure their back muscles, ribs and spine with the continued same-side mounting. When she asked why I mounted from the right, I told her it’s because of my ACL surgery a couple years ago and how my left leg and knee are still not 100% reliable. She then told the group that you just never know when, out of necessity, you might need to right-side mount, so it’s better to train them before you need them to know how to do it safely and confidently.
I must admit that the first 15 minutes of my mounted time was kind of embarrassing, but necessary, for the stage of healing that my mind, body and soul were currently in. Jessica and then Chance ponied Apache and I as we observed some of the riders showing Jessica their issues while riding. It was huge having to face my fears of being behind a horse, while my leg was bumping the muscled butts of both Chance’s and Jessica’s horses as we followed along. We weren’t just static, though. Jessica showed us how to turn on the forehand and side pass as we walked along and I needed to maneuver Apache into place. Both of those movements have never been strong points and caused us to lose points while competing during an ACTHA CTC. So I was grateful to be able to get some training and practice and even think Apache enjoyed having a job to do, too.
At one point, Jessica said she thought I was ready to be let loose. And I was. It felt great to ride my mare again. Everyone was working on side-passing which is a huge weakness for Apache and I. Jessica encouraged us and used Apache and I to demonstrate how to side-pass by keeping Apache’s nose at the fence, and then moving her horse sideways into us, while I used my leg to encourage her to move sideways in the correct direction. We did that in both directions and it was a huge success! I was most surprised at the reaction of my fellow riders, who cheered for us and made comments about how I was stuck on the ground just 40 minutes earlier and now I was tackling tricky maneuvers on my horse. What a great bunch of horse folks to be so encouraging and supportive!
Later on, one of the ladies took some time to talk with me and shared that she used to be a jockey and had had her share of injuries, too. She told me that she too had been kicked in the face, but it had done more damage than the results of my own face-kicking injury. The doctors had to pop her nose back out of her head and reconstruct her skull. Wow. There is always someone who has had it worse off than yourself. I sure appreciated her confiding in me like that. We both shared how short life can be and how grateful we both are to be given second chances to enjoy the things that bring us joy in life.
After practicing side-passing on our own, Apache and I just played around on some of the obstacles on the opposite end of the arena while watching some of the other riders practicing their side-passes.
This is what Apache and I love to do. Obstacles. We trained for it right after I bought her and I know without a doubt that she enjoys the challenges and the kudos (and treats) I give her for a job well done. She likes riding the trails and being around the other horses and she really liked to get away from home.
My first horse was the opposite. She was as barn-sour as they come, crow-hopping, bucking, spinning, weaving, and bolting so I would be afraid and take her back home. Sadly, there were only a handful of times that I ever fully enjoyed riding her. It was always so much work with her. I learned a lot from her, though.
But Apache is not a pasture puff. I feel a sense of guilt for not taking Apache out on the trails this past year. When I first bought her we were riding every weekend and she was happy and had no vices. Just over the past few months, Apache began stripping off the bark from two of the trees in her paddock, from boredom. She doesn’t eat the bark…just rips it off and lets it blow away. I want to save my trees and I want Apache to be happy again, so hopefully as we start riding more often she’ll stop this bad habit.
Apache and I had fun on this little bridge. We crossed it from all directions and stood in the middle watching everyone, and then backed off and practiced side passing off of it, too.
We also worked on backing-up. Last summer I had her where she’d back up just by using my leg and gentle squeezing of the reins. She seemed to have forgotten that work on Saturday when we first started and I had to use more pressure and pulling of the reins. But after about 15 minutes she figured it out and by the end of the clinic, I was only having to barely squeeze the reins and say “back” and she’d softly move backwards for me. Good Apache!
(Check out that beautiful Shire horse behind us! She’s a big girl but had the lightest and most floaty trot)
Roni was always there smiling and giving me an encouraging word. I’m thankful for her.
The previous Saturday was Roni’s first group lesson with Jessica. Her goals are to get better at obstacles so she can compete in ACTHA CTCs. She also has never cantered on her gaited mare, Halley, because Halley doesn’t have a very good “Go” button and has trouble keeping the pace. Sounds a lot like Apache.
But Roni and I both love moseying on down a trail, being surrounded by and enjoying the beauty of all that God has created, instead of being in a hurry. So a slow, calm horse is just what the doctor ordered.
Trying to encourage Apache to give a pretty pose for the camera. Didn’t work so good. I think she wanted to get back to work.
At the end of the clinic, everyone got the opportunity to canter their horses with Jessica’s critiques. I decided not to canter Apache because I was so pleased with how the day had gone and one of the most important lessons Apache has taught me, is to accept the smallest try and to not push too far. That is one of the reasons she kicked me last summer. I pushed too far….and she pushed back. Anyway, Jessica agreed with me and instead we enjoyed watching and encouraging the other riders and their horses and they cantered.
This was the first time that Roni had tried to canter on Halley in over a year. Halley was very choppy and would move from a trot to a gallop. Roni had a blast, though and never stopped smiling, while Jessica helped teach Roni how to get Halley to rate down and lope slower and more controlled.
Go Cowgirl!
Roni was so proud of her mare and so grateful for all the photos I took of them that day. And I’m so happy for her and so glad we got together.
Poor Apache. The lesson was from 10am-1pm and by 12pm it was close to 90 degrees, hot, dry and sunny. There was a cooler full of cold bottled water in the center of the arena, inside a tire. Apache kept asking to go over there and play with the cooler. I was concerned she might spook when the ice rattled around when she lifted the cooler up by the handle, but I needn’t have worried. She knew what was inside and just wanted me to get her some of that cold water.
She deserved it, too. Apache hasn’t carried a person on her back for a year and is out of shape. But she has a big heart and is a very willing mare. I’m so thankful to have her in my life.
I think she was dreaming of cold water in this photo. Right afterwards, I took her over to the trough and she gulped down water for a few minutes.
And then we untacked, loaded up everything and everyone into Roni’s truck and horse trailer, spent a few minutes chatting with Jessica and making plans for our next lesson and clinic (this Wednesday) and headed back home.
It was a great day.
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