Dressage Diva or Backyard Betty?

I mentioned in my last entry that I was offered an opportunity to ride a great horse, and I got to take that opportunity up yesterday afternoon!

I should preface this by saying, if it hasn't already been made fairly clear through my blog posts, that Bronwyn is still very green. As in, when I am working her, I am teaching her, at all times, and have fallen prey to some of those weaknesses in my equitation due to working a green horse. I took lessons when I was getting back into riding, but nothing was quite like this.

I arrived a few minutes late and the big guy was already tacked up. My doctor has an affinity for appaloosas so the big fella, Orion, is 1/2 App, 1/4 Thoroughbred, and 1/4 Percheron. 16.2hh looks a lot bigger in person than you generally envision, and he had those great big feet and BEAUTIFUL bone. I would have probably been almost immediately deeply in love if he didn't have the ratty App tail and mane - nothing to hang on to!

She started me out easy on the longe line, which was a nice touch, I think, since I am so new to English riding and still not very confident with it. We did some half halts (I insisted I didn't know what they were but once we got going, I had a "Duh!" moment - this is a technique we have ALWAYS used in training horses, just never called it by that name!), some sitting and posting trot, during which she insisted I ride with my fingers on the buckle of the reins. I don't lean on my reins by nature, but I felt very insecure without them to hang on to - PLUS no mane to grab! She asked me if I'd like to canter and I declined, at first.

Bronwyn is still not very balanced at the canter, and I have ditched it, honestly, in favour of having her bending and moving laterally and collecting herself at the walk and trot before adding speed to the mix. Add to that, my round pen is just too small for her to get it together and we have only cantered a handful of times. Hopefully, I will remedy this in the spring when I drive posts for my riding ring rather than just having a round pen! So needless to say, I haven't done a lot of canter work in the last couple of years. When I thought of cantering, all I could think about was the excessive push to get the speed, the disjointedness to start with, and then the balance out. I forgot that broke horses usually just move into it smoothly and have all their stuff together.

We did some more posting trot and I began to feel fairly comfortable and then she asked again if I'd like to canter. I agreed to it, and he moved right into it. It was most honestly the most enormous canter I have ever ridden! I felt so good after I was finished that I couldn't wipe the big grin off of my face. I was even willing, after feeling that, to forgive the big guy for not having a mane or tail. I would buy him in a heartbeat if he were for sale! I don't know if it was him in general or just a broke horse that wasn't giving me any grief and didn't need to be guided in every direction.

Overall, it was a fantastic ride. Later, I was chatting with the barn owner and my doctor about Bronwyn and her history - where she began, where she is at, mentally, and everything in between. They kept saying I ought to sell her and buy something with the breeding to back up what I want to do. I tried to explain to them that she is what she is and I am happy with that, to which I got "Well maybe you can keep her as your pet and get something that can do what you really want to do."

Which lead me to the pondering of - what exactly do I want to do with horses? The answer is - I don't know, for sure. When I think about showing Bronwyn, I think about showing her at open shows, in English pleasure, farting around at games, maybe over a couple of crossrails - nothing that requires any immense talent or skill on the part of the horse.

What helps largely is that I don't have any long terms plans or Olympic dressage dreams to make me disappointed in what will eventually be Bronwyn's "full potential". As I told them at the barn yesterday - I am a western rider who just happens to have an English horse and an English saddle. Beyond that, I am willing to do whatever it is that Bronwyn is capable of. My first love always, always will be western pleasure, because that is what I grew up with, and if Bronwyn ended up only being suitable for trail and parades, I have other horses that I can pursue western pleasure with. However, I don't dream every day of doing western pleasure with Bronwyn and wowing the socks off of people at the Western Horse Extravaganza with her every year. I dream of doing what she has the skill and talent to do, whatever that might be.

I have always been one that supports others who have horses that are not suitable for their dreams. I have no problems with people buying horses that better suit what they would like to do - ie, if they are a dressage rider with a western horse or a horse that has no talent for dressage, I would not fault them for selling that horse or buying another that they can succeed with. I just don't think right now is the time for me to be selling on or buying another horse because I know I can succeed with Bronwyn, and if all that success is only in my own back yard, I am still perfectly happy with that.