I've been taking reining lessons. They're a lot of fun, and a challenge. And sometimes, eye-openingly humbling.
Don't get me wrong: I know I'm not the best rider in the world. But I have a good seat, and I don't usually let stuff like a big spook or getting bucked off bother me. I don't worry about these things, and they don't happen that often. Of course, I don't ride raging lunatic horses anymore either - young and stupid with a surety of my immortality went a long way when I was young. Now I'm only sometimes stupid, but bright enough to realize I can die doing some of the stuff I do, if I'm not careful. Or not... glass half full stupid or glass half empty stupid? I'm not sure.
In reining competition, the horses and riders follow a set pattern in each class, as defined for that class. The patterns all include specific maneuvers: circles (fast canter and slow canter), spins, roll-backs, run-downs and sliding stops. Circles are a piece of cake. Fast canter, slow canter, stop, back up: all well within my comfort zone, though not always done perfectly or even that well - I can be a bit of a spazz at times. Spins are fun - dizzying, but fun. But run-downs... that's where the humbling part comes in.
To practice run-downs to sliding stops, we canter a rectangle - going down the long side of the indoor about 15 feet from the wall, continue at the canter on the short side, and canter back up about 15 feet from the other wall.
The horses know that there's a sliding stop coming along on the pass up the other long side, and tend to anticipate... so sometimes the trainer has me "make him (or her) wait" and do another square. "Make him/her wait" is also expected for at least the first third of the long side, before dropping your hand and letting them go, to get up speed before you lean back, push your legs forward and say "whoa!", hopefully into a really nice slide. That's ideally, anyway.
So...
There are two reining lesson horses at Crystal: Sonny and Margie. Margie is also half-leased by one of the kids who works part time there. They're both great horses. Sonny is a stocky chestnut who looks absolutely marvelous in all my turquoise-colored tack. Margie is a pretty bay mare with a cute little head and a much finer build than Sonny's, but still most definitely a Quarter Horse.
Sonny and I get along really well. I like him, he seems to like me, and from the start I've felt comfortable on him. Even though it took me a bit of time to figure out how to ride (and sit) a run-down to a sliding stop, and I'm still working on being able to do it consistently, I have no worries when I'm riding him.
Margie and I took a bit to warm up to each other, but we're getting there. She's a mare, and a lot more opinionated than Sonny when I'm up on her, but she's a good egg, who knows her job.
The problem: run downs on Margie are like going from 20 to 150MPH in 1 second. I swear there's a G-force factor in play when I stop "making her wait", and let her go. If you've ever seen a dog run full out, that's what it feels like sitting on Margie - I swear, she gets her back legs way out in front of her front legs, digs in, and flies. And though I *know* she stops really well, I all but go into the fetal position.
The first time I rode her, this scared the bejeebus out of me. I went back to Sonny for a couple of lessons, but I really wanted to confront my fear. So I've been riding Margie off and on since.
Last week, and then again yesterday, I rode Margie. It was humbling, both times.
I don't have any trouble with Margie on circles, and we haven't even really worked on spins because I basically have nailed them (or at least I think that's why not)...
Margie really likes to take off as we turn the corner to start the run down.
I'm fine going down the long side away from the front of the arena, we're straight and even-paced. I feel relaxed and do my best to project that. I'm not saying I'm that way all the time, but if not immediately, I get there after a few tries.
But then we turn that corner and start back towards the front. Margie starts to build up a head of steam (I swear I can see it coming out her ears), I hold her back (the "make her wait" part) until we've gone a bit more than a third of the way back, and then I'm supposed to drop my hands, let her go, and when I'm near the front, ask her to stop.
Sometimes she starts to weave and I try to straighten her while also holding her back, and we end up not doing a sliding stop at all because I have my hand in the air and she's going all over the place with her head in the air, getting royally pissed off at me (rightfully so)... so the next few rectangles are just getting straight and controlled, down and back.
When I finally get a controlled turn and run back up the side and I'm a bit more relaxed (because I know this is not Margie's problem, it's mine), Romain tells me to try the slide again... and I start to tense up as soon as we've rounded the corner and the supersonic jets gets engaged again... and I fight myself trying not to curl up into the fetal position when I "let her go", and she takes off. If I do manage to stay uncurled and lean back and ask for the stop, I'm so tense I bounce like a ball on poor Margie's back.
A friend at the barn who's into thoroughbreds commented after watching the girl and Margie do run-downs: "she takes off like she's leaving the starting gate" and obviously my subconscious is yelling really loudly at me that I am NOT a jockey!! OMG!!!
I wonder: when did I become a wimp? I used to be the one who rode *anything*. Buzz would bet his friends six packs of beer that I could stick on Little Dick the Hackney pony and they couldn't, and I always won him the beer. He let me, and only me, ride his favorite horse, Jetty.
I'm not that reckless and brave girl any more.
What I am though, is stubborn. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and get really mad at myself when I *know* what I'm doing wrong, know what I need to do to not do it so horribly, and know that I really really really want to do it right. On Margie.
So though Sonny can help me learn to do it right, I won't be happy until I can do it right, consistently, on Margie. Because if I can, I can ride a reiner.
Though I'll still need lessons.
