The Road To Columbus

Lucy Fur at 2009 Columbus Carriage Classic

Wisconsin. To the Columbus Carriage Classic, which is this weekend. Don Pecos and I have been working very diligently to get ready for the highly competitive Open Horse Division. When I started showing in carriage driving, I always had time to get the horse supremely ready for the show. Nowadays, it seems not. I constantly say to myself, "I wish I had two more weeks."

Don Pecos is buff as he's ever been. His coat is like copper glass. Inside his little body, the big engine purrs. My one concern: he is stiff as a board in harness. I cannot get this boy to bend. And I know he can, because he is like a corkscrew when I ride him. And in the pair, he was, at times beautifully bending. I've gone over and over this in my mind to discover what is the problem and or the solution. I'm getting nowhere on this puzzle.

I call in the big gun, my dear Theresa Burns who tells me it is nowhere hear as bad as I make it seem and all will be well. I feel so sorry for people who don't have Theresa Burns in their lives. So, Lucy, Don Pecos, and I are off on Wednesday to Laurie Renda's to teach some lessons, meet Harold Ault and break up the long haul to Columbus. Then on Thursday in Columbus we will join my other dear friend Martha Stover, her glorious Welsh pony: Lisa, along with Vicki and Jim Bodoh, Micheal Scott and a host of other carriage friends.

Added bonus this year: my brother and his family along with my Dad [who is traveling up to Chicago from Kentucky-yeah, that is strange; but related to the Nut Farm business] are going to join the group and camp with us for the weekend. For the first time in many years, we will spend Father's Day with Dad. At a horse show. I'm sure Dad is thrilled. But I certainly am.

Columbus, Ho!

Michelle Blackler

Serendipity

www.hossbiz.com

Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.

Learning by Teaching: Carriage Drivng Aha Moments

I have always maintained that teaching carriage driving lessons helps me be a better whip. This weekend was another illustration of this concept. Micheal Scott, a fellow carriage driving competitor, came to Serendipity for a lesson. This was a wonderful opportunity to evaluate my teaching. Having a whip of Micheal's excellence as a student really challenged me.

We focused on body awareness and its relationship to bending in the horse. The first exercise involved snapping two lead ropes together, which I held pretending to be the horse while Micheal held the ends of the ropes as reins and pretended to drive me. With my back to him, I asked him to turn to the right or left and then I interpreted the turns by telling Micheal what my 'horse's' body would do.

We talked about how some cues of the inside rein made my shoulder come into my hip, which is the desired effect of bending the horse around a turn. We also discussed how much support was needed on the outside rein to support the bend, and I did my best to 'be the horse' and respond to each cue of each rein. This, of course was not a news flash to Micheal. But, when I asked him to participate in the turn by using his own body on the box seat to mirror the horse's through the turn, he said, "I never thought about that!"

Using only the whip's upper body [shoulders, arms and hands] to turn the horse will do the job. The horse will turn, and depending on the athleticism of the horse, they will turn ok, good or well. But adding a slight shift in the whip's hips and legs to the upper body, will allow the horse to turn better. Instead of making the horse bring its shoulder back to its hip on the inside of the turn with the former, with extra participation by the whip, the horse is allowed to bring its shoulder back to its hip.

This is something on which I base my entire philosophy of carriage driving and training. Don't make the horse do what you want it to do, allow the horse to do what you want it to do. Just make sure you are doing as much work from the box seat as you are requiring the horse to do. It is a partnership. Participate.

As I watched Micheal drive Don Pecos, I was able to further hone my teaching skills. I hope he got as much out of the experience as I did. Saying that, I might rue the day. It is hard enough to place above Micheal in the show ring. I might just have made that impossible. Oh, well. A big thank you to Micheal Scott for his belief in me as a teacher. That is what I'd like to be remembered as, after all.

Kind Regards,

Michelle Blackler

Serendipity

www.hossbiz.com

Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.