Enjoy the Ride

The past few weeks, months maybe, I've been thinking... Ok, worrying or frustratedly considering the level of communication Maliki and I have while I'm riding him. Now, I know perfectly well that we're not Grand Prix (dressage) level or even amateur reining (western) level. I am perfectly ok with that. For now. I do aspire to one day cut cows, do piaffe & passage (fancy English maneuvers) and run barrels bareback and bridless with a slide stop after I cross the time tape. I know those things are a ways off but I also know they're attainable :)
Anyways, I know that to get to those I have to be good at the small things, the building blocks, first. And honestly, that's what has bugged me over the past few months. After riding horses, or a horse I should say, that knows what she's doing it's kind of discouraging to come back and ride a horse who knows how to walk/trot around a 4.5 acre pasture. Well, I shouldn't put him down, he really has made alot progress. I'm just one who wants better since I know how cool it feels. So I know I have alot to teach him to get him up to the level I am, and the level I want us to be at.
I went out yesterday with the plan of playing OnLine and Freestyle (riding with little or no rein contact). He met me at the fence, something I've been working on, and followed me for a little while I worked on the water troughs. I tried to have him stick to me walking to where I'd put the gear. He did, up to a point. He left me and walked into a spot between the fence and a tree. Now, the thing about this tree is that there is a large limb almost 5' high, the bottom reaches below his withers and the top is above them. I thought, "He's not going anywhere with in front of him" and tried to back him out. As if to prove me wrong he looked back at me, walked right under it (bent his legs and bowed his back to get under) and turned around to face me. WOW. That was something I was not expecting, but it was kinda cool to see.
Afterwords I got him haltered and the bareback pad on, and went into the smaller corral. I found, for whatever reason, that if I keep them out of that pasture Maliki has a much better reaction to playing in there. We played at Circles, Figure 8 and Sideways for the most part. His send is much better than it was a few months ago and after a couple laps he went over and jumped the barrels with a "lemme at em" attitude. This being the same horse who a week and a half ago would take the lazy way out and just put his hoof on them.
I found a good place to quit and tied the line into reins. It took me a couple tries but I finally swung up, yes, without stirrups or a fence :) Maliki just stood there and didn't bat an eye as pulled on his mane, and probably stuck him by accident with my spur, getting up there. He doesn't seem to "get" the game of Figure 8 yet, but he does turn on his haunches and not like a barrel racer. I could tell he was getting bored after I minute so I changed my focus to a tire that I use as a pedestal. He stood up there, no problem. Now, the hard part, getting him to stand with hind feet on it... After some "passive persistence in the proper position" he got really close so I left him alone as a first try. 2 seconds, I swear, and he put his feet up there by himself. Thats how it felt to me anyways. With everything going so well there was one more thing I wanted to play at... Million Transitions. This is one Pattern that has gotten under my skin. Not sure why but I would get very frustrated and unable to maintain an "attitude of justice" in a way. I guess I just didn't feel like I was seeing results. Well, with everything going so well I figured might as well try it. And what do you know?... He listened! He got every cue. 'Stop riding at the corner...' he stopped; 'walk to the next corner...' the barrels were in between the two, so he asked what I wanted (!!) I answered with "we'll go sideways around em". "Yes, ma'am." Even when I asked for a trot and then 'walked' in my body- he slowed and walked too.
Things might not always go as you planned but being flexible, and emotionally fit, means changing plans can help the relationship and hopefully make things better for next time :)