Post by (}-{)Cassie(}-{) on Jan 11, 2008 19:45:14 GMT -5
Smooth Sailing
Sailor's Delight; Saya: Lesson 1
***As the sun rose upon the horizon Cassie got out of her truck and walked to the barn. When she slid open the barn doors the sounds of whinnies filled the air. As she walked down the isle way she stopped to say hello to Rebel who was just begging for attention. Cassie knew she could only stop for a minute because she had a big day planned ahead of her. Today she was going to spend the day with her one of favorite horses in the barn....Saya. Cassie stroked Rebel's neck and face, but apparently she had stopped for to long because next thing she knew a Saya's Jolly-Ball was rolling toward her. She looked down to the mare's stall to see her head high and smiling, then she looked toward Cassie and shook her head as if to say "you don't have time to say hi to him, what about me?". So Cassie got her out of her stall, cross-tied her, brushed her down, and saddled her for the days work-out.
***Once mounted, Cassie and Saya walked around the arena a few times just to warm up. After walking for a bit Cassie asked for a slow trot, but Saya being the energetic mare that she is began to lope. Cassie absolutely loved Saya's lope but she had no choice but to stop her and ask for the trot again. There was a barrel pattern that Cassie had set up the night before for their lesson today. And just so that they started out slower Cassie trotted up to the first (right) barrel, as they approached it Cassie stopped the pained mare just to the outside of the barrel, then gently tapped her sides and she immediately went to a fast trot toward the barrel. As the two began to round it Cassie moved her leg back so that her leg was between the front and back cinch. In doing this Cassie was asking Saya to lift her shoulders and rib cage, and also to have her hold her hips in alignment with her shoulders. After coming out if the first turn the trotted to the center (between the two barrels) and asked Saya to change leads. They practiced the same process as barrel one with barrels two and three.
***Before Cassie let Saya run the pattern she wanted to do some turn-ins with her to make her turns sharper. So Cassie began to lope Saya along the arena fence then suddenly she would sit deep in the seat of her saddle and turn Saya into the fence. In doing this it made Saya's turns sharper than ever, Cassie new that they would have to be sharp and accurate if she didn't want to run head on into the fence. After doing this for about 5-10 minutes Saya was pro.
***Now that Saya had pretty much perfected her cues Cassie decided to run the pattern with her. They did their small warm up circle first.Cassie did this so that she would come bursting out of every gate she came to (a very bad habit in barrel horses). Saya did a slow lope in a circle then she took off like a bullet heading for her first (right) barrel. She was in the zone and frankly....so was Cassie. Cassie found her spot 5 feet out from the first barrel, once she reached that point she sat down and put her heel in to Saya's side. The turn was perfect! Halfway to the second (left) barrel Cassie switched Saya's lead. She did it no hesitation. Smooth as glass. Turned it no problems at all. Now for the last (center) barrel, the turn was close, Cassie's knee rocked it. She reached back steadying it with her hand as Saya bolted for home.
***After their run, Cassie untacked, brushed her down, and hooked her up to her lead rope. They took a cooling walk around the stable. Cassie let her roll in the arena, and gave her a final brush and rub-down. She put Saya back into her stall and gave her some treats, and her food for the night. Cassie was still smiling from the extent of the days lesson. And all she could think about was what their next lesson would hold in store for them.