Back to the Drawing Board

by Karyn "K.C." Cowdrey

A few weeks ago I wrote about the joy of being able to start riding my mare, Dancer, again after several months off due to injury (click here to read that post). Our road toward recovery had been going along straight and smooth.

Tonight it appears we’ve had a steep corner with a sharp cliff come into our path. When I went out to ride her, she came up to the barn very lame once again.

It is hard to not dwell on the idea that she may never be sound again. She is my dream, so hopefully this is just a big bump that we’ll get over, and then get back on the road to true soundness.

I am determined to face this head-on and realistically but not negative. Perhaps this time the vets will find true diagnosis instead of continuing to be challenged by mystery lameness.

If anyone has experienced a horse that suddenly pulls up 3-legged and doesn’t want to bear weight on a hind leg, but has no heat, no swelling, and clean x-rays of that leg, please post and share with us what you learned.

May your ride be smooth and your path obstacle-free.

Riding Relationship

by Karyn "K.C." Cowdrey

We all know that you must have a solid relationship with your equine partner in order to get the most out of your time together. It makes sense because to succeed in anything we do—parenting, marriage, work, school—we have to have solid relationships with our partners or we will fail.

This past week my trainer, Kari, took a much needed vacation in the sun, and I was responsible for putting miles on my young gelding, Emmerson.

What I noticed was fascinating to me. Emmerson is a great horse who tries hard to please, but sometimes he and I tend to get frustrated with one another. I tend to expect too much from a baby with 2.5 months of riding time, and he is looking for Kari’s smooth riding skills to guide him along instead of my bumbling. This does not always lead to smooth lesson days.

This past week there were no lessons. Just one on one and what happened was magic. Our partnership clicked as I relaxed and realized he was just a baby and he got used to my delivery of cues, which differs from Kari’s.

It was exciting to see our relationship strengthen through better understanding of one another. I am looking forward to this coming Saturday, when we take our first lesson in over a week. We’ll both get more out of it.

Building a solid relationship is what it’s all about, from horseback riding to taking care of our advertisers to providing the content that our readers are interested in reading. Drop us a note and let us know what we, as a magazine, can do to strengthen our relationship with you!

In the meantime, get out and RIDE!