Horse people truly are a strange breed of human. As the movers and shakers of the livestock industry, we've built a glamorous Cult of Beauty out of what essentially equates to the daily farm work practiced by the everyday rustic. As horsepeople, we've gone for the Trifecta of the looney bin: In no other social microcosm would you find such pillers of society as doctors and lawyers discussing feed composition like prophets or romanticing stall cleaning into the rites of priests. To the rest of the world, it's shit shoveling, but for us, it's the work of soothsayers.
Since it's been hot this week, and since last Sunday I almost fainted from sun exposure, I've been riding in the indoor. The fine layer of dust I manage to accrue in the indoor does nothing for my pores, and it appears this week I've had the dubious choice between re-experiencing heat stroke or acquiring black lung disease.
Yesterday's ride was probably the dullest I've experienced, and how I managed to fill an hour just walking remains one of those mysteries of the ages. In reality, I think I worked her too hard on Wednesday, so yesterday we worked on lateral work at the walk. I'm tired of shoving her through leg yields, so making her more sensitive to those aids (and consequently, making me think hard about where I'm putting my weight) seemed in order anyway. In general, I'm tired of moving as much as I am on the horse - it's too much effort and it's too hot to ride that way. The hands need to stay in one place and the horse needs to respond to quieter aids. Finis.
I'm starting a different kind of movement as a protest against moving too much while on the horse. I'm calling it the "anti-movement movement." With dressage riders already staging sit-ins on horses throughout the world, I'm sure the movement will be quick to catch on.
I did about 5 min of trot work at the end, and here are the results:
