Ole!

Here, we are preparing for Spanish Stomp.

Took Max into the jumping paddock for a bit of lining and in hand. I expected trouble because the paddock is full of tempting grass, and Max is on restricted grazing. He was very good though, tried it on a few times, but we're both getting a bit better at communication and co-operation, so what was very difficult last summer was less so this summer.

After some fine work on the lines, we decided to have a photo session of Max being magnificent, and he did not disappoint.



The rope I am holding high is not part of the command, it it just holding it out of his way so he doesn't get tangled in it.




Finally, please feast your eyes on my beautiful boy! Is he not swoonsome?

We have come so far, and this summer is telling me just how far. I had him out for a hack last week, and after one wrenched back brought on by a grazing swoop, I opted for fixing the grass reins I devised last summer. Off we went, Max's head in control and me feeling like he was comfy, but unable to unseat me in his quest for candy.

Only Max wasn't comfy. As we went on, he became more and more distressed by the restriction, and I came to feel it wasn't frustration because he couldn't graze, it was frustration at the restriction itself. We've worked so hard on light hands, light mouth, quick reactions to tiny pressure, fingers just squeezing, that the grass reins that were such a help last year, this year, are almost a punishment.

As Max's distress escalated, and I realised it wasn't just a protest, it was proper distress, I hopped off and took the grass reins off, walking him the rest of the way home, which wasn't far away by that point.

I wondered if it was the bit (back in his Pee Wee) and if I should try the grass reins in the scrubs bit with a little more give, but before that, I decided to try him out with no grass reins at all. Much better! Yes, he had a snatch or two, but so easily countered with just a word and a squeeze from me. There is no need to hold him in so tight.

Max is not the same pony he was last summer, nor am I the same rider. Our journey together continues to enlighten and delight me, and sometimes the progress we have made goes unnoticed by me until it stands up and gives me a cuff round the ears.

This is why it's so important to continue to listen to my wonderful horse. We are a partnership evolving, and some stuff that we once needed to guide and help us is now surplus to requirements.

My life with my beautiful horse continues to teach me lessons that are so valuable and reach beyond the realms of our relationship.

For that I am grateful and, here's that word again, humbled.

Max is my kind teacher as much as I am his. May it always be so. I waited for him for so long, dreamed of him since childhood, and now that he is here, he is beyond every dream and wish.

Just a horse? In your dreams!