The universe clearly had something against me riding yesterday.
To start with, I’ve had a nasty flu for the last few days, and while I had expected it to get better by Tuesday it turned out to be a pretty bad day. I felt like I was burning up in the morning, though after finishing up a subtitling job just before the deadline I was finally able to get some rest in. When I woke up again in the afternoon, I felt more alive again and decided to go after all. Like last week, I was put on Hedvig, and looked forward to another lesson on the little black troll. But I had barely gotten into the saddle and had her walk a few steps before she started bucking. Oops. Not quite according to plan. However, I had been told she could occasionally be difficult along one side of the arena, so I decided to just ride ahead and see if she’d settle in once she got the idea that I wasn’t about to back down. But, she kept doing it.
So, I asked my instructor to check if any of the equipment looked poorly fitted. No, she said, it must be her acting up. And so we tried again, and now that she bucked I gave her a tap with the whip to tell her I wouldn’t tolerate that. I got some very impressive bucks out of that. :P Then my instructor decided something had to be wrong, so I got off her and we check her over ... and it seems she may have had a sore back leg. A rather different reaction from when poor Murphy had a big abscess in one leg and tried his best to jump. So, back to the stables I went with Hedvig ... who seemed rather pleased with the outcome. Hopefully she wasn’t just contrary and has found a great new way of avoiding work. I was definitely feeling like the universe had been out to get me, though.
Still, a couple of good things came out of yesterday. First, I just got to feel appreciated when Murphy, who was outdoors when I arrived, trotted up to the gate to say hello. Of course, he may just have wanted to come in. But then when we did go out to fetch them, he was way off at the other end, and didn’t seem inclined to come in until I shouted “Murphy, candy”. I think I have him rather thoroughly bribed. ;) And then, after the lesson, I had a chat with my instructor about what happened, and she noted she was impressed by my handling of the situation. Given my many fears when it comes to riding, she had thought it might freak me out. But no, as I explained, the size of the horse is really the deciding factor. With someone of Hedvig’s size (about 14 hands), I feel like I am in control and I also don’t get my fear of heights kicking in. She almost managed to buck me off a few times (I don’t get to practice sitting on a bucking horse a lot ;P), but the ground looked reassuringly close by. Still, I definitely hope she is well and interested in keeping all four feet on the ground next week.