Search the Site
Lisa's Blog post # 51
Lesley schooled Cotton for me yesterday. I felt like I was sitting in the principal’s office with my child who had just been caught misbehaving.
At least every other time around the circle she disciplined him for some thing he did that was unacceptable. His rap sheet included leaning on the left rein, not respecting her outside aids, yanking on the reins, throwing his head to the right so he could switch leads. She explained each of his little infractions and her corrections as they occurred. One of them had a “do not try this at home” warning because she knew I wouldn’t be able to do it right. I agreed.
My child?! He never does those things when I’m riding him! Exactly the point … Cotton likes to go around holding his body in the shape of a backwards C. The fix for that is shoulder-fore to the left and turning him off the outside aids while he’s in shoulder-fore. Not only was Lesley requiring him to do that, she was requiring him to do it correctly. Cotton was throwing a little fit! Evidently, my version of shoulder-fore is a tad less “taxing” than Lesley’s. Why would he feel the need to misbehave if I don’t ask him to do anything difficult?
I felt like a bad mom – the permissive kind who wants to be friends with their teenager. But, just like the mom who has learned to say “no” to her child, I will take the “turn off the outside aids while in shoulder-fore” skill and straighten him up!
Cotton will thank me ... one day!