We make mistakes when we work with our horses. I’ve had my fair share. Fortunately the horse is a forgiving creature and hopefully we learn from our mistakes. Tessla is a point in fact.
Tessla is a stunning 3 year old Friesian owned by Lori Manley. My oldest daughter Erika met Lori through her Horse Exercising business and was riding a couple of her Friesian mares that needed a tune up. Lori wanted Tessla, who was unbroke at the time, ridden and since Erika didn’t have the experience in this department she had me come with her.
Lori had been handling Tessla since birth. She had done a lot of great ground work and had even gotten to the point of saddling and bridling. So I made a big assumption when I started to work with Tessla and you know the old saying…”when you make an ‘assumption’ you make an A….” well you know how it goes! Lori didn’t have her round pen set up but I figured since Tessla had been worked with so much already I could just get by in the big flat area out back. So I did the usual stuff minus the safety and security of a round pen. Tessla seemed fine with the ground work so I thought “no problem…getting on her is going to be easy.”
- First mistake – don’t get on an unbroke horse without being in a secure, enclosed space – preferably a round pen.
- Mistake number two – take the darn spurs off, at least for that first ride!
I proceeded slowly and by the time I settled into the saddle (after numerous ups and downs), Tessla jumped a little. Then she calmed down. Then…she really JUMPED. That took me by surprise and it probably didn’t help matters that I immediately clamped my legs around her, poking her with my spurs. The picture is testimony to the force I had to exert (see my arm tendons…) to turn her head to the side – which I did manage to do and did manage to avoid an awful wreak! So I got off and finished by having Erika get up in the saddle while I handled Tessla on the ground (aren’t I a loving mother? I won’t even show you that video…you’d laugh too much). Tessla was better, just jumped and spun around me a little and gave Erika some excitement for a few minutes. But, I was able to soothe her from the ground and calm her down and I had better control of her head. So all ended well – Tessla didn’t seem to despise me, I finished with a few more ground exercises and some sweet talk and told Lori I’d wait until the round pen was up before I did ride number two.
First ride with Tessla
I walked away from that session in one piece…no broken bones, and Tessla didn’t seem the worse for wear. And although I made my mistakes, the story ends well. By the second ride Tessla had forgiven me and we had the round pen to work in. When Tessla “leaped”, I was able to let her run around because we were in a safe enclosure. She had no buck – just a little bolt but I can ride that out as long as it’s not in a straight direction and picking up speed! By the end of the second ride, Tessla was relaxed and we were trotting around.
By the 3rd ride we could walk, trot, canter and stop well but we were still in the round pen. Tessla actually seemed excited (read happy…) when we started the third ride – she liked the attention and doing something different.
Third ride with Tessla
By the 4th ride we were back out in the big flat area – walk, trot and canter! And Tessla was such a good girl, even Lori got on her. A huge amount of Tessla’s quick acceptance to being ridden was all the great ground work Lori had done with her. The importance of this kind of handling can’t be stated enough. And heck, Tessla is a Friesian – they’re just nice, calm horses anyway.
Fourth ride with Tessla
Tessla is on winter break right now. Lori is eager to get her back into riding mode so we can hit the trails in the spring. I figure as spring approaches we’ll be back out in the round pen for a time or two, hit the flat spot again, then off for some trail adventures! I look forward to it, Lori looks forward to it and I think Tessla is going to love seeing the sights of Oregon horse country!