Crossing the ‘Stream’ and Other Small Lessons

One of the challenges of being a Fell Pony breeder is figuring out how to fit riding and driving training into the reproductive schedules of my mares and my related workload. Sometimes, of course, mares have years when they are open, so there’s plenty of opportunity then. But when they are bred or have foals at foot, my answer is often to do things in small, frequent doses. For instance, recently when the days have been incredibly short in December and the weather has been unusually pleasant and warm, I have been looking for excuses to be outdoors. So, I’ve been taking a few minutes with each mare to do something each morning when I have them in the paddocks at the barn.

In my experience, there’s always something small to be worked on, even if I don’t know what it is in advance. Just preparing to mount and mounting often gives me an idea, such as reminding one of my girls about the importance of standing still during mounting. Or once underway, I need to remind a mare to maintain the particular gait I’ve asked for. In one mare, turning as we approached the paddock fence revealed a braced neck, so we’re working on that. Improving responses to leg aids is another one that has come up since one mare is very good in that department and the others not so much by comparison.

One morning we’d had a light snow, which is all we are getting right now in our drought. Runoff from the barn roof after the sun warmed things up created a very small ‘stream’ through the paddock. I didn’t think anything of it until I was riding one of my mares, and she stopped at the edge. I realized I had never ridden her through water before; our ridden work had not progressed that far back when we had regular access to live water for such lessons in Colorado. So my work with her that morning became learning to carry me across the ‘stream,’ though it wasn’t really much more than wet soft ground. Nonetheless, she refused just like equines will sometimes do when asked to cross water, so it was a good opportunity to carry out an important lesson.

One short lesson is nice, but stringing small lessons together over multiple days is even better. And with six fillies/mares, the total time is a good match for my schedule. As is always the case when working with ponies, consistent, purposeful attention makes for rewarding progress.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2020

More stories like this one can be found in my book The Partnered Pony, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.