From Buster to Bounce

Last Friday was the first time I rode a horse in a year and a half. And it was fun . . . even though I couldn't walk for the better part of five days!

A little over nine years ago I had to sell my appendix Quarter Horse, Buster. I bought him as a green-broke 2-year-old. Green-broke means he would carry a rider at a walk, trot, and lope--a Western cowboy broke him so he loped, not catered. He had little-to-no steering, but he did have a stop. Buster was the one horse that I didn't want to sell, but I had to sell. It was all about the finances at this point. When I told the trainer to sell him, I didn't expect him to be shipped off to Kansas City and sold within a week. I expected the more traditional timeline of 6 months to a year before he was sold.

I guess I did a good job training him as an event horse.

Buster was a blast to ride. The combination of thoroughbred and Quarter Horse was perfect. He was always willing to try something new--though I do have a busted finger from the time he didn't want to jump the Liverpool and I did (my finger was tangled in the reins--a no-no as you should drop the reins when you go flying). In the ten years that I owned him, I think that was one of the handfuls of times I actually paid a trainer to get on my horse--to teach him to jump Liverpool's.

He was such a good boy. Many times I would be bored working him in the arena that I'd leave the gates open gallop into the arena, concentrate on various types of collection, and then gallop out of the arena to run up and down hills and through the pond. And if you thought I was a kid riding like this, you'd be wrong. I was in my forties. This type of fun kept us both happy.

Ah, he was about as bomb-proof as a horse could get. I still get teary-eyed when I think about him.

Fast forward to a year and a half ago--The horse I rode was a pasture horse owned by my previous barn owner. He was a good horse and eventually, I worked on making him supple--he was like riding a two-by-four, with no ability to bend and he motorcycled around corners (leaned in), etc. It was fun to be riding again, but there was no real 'purpose' to riding this horse.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago. I was chatting with swim mom Margaret--yes, her name is the same as mine--about horses--coincidence? I think not--and she suggested I ride her horse as she hadn't been able to ride him as often as she would have liked. She also told me that I was in a blue funk (my words, not hers) because I missed the smell of manure, leather and that spiciness that is pure HORSE.

She was right.

Last Friday, I took a 'lesson' (I think Margaret and her trainer wanted to see what I remembered and to know Bounce wasn't going to toss me) on a horse named Blue--a round little roan that rode like another 2 X 4, and then Bounce, Margaret's thoroughbred.

I still got some skills, not mad skills, but rusty ones!

Neither Margaret nor the trainer realized how the horse got the name Bounce. I found this very interesting since I figured it out with his very first canter step!

His bouncy canter nearly popped me out of the saddle!

Afterwards, I went home and took a hot shower and ate Aleve for five days while my inner thighs screamed in agony.

Yesterday, I rode Bounce again.

We had a few conversations about his jigging at the walk--that's where they prance in place, usually in anticipation of cantering. This is not a behavior you want in dressage or the hunters. After trying to figure out how to 'fix' this, I realized what was causing the problem. While you could get him on the bit at a walk, he had a hard time actively walking forward, and Bounce's answer to this problem was to jig.

It took me about 40 minutes, but with numerous shoulder-ins and haunches-in, I managed to get him to stretch his hind legs up under himself to actively walk forward, instead of jigging or trotting. When he kept a nice frame both directions, I stopped for the day.

Shoulder-in/Haunches-in: Normally, horses track in two paths, one for each side of their bodies. With the shoulder-in/haunches-in they track in three lines. For example with a right shoulder-in: the right fore hoof will be on it's own track, the middle track is the left fore and right hind will track in the same line, with the final track being the left hind. This makes the horse have to stretch under himself more to keep the correct angle of the drill.

He'll need work to stretch those muscles every time, but once he understood what I asked, he was very happy to comply.

When I chatted with Margaret's trainer last Friday, she commented, "You need a project horse." That is so true. I love riding, but I love riding with a purpose. Since I don't have a horse of my own, I'll enjoy Margaret's horse for as long as it is mutually beneficial for three of us--yes, I included Bounce in this.

As a  thoroughbred, some horses tend to gather steam as they gallop--Bounce does this. I want him to be truly focused on ME and my requests before I take him out of the arena.

 But I can't wait until we're ready to gallop around the the property.

Later, Peeps!

Heels Down! Query Up!

I learned how to ride a horse when I was in my early twenties. Dawn, my trainer at the time, tried her darnedest to teach me the concept of 'heels down' ('Eyes up' is the rest of the phrase, but I don't want to go into the excruciating detail of how long it took me to learn that one! Let's just say that I ate a LOT of dirt before I got it). But I never really understood what she was talking about. Yeah, try teaching an old dog new tricks. Fast forward to a new trainer at our facility, Carol. Carol said the exact same words, but in a different way, plus she forced my heel down and adjusted my leg.


Holy Moly! I got it!


A side note: When riding English (and I think Western, too, but don't quote me on it) the ball of your foot sits on the stirrup, BUT to draw your leg around the girth of the horse you must lengthen your leg. To do that end, you drop your heel, which stretches and lengthens all the muscles from your calves through your hips.


Now, I will never have the beautiful equitation leg that Jody has--she's built differently. I have short round muscles on short stubby legs, and she has long lean muscles on relatively normal length legs. Short and round will never be as pretty as long and lean on a horse. I got over it a long, long time ago--NOT!


--If you want to practice this technique simply place the ball of your foot on the edge of a stair and then slowly drop your weight in your heels. To get the full effect, bend at your hips and knees slightly. Then post rhythmically for an hour and see how sore you can get. And silly doctors don't think horseback riding is aerobic! They need to get ON a horse and post for fifteen minutes, then they'll change their tune!! Ha!


Back on topic, sort of: I bet your were wondering how I was going to segue from horses to writing, right? There is reason to my segue madness, trust me . . .


How did I finally, trust me, we are talking a couple of YEARS here, figure out how to drop my heels. Carol told me the same thing Dawn did, but--here it comes--in a different way.


How does this relate to queries?


Queries are a necessary evil that writers must face. We have to garner the interest of an agent to gain entrance through the hallowed doors of most publishing houses. Thus, we must query.

And over the years I have queried various stories. I've learned some secrets, (no, there isn't a special handshake--*snort* I WISH!) and insight about this process, but it wasn't until I read a blog entry of Jennifer Jackson, an agent for The Donald Maass Agency, that it finally made sense. She didn't compare it to horses, but instead to food, my other love in life.

Queries are the appetizer in the agent meal. They should whet the palate and excite the agent. The synopsis is the bones of the meal--bare and straight forward--showing the ability to the writer to tell a good story and round out a plot.
And the five pages that many agents want, balance it all out with details that hint at the writer's style and hook of the story.

The query also provides the agent with valuable subtext in ". . . the way a writer perceives their own work. Their attitude about both writing and publishing (often separate considerations). It can show their attention to detail and their level of professionalism. It can reveal whether the writer has done their research . . ."


Though queries are a necessary evil, writers would do well to learn from each and every one she writes because her query might turn a NO form rejection letter into a MAYBE partial request.

So, next time you write a query, think about it as the Onion Blossom at Outback Steakhouse. Fried with a hint of heat in the coating, a tender onion on the inside and the dipping sauce to end all dipping sauces. MMM, fried food. . .

Write On!