adjustability vs. last minute adjustments

*TRINITY WEEKLY SCHOOLING IDEA* *ADJUSTABILITY vs. LAST MINUTE ADJUSTMENTS" When you're headed down centerline, sometimes you suddenly realize you don't have the horse you warmed up, or perhaps you didn't get to warm up at all and as you day a quick patsy we during your salute, you cross everything you can think of that you'll get through the test in something that resembles the preparations you...'ve made for months (or years!). I have seen rides where riders have seemed to pull off the impossible - making things "happen" on a horse that many of us would just hope to get around the ring. But rarely is "skin if your teeth" riding going to save the day: Last minute changes, adjustments, demands rarely replace slow methodical preparation if a horse that leaves him adjustable. You see, adjustable horses can get just as scared as horses that aren't: but they have been shown, shall we say, "options" in their day-to-day riding. When they've questioned, balked, spooked, or just plain said "no" in the past they have been ridden smarter, not harder. What is riding smarter? Riding smarter is knowing your horse, knowing to always give him somewhere he can direct his energy, or knowing how to develop the energy you need to effectively get through an exercise within his physical and mental limits. That might mean your big chestnut mare might need a "let's be brave today" day once a week, but followed by a "long and low" day that keeps her from building tension. Smarter might mean you don't school pirouettes on the days the lawn is getting mowed; or it might mean you do leg yield steps instead of long diagonals on the days your mare is in heat because she can't stand the feeling of your leg. Building adjustability takes the things you learn from riding smarter, and chips away at the limiting factors each day, week upon week, until you can bring your horse slightly outside his comfort zone, confidently, periodically and without force. This you do by always making your ride tomorrow just a little better by what you do today. That's a "tomorrow" ride. It takes 100s of "tomorrow's" to get what you want in the ring, today: not last minute adjustments, just quiet adjustability, confidence, and the understanding that even your performance in the ring must be consistently "for tomorrow", as horses can get very offended if you ask more strongly under pressure and out of tension. Build a plan, and when you go down centerline, you will not only know more the horse you have, but also the horse you can ask for, and the range of answers you will get! Ride for Tomorrow!