A dressage training technique involves walking alongside and guiding the horse’s every step by way of what some call “dancer’s arms,” using one hand at the girth or haunch and another at the halter or bridle. With Augustus Little Caesar, my arms don’t have far to reach — barely shoulder-width apart, rather than dramatically outspread.
Since his response to my touching his girth is to walk backward, not forward, I need to tap his hip instead. As long as I also twist my body to face forward, he’s catching on to walking along in the frame I’m setting with my arms. In this he’s a precise and patient teacher, helping me rate how fast I should go, how to block him from rushing too quickly ahead, how to keep him moving but not nag at his girth, etc., etc. The idea is also for the two of us to match paces (something horses apparently do with one another, as a togetherness gesture), and I’m fumbling a bit with that too: Gus not only takes short, fast steps but he often changes speeds slightly. Luckily I remember how to skip.
After we practice this a little and then return to his paddock, I silently take one exaggerated step toward him and he backs up one step. When I then take one exaggerated step back, he comes forward one. We're so attuned that we do this three times in a row, and his only reward is my turning half-away and exhaling. I'm so rapt that I inadvertently snub Barbara as she's turning her Henry into the paddock and trying to converse with me. Vital affairs to discuss? Sorry, gotta play patty-cake with my donkey.
No comments:
Post a Comment