Bareback riding

I've had a few nice rides on Dee since my last posting, and 'ö-Dzin and I rode out together with Red and Dee on Sunday.  It is ages since we rode out just the two of us on our horses, and it was great to be doing it again.  Red wasn't too keen on taking the lead at the end of the lane and took a few minutes of persuasion, but after getting past that he was fine and we had a lovely ride.

'Napping' must be a British term I think.  It means when a horse stops and refuses to go forward.  When Dee naps she starts to back up if I try to urge her to walk on, and this can be quite dangerous.  Sometimes she will back right to the edge of a ditch or bank.  She used to rear but doesn't do that with me any more.

I showed up at Briwnant this morning expecting to ride out with Nicky, but unfortunately she couldn't make it today.  All this week I've been painting the lounge in our home and I realised that I was physically really tired.  So I took Dee into the arena to play games.  We did some following me around, and circles stepping through with the hind leg, back up, and such like groundwork exercises.  I then decided that it might be nice to jump on her back after all, but didn't really want to fuss with lots of tack.  I just put on her bridle and got on her easily from the mounting block.

We did 20 minutes or so of patterns in the arena at walk and trot.  At first I felt really insecure – it is the first time I have ridden bareback since June 2008.  I know that because I blogged about it!  I soon started to feel more relaxed and confident and began doing a little trotting.  I was trying to engage in meditative riding – feeling the direction I wanted to move in from my navel, keeping myself centred, and trying to communicate through to Dee.  She is more receptive to this on one rein than on the other.  It is inspiring to ride with very little tack and simply endeavour to focus a connection through energy, intention and balance.  One day I will attempt this with just a neck rope.

In 2008 I had discovered that dismounting was a problem for my damaged knee – it cannot cope with the impact of me jumping down. Usually I slide off the saddle so there is no real jump down.  However in the arena I was able to dismount at the block so that there was no great distance for my descent, so that solved that problem.

I think Dee enjoyed being in the arena for a change.  She is quite relaxed and happy in there.  At Wyndham she was always tense and spooky in the arena, but at Briwnant she is chilled about everything.

Today's ride may not have contributed a great deal to the get-Dee-fit campaign, but it it was a good confidence boost with regard to my balance, and a good bonding experience for our relationship.

I think the inquisitive mare in the photograph is called Molly – one of Dee's Briwnant chums.

Powerless

I haven't been able to blog for a week because we have had a problem with our electricity. The engineer came last Wednesday to do a routine annual service on our water heater, and while checking its electrical connection, found a fault on the fusebox. He could not safely switch everything back on – having discovered the fault. So Wednesday afternoon and all day Thursday we had no electricity at all. Of course, by Sod's Law, Thursday was the coldest day of the winter as yet. Fortunately we have a log fire in our lounge and had an ample supply of candles. Also—having been keen on camping in the past—we have a little gas stove and several LED lanterns and wind-up torches. So we managed well enough.

By Thursday evening we had the cooker and one socket, so we were able to plug in a few things to make life a bit easier. By Friday we had, in addition, the shower, hot water (bliss!), and the kitchen sockets. By the end of Saturday we had all the sockets throughout the house, but still no lights. This wasn't too much of a problem as we could plug lights in, so we insisted our plumber/electrician had Sunday off to spend with his family. We felt rather sorry for him – he turned up to do a one hour job and it has turned into a long-winded emergency. He has been having to cancel other jobs to give us priority. Today (Monday) he has got the lights in the lounge, dining room, office and hallway working, so we have assured him we can manage with things as they are now for as long as necessary—we can wash in hot water and keep warm, use all our usual appliances, and work in good light in the lounge. We have enjoyed 'camping' in our home, and snuggling up in front of the fire in a candlelit room.

It has been fun to have my life circumstances thrust me into the opportunity of experiencing that fresh, new feeling of appreciation, for something that I generally take for granted. I know that every moment-by-moment experience could always be this fresh and new, this appreciated, and have that 'for-the-first-time' feeling of wonder – if I was able to live in the moment and experience the Nature of Mind . . . if I could keep my sense fields open and avoid conceptual judgment immediately clicking in. Unfortunately I still continually slip back into my limited comfort zone, where everything is familiar, and understood within the terms of my own definitions and reference points. I find it strange that I cling to this blandness and actively miss the electricity of what is.

We succeeded in snapping another picture of Dee doing the flehmen response. This picture is actually from a video. I hadn't realised, but she wobbles her bottom lip around at the same time. I think she looks so funny. We weren't able to ride this weekend because everything was a bit chaotic, but hope that things will be a bit more normal next weekend.

Relaxation

I have been away on retreat for a week and so have been unavailable to write any posts. Thank you to everybody who has sent supportive comments about Dee. She has returned a second negative swab result so we are pretty much in the clear with her now. We have spent an enjoyable couple of hours with the horses this afternoon, and also met Jayne’s new mare. Her loan agreement expires in a week, so we shall be spending more time with Red again soon. Life is starting to return to normal at the yard after the strangles scare, except for the one horse that was infected who will have to remain in quarantine for a little longer.

Our retreat was wonderful. We have been learning practices connected with Ling Gésar – the legendary warrior king of Tibet; and also gar’cham – ritual dance. When we tell people that we shall be on retreat for a week they often go a little starry eyed and say how lucky we are to have such a relaxing spiritual experience. We are indeed lucky, but people don’t seem to realise that retreats are in fact quite demanding and not ‘relaxing’ in the usual sense of the word – it is not like being on holiday. We rise early and have two hours of meditation practice before breakfast; we spend many hours concentrating listening to teachings; we engage in physical yogic practices; and we also have to look after ourselves including cooking all our meals and cleaning up. Relaxation is certainly the ultimate result of such intensive spiritual practice – and interacting with one’s Lamas and spiritual brothers and sisters – but this is the relaxation of mastery gained through long-term commitment. It is the ease and comfort in the saddle after years of riding experience … or the apparently magical communication between horse and handler through a deep understanding of natural horsemanship. Years of experience of meditation practice and recognition of the nature of mind produces the capacity to relax totally into the natural state – but arriving at this point requires concentrated effort.

Dee seemed glad to see us, and was a little mischievous as we took her out to her field. She has not been ridden for a month now, so I think she needs to work a little. I am looking forward to working with her again next week.

Saying goodbye

This evening we moved all our cupboards and things from Ridgeway livery. We shall miss the beautiful view down the Wenallt valley, and the expansive skies.

I have often sat quietly on my own gazing out over the valley in this peaceful place. I would sit and open my senses, allowing myself to enter into the experience of the environment - the flight of birds and scurrying squirrels, the wind rustling in the trees, the aroma of horses and dung, the delightful sound of the horses munching, the stable cat purring beside me, gentle sunshine on my face - trying to allow my mind to be quiet and empty, but aware of everything.

Tonight we let the horses to come up to the stables for a feed on their own, rather than leading them up. This is such a nice thing to do and will not be possible at Wyndham. We opened the field gate for Dee and she just slowly made her way up to the stable and walked in. Red had not quite got the right idea. First we had to remind him that he had to go round the fence in front of the stables - that he couldn't just walk straight from the gate to the stable. Then he was a little confused about going into the stable and had to be coaxed. He got to his feed eventually.

We are looking forward to the ride down to Wyndham tomorrow - it is a pleasant ride, mostly through woodland. Their new stables are ready for them with fresh flax bedding, and we have already been warmly welcomed by several people. It will be interesting to see how Dee reacts to returning there.