Hagens Yeats 2008-2011

A picture says more than a thousand words. At least that is how the saying goes. When I decided to write about the journey together with Yeats so far, the first thing I did was watch the video from the evaluation ride back in the summer of 2008. Moving pictures do capture a lot, in fact looking at the video from 2008 I'm surprised that I actually went ahead and bought Yeats in the first place! Knowing now how much time and effort we both have spent in overcoming his stiffness and resistance I would hesitate to take on a similar project. This stiffness and resistance is evident in the way he very reluctantly performed rein back. It is also evident when I asked for sideways moment and got pacing instead.

Our joint journey during our first two years together had mainly been focussed around establishing calm, trust and communication. I don't have any videos from our early days when he couldn't be left alone in the arena and would panic when asked to go into the wash rack or the trailer, but there is a damaged barn door that can tell you just exactly how it feels to be ploughed down by a Connemara determined not to get his feet wet. The fact that he now hardly flicks an ear when being washed brings me as much happiness as a nice ride in the forest or the execution of an (almost) perfect shoulder in.

Since the video is 10 minutes long I shall not write a complete novel about it. I will however offer a few more words. A picture says more than a thousand words, but at the same time it does not convey any of the feelings present in the moment. When I look at the videos of me riding Yeats, I can marvel at how light and easy a sequence can look when I have the memory of Yeats leaning on the hand and being anything but light. I can also look at some clips and wonder what I'm doing although at the time it felt absolutely right. The journey is never ending.

In the video I mention SixKeys to Harmony as well as Ecole deLégèreté and you can read more about those philosophies in previous blog entries.