Mystic and Blaze

As they entered the arena Blaze took the lead. “Issie,” Avery said, “you change the rein and keep her moving at a steady walk, then when you get into the far corner ask her to move into a trot. Keep plenty of leg on her and keep your hands nice and still.”

“You two,” he gestured to Kate and Stella, “follow along behind Blaze. Come on, girls! I want to see these ponies paying attention.”

As they worked the horses in around the arena, Avery busied himself in the middle of the ring, setting up trotting poles and cavalletti. “Right. Kate, you take the lead now and go over this combination that I’ve set up,” Avery instructed. “The rest of you follow along behind Kate, leaving a decent space between you.”

Kate and Stella went on ahead, taking the trotting poles with ease. But as Issie circled Blaze to follow them the mare tossed her head up, avoiding the bit and looking wild-eyed at the rails.

“Keep her steady, Isadora,” Avery said.

But it was no use. Blaze simply wasn’t paying her any attention. She took the trotting poles with an ungainly bound, then raced at the first cavalletti, throwing Issie back and almost unseating her. Landing off balance, Issie clutched on to the mare’s mane as she stopped dead in front of the last jump, then changed her mind and bunny-hopped across it. Issie lurched forward, still hanging on as Blaze took the jump. But as they landed she couldn’t keep her balance any longer, and flew over her horse’s head.

Hitting the ground with a thud, Issie tried to relax, knowing that it was better to let her body absorb the impact. Still, she felt herself gasping for air as the wind was knocked out of her, and it took a minute or two before she could get her breath back and stand up. By the time she was on her feet, Avery was heading towards her, leading Blaze by the reins.

“Are you OK?” he asked as he reached her. “Yeah, I’m fine, just totally embarrassed,” Issie wanted to say. Instead, she just nodded.

“Well, too many oats certainly have made Blaze a bit hot.” Avery smiled at her. At least he didn’t think she fell off because she was a useless rider!

Issie brushed herself down and tried to calm her nerves with a deep breath as Avery offered a hand to give her a leg up.

He turned to Kate and Stella: “Girls, I know you were looking forward to having a lesson but I think we need to focus on Blaze today. Why don’t you unsaddle and then you can come back over to the arena and watch us?”

He turned to Issie: “We need to take things back to basics with Blaze,” he told her. “I know you’ve been along to one or two of my natural horsemanship classes in the past, but with the problems you’ve been having with Blaze, I think it’s time for some special advanced lessons.”

He took the mare by the reins and looked at his pupil. “You can dismount now,” he said.

Issie was confused. “But, I thought…I thought you just said we were going to do some more work…”

“A natural horseman knows that if you want to be a good rider, the first step is learning to handle your horse while you’re still on the ground,” Avery replied. “Then once you have your horse’s trust and respect you can do anything you like. Now take Blaze into the middle of the arena. We’ll play some training games with her that will get her listening to you, and then we’ll get started on the real work.”

If you happened to see Issie that afternoon playing her natural horsemanship games you would think she looked pretty silly: jumping up and down in front of her horse, waggling her arms and legs like a crazy puppet on a string; doing star jumps in front of Blaze with a pair of plastic shopping bags billowing in her hands, followed by another set of star jumps, this time with a raincoat in one hand and an old umbrella in the other. There were moments when it all seemed so ridiculous that even Issie fell about laughing.

But Avery would glare at her and remind her that this was serious business. “These games are designed to make Blaze ‘bombproof. Do you know what that means?”

“I think so,” Issie said. “It means a horse who behaves well no matter what.”

“Exactly. We want Blaze to have so much faith in you that nothing can scare her.”

And with that, he gave Issie a leg up on to Blaze’s back. “That’s enough groundwork. Time for you to put your faith in Blaze for once,” he said. Avery reached up and undid the throatlash and noseband, lifted the reins forward over Blaze’s ears and then slipped the bridle off her head.

“But…what are you doing? How am I supposed to ride if she hasn’t got a bridle on?” Issie squeaked.

“You don’t need one,” Avery insisted. “Just hang on to a handful of mane and sit there. We’re going to let Blaze steer. She can go anywhere she wants. I just want you to sit tight and let her have her head.”

Avery stood with his arm around Blaze’s neck, calming the mare while Issie got comfortable. She gripped a thick hank of mane in her hands and wrapped her legs tightly around Blaze’s sleek body.

“No, no, don’t grip up with your legs. Relax a little,” Avery instructed. “If you relax, your horse will relax too. Now, I’m going to let her go and I want you to just sit there. That’s right. Stay perfectly still and let her decide for herself where to go.” He kept talking as he released his grip on Blaze. “Horses are used to being told what to do by their riders. So naturally, if you ask one to think by itself for a change, suddenly their brains start to work and, well, who knows what could happen.”

“I could fall off again, that’s what could happen…” Issie muttered.

“The rails of the dressage arena will keep her from going too far,” Avery pointed out. “Now, just sit there and relax totally.”

Issie tried to relax but it wasn’t easy. Blaze was all excited by the weight of a rider on her back. Her ears were pricked forward and her head was held high. She launched herself into a high-stepping trot and let out a shrill whinny as she charged down to the far end of the dressage arena. Issie forgot about relaxing and concentrated on hanging on as Blaze turned sharply and trotted back up the side of the arena.

“She’s doing well,” Avery coached. “She’s just starting to understand that she can do whatever she likes. In a moment she’ll calm down and start walking.” Issie wasn’t so sure. Any minute now, Blaze could realise that she was free and take a flying leap over the rails of the arena instead, dumping Issie in the process. The trot had now become a canter and Blaze seemed confused by the combination of the weight on her back and no bit in her mouth to control her. She gave a snort and shook her head.