Last night I rode a client's big retired, '93 racing thoroughbred in a dressage lesson..
he's 17+ hands..big bay horse..
one of those old cavalry types...muley head, big ears..
he won a few races...
nice horse..
BIG mover..
I had been practicing canter departs, I wanted a break, but my coach called for one more..
At the next corner I asked for the depart from behind but I never let him go in front..
He fell apart,
I fell apart,
the coach made us do two more..
In the moment that I failed to let him go forward,
I became separate from my horse,
out of harmony
A moment in fear wondering if i could hold us up through another one...
Worried for an instant about my body,
in my separateness,
I threw away the union and a bit of the trust..
we got through it OK..and no one else probably knew what happened...
the coach just said
"Don't second guess yourself"
In Aikido, we always used to say, "What meets you in life will meet you on the mat, and what meets you on the mat will meet you in life.."
