Making the commitment...

After the clinic at the weekend, I was keen to keep up our momentum. We’ve had so many breaks over the last year between Bronson being lame, me having RSI and so on. Each time we’ve come back to each other it’s taken time to reset our relationship and for me to regain Bronson’s trust. That’s why this time when I couldn’t ride, because I’d put on weight, I made sure I still came up to the yard regularly to take Bronson out for walks in hand and so on.

I’ve seen the progress that Pip’s other clients have made over the past year and there’s no question that one of her liveries in particular has come a really long way, in both her riding and her partnership with her horse. She comes to the yard five times a week and it shows! It should be no surprise to me that the more we do and the more regularly we do it the better our horsemanship becomes and, therefore, the more fulfilling our relationship with our horse will be.

My hypnotherapy course starts this weekend and I will have a great deal of studying and practise to do over the coming ten months. Even so, I am determined to come to the yard at least four times a week and work with Bronson. I refuse to lose the ground we have gained over the weekend and just want to keep moving forwards. With all that in mind, we've had the most amazing week! Doing our canter work to help build my fitness and stamina, ready for the bigger canter fields and hacks on the Quantocks, and then Pip took me out for a hack on friday which was our best ever! I’m finding that maintaining the requisite focus and remembering to check in with each element of my horsemanship is getting much easier.

I know that Bronson needs to have my full commitment to give me his trust and that whatever time I invest in our relationship will be rewarded. When I consider how far we have come this past year, in spite of the breaks, I am filled with excitement at the prospect of where we might be in a year’s time. Most importantly? I’m enjoying every moment of this journey.