Leg Yielding, Cuddles, and a New Four-legged Friend!
Today’s visit to the farm was one of the most exiciting ones so far because so much happened and I’m excited to share it with you! A new pathway was added leading from the arena to the barn so that people in wheelchairs could acess the area more eaisily, and even though my chair could eaisly pass through the dirt before, I am so thankful for everything the staff at Quantum Leap does to make the horse world accessible to everyone regardless of ability.
Prior to my lesson, I went over to Sonic’s stall like I usually do to see what he was up to, and of course he was happily muching on some hay :) I called his name and he came right over to the stall door which really made me happy because he had never responded when I called his name in the past. I guess he’s finally starting to remember me <3. I stood in front of the door for a while and stroked his super soft nose, which I could quite honestly do all day. A few minutes later one of the barn managers came to put on his bridle and I helped lead him to arena gate.
For most of today’s lesson I practiced getting Sonic to leg yield. Leg yeilding or “criss-crossing” as some might call it, is a movement where you have the horse cross over its front legs like it is going to turn, but keep the horse moving in a forward/sideways direction rather than allowing them to make that turn. To do this, the able bodied rider with proper leg strength would just apply pressure on the side opposite the one in which they want the horse to go, while keeping the reins gathered and straight so that the horse doesn’t move in either direction. However, if you don’t have the right amount of leg strength like me, you can use a crop to apply pressure where the leg normally would. I was so suprised when Sonic actually did what I asked him to do and crossed his legs over! You know you’re doing it because you can feel the legs shift. He usually doesn’t like to do things that are too involved :) I did this movement at a walk, and while the GIF below is showing it at a faster pace, it depicts what the movement should look like.
For the rest of my lesson, I just casually took my time guiding Sonic through some obstacles in the arena. I had originally wanted to practice trooting, but there were three other horses and riders in the arena today and I didn’t feel comfortable doing it with that many people around. Before I knew it my lesson was over, and I decided to go back over to the barn to spend some more time with Sonic while I waited for my mom to pick me up. He was i the crossties so that someone could fix the girth on his saddle before he was put back in action again for the 11:00 lesson. I took that opportunity to give Sonic some peppermint treats and more snuggles, which he throughly enjoyed <3 Here’s a picture of us together!
Just before I left, a horse trailer arrived at the barn to drop off the herd’s newest member. Since Cowboy, another therapy horse had just been put down on Thursday due to worsening arthritis, I was surprised they had gotten another fourlegged friend so soon. Meet Shane, a 16 year old black and white Paint Horse! He’s pretty tall, but short lengthwise compared to some of the other horses, which I think makes him extra adorable <3
I hope you guys enjoyed this post and I will try to post more often this week. Thanks so much for reading!
Love,
Bry
