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USIHC Riding Badge Program
I participated in the USIHC Riding Badge program in July, 2007. An article about my experiences was published in the November, 2007 AIHA newsletter.
Bernie Willis tells me its time to ride. I grab Kolbrunn’s reins in my gloved fingers, and lift my left leg. Grunting, I set it back on the ground. This task is more difficult than usual – I’m wearing a bulky Refrigerware suit, an insulated one-piece item that hampers movement. Bernie, laughing, gives me a boast, and we are off. Kolby steps onto the frozen lake and Bernie hooks the lunge line onto the gelding’s bridle. It’s February in Alaska -- our “arena” is a shoveled-off portion of the Willis’s frozen-over backyard lake.
Bernie’s firm grip on the line enables me to focus on my balance. Since I have no rein contact, I focus on where my body is in relation to Kolby’s. After forty minutes or so, Willis, apparently satisfied with my progress, suggests that I ride Kolby off-line.
I presume that Kolby, an experienced lesson horse, will stay within the parameters of the arena. I presume wrong. We round the corner, and he heads in the direction of his pasture and buddies.
“”Whoa,” I yell, as Kolby plows into a waist-high snow berm.
“Bring him back here, and the next time you go around that turn, give him more outside leg,” Bernie says, adding, “and put more contact on your inside rein.”
I do as I’m told. Kolby again bolts, but this time I’m prepared. Finally, after a half-dozen or so attempts, I have him walking nicely around the entire arena. Willis, honoring the time-honored premise, that a lesson or training session should end on a good note, suggests that we untack and put Kolby away. Once inside, we resume discussing the questions that are listed under the Grooming and Tacking up a Horse sections of the Riding Badge 1 requirements. We conclude my first session with Willis suggesting that for next week, I review the section entitled Keeping and Care of Horses.
For the next six months, I worked closely with Bernie on Riding Badges I and II. I’m not what some would consider to be a typical riding badge student, that is, a young child with no horse experience. Rather, I’m a returning rider. After a twenty year hiatus, a renewed interest in horses lead to my purchase of an Icelandic filly.
I soon discovered two things. First of all, while I knew some about horse management, care, feeding, and riding, I knew next to nothing about ICELANDIC horse, care, feeding, and riding. And secondly, I was now toting around “returning rider baggage” – defined, this is the loss of riding-related confidence. After reading about the Riding Badge program in the December, 2006 issue of The Icelandic Horse Quarterly, I contacted Bernie, who agreed to assist me in filling in some of my knowledge-related gaps. I didn’t tell him about my baggage problems for I rightly reasoned that he’d figure this out.
My initial lesson on Kolby was both a humbling and a fortuitous experience. Humbling, because I figured that I’d have no problems riding Kolby, the beginner’s mount, but fortuitous because by the hour’s end I was even more receptive to Willis’s initial belief, that we should assume that I was a beginning rider/horseperson. I also agreed that the best way to go about this was to work on Riding Badge I and II, those in which the basics of horsemanship and riding are addressed.
Willis and I met on a weekly basis during the next two months. The first half of our two-hour session took the form of an outdoor lesson, and the second half took the form of an indoor discussion/lecture. Once in a great while, the inclement weather forced Bernie to improvise. However, it was those improvisational lessons that were the most valuable. For instance, after one heavy snowfall, Bernie drew a circle in the snow, and had Kolby and I follow it. Kolby walked to the inside of the circle, because (as I discovered) I was putting more weight on the left side of my body than my right. But when I shifted to the right, so did he.
In April, I was joined by Brandi Herr, 30, who has three children, and three Icelandics.
Our new routine went like this – one of the other of us would first get our lesson. Then we’d go inside for what Willis, an airplane pilot, called ground school. After, the other would ride. I learned a great deal watching Brandi ride – and vice versa. Brandi is a fearless individual who rides by the seat of her pants. However, I tend to err on the side of caution. A case in point: I expressed dismay, when, one week, Bernie told us that Kolby had been returned to Anchorage, where he was again to be Janet’s primary schooling horse. Instead, we were to ride Pia, a horse that I considered to be more spirited.
I watched intently, as during the course of her lesson, Brandi, under Bernie’s tutelage, worked on turns on the forehand and haunches. I’d done those suppleing exercises in a Gudmar clinic; however, I soon forgot what I’d just learned. Things clicked into place as I watched my friend and riding teacher. I was assured that Pia was not the I’d envisioned her to be. In fact, I took an immediate liking to the spunky chestnut mare.
The indoor lessons continued to follow the lecture/discussion format; however, their now more collaborative nature supported what I’ve always believed, that in learning situations, two heads are better than one. Bernie would ask a question, and either Brandi or I would answer it. If we were both stumped, Bernie would either rephrase, or ask a related question. Lengthy discussions, which were often interspersed with laughter, usually followed. Bernie was also adept at providing us with information, handouts, and photos gleaned from clinics and workshops. This was timely, for his hands-on demonstration and lecture complemented the Riding Badge Program’s Section on health care.
Come early June, the ice in the woods had finally melted, which meant that it was time to take to range further afield. Bernie took us both out on the trails, and here we practiced what we’d learned in the arena – suppleing exercises and gait transitions included. I was, I decided, making progress when Pia, behind Rjupa, did a fast tolt, and then when I asked, transitioned back to a slow trot.
One warm July afternoon, Bernie told both Brandi and I that our Riding Badge Badge tests would take place the following week. Hearing this, I shot him a look of disbelief. I was becoming increasingly more confident on Pia, and was enjoying putting riding and horsemanship theory to practice. After this announcement, Brandi and I, who had long since become what I called “Riding Badge Partners in Crime,” upped the anty, meaning we began putting even more energy into our studies. We both read, and talked about the important points in Charles DeKnuffey’s The Art of Dressage, and Rikki Shultz’s Understanding Icelandics. We also practiced grooming and tacking up. Then, the day before our test, we went over all the test questions in all the sections. Brandi, I noted, had even memorized the answer to the question.
Our test examiner was Janet Willis, who had recently earned her FEIF judge certification. We all agreed that I’d first take my riding test, and then Brandi would take hers. Then Janet would go over the test questions with us both. On the day of the test, I arrived at the Willis’s Wasilla-based farm, and did as Janet instructed – I went into the pasture, haltered, and lead Pia out of the pasture. My test-related anxiety made itself apparent as I was grooming Pia – I noticed that her halter was askew. I fixed it, then tacked up, and mounted. All the while, Janet made notes on a clipboard. This, and the forthright manner in which she asked the test questions made me feel as though I was again in the midst of my dissertation defense. tested. But as the session progressed, I began to feel as though this, (like the earlier classes) was both a chance to demonstrate what I knew, and as well, a unique learning opportunity. For example, after noticing that I was having difficulty getting Pia to trot, Janet suggested that I loosen up on the reins, and shift my pelvis forward. When I complied, Pia responded in kind. Other, much needed advice followed, as together, we worked on transitions. Too soon it seemed, the riding portion of the exam was over.
Brandi appeared, and took her riding test. Then she, I and Janet went into the backyard, where Janet had us answer the written questions. Although this was less discussion-based than our talks with Bernie, it was still fun. The final question was directed at Brandi. Janet prefaced it by remarking, “I don’t know why this question is on here, but all right. Here goes. “What are the markers on the dressage arena?
“ABCDE,” Brandi immediately replied.
“How’d you know that?” I asked, half in jest.
“I memorized it,” Brandi said.
“You know a good way to remember this?” Janet asked. “King Arthur . . .”
“Yeah, that’s a form of mnemonics,” I said.
“What’s that?” Brandi asked.
Janet interrupting what probably would have become a lengthy discussion on memorization informed us that we’d passed.
Minutes later, Bernie presented us with our badges.
This was, at least in my mind, a significant event, for I’d felt
like I’d really earned them. I’d filled in some horse-related
knowledge gaps and learned more about the care, feeding, and riding of
Icelandic horses. At the same time, I’d also learned (first hand)
some things about this program, which I hoped that in time, I’d
be able to pass on to others. First of all, the Riding Badge Program it
is not exclusively the domain of kids – returning riders can easily
benefit by participating in this program because it’s structure
lends itself to learning and confidence building. And secondly, the ongoing
nature of this program complements what one learns in clinics, which are
take place over a few day’s, as opposed to a few month’s time.
And thirdly, it’s a great way to make horse-related life-long friendships.
Riding Bage Program