Coquetta, continued ...
Over the next few days, we ran into a problem. Coquetta decided
she wouldn't cooperate with my daughters any more and we couldn't figure out why.. I went to
the Edgewood library, eight miles to the south, to look for books
on horse training. I'd already read every horse book in the Albuquerque
Public Library system. By contrast, Edgewood was so small that
their library consisted of a single narrow little room lined with donated books. Even
so, they had a dozen on horses. While leafing through one of
them, a short, athletic young woman with long, wavy brown hair
approached me.
She asked, "Do you own horses?"
"Yes. Just bought my first one."
"I'm Debbie Romero." She explained that she and
her husband had just bought an old adobe house on five acres
of meadow dotted with pinons and junipers. It turned out that
I had ridden by her place on Coquetta that first frosty morning .
As a teenager, Debbie said she had been big on horses. Unlike me, she
had studied English equitation, something as foreign to me as camel
riding. She had even been a professional trainer of Thoroughbreds.
Like me, marriage and kids had pushed horses out of her life.
Now she had the right home to get horses again, as soon as she
had the money for them.
We made a deal. My garden was thriving on the soil that had
long ago made the Estancia Valley the pinto bean capitol of the
US. Debbie promised to come by several times a week, load up
on vegetables, and figure out Coquetta.
She showed up the next day. She started by asking Virginia
to ride Coquetta. As soon as Virginia got up into the saddle,
Coquetta beelined into her barn, a 12x18 foot shed open to the
southeast. She milled around in circles and refused to come out.
|
Debbie said she could fix the problem with the proper bit.
She went home and returned with a full cheek snaffle. It hinged
in the middle with bars that rest against the cheeks. She explained
that when you pull on a rein, the bar on that side puts pressure
on the side of a horse's mouth. This makes it almost impossible
for a horse to fight the rider.
Virginia got on Coquetta again, this time using the snaffle.
I expected Debbie to ask Virginia put her new bit right to work.
Instead, she said, "Let Coquetta go anywhere she wants.
Don't try to guide her. Just make her keep moving."
Coquetta rushed into the barn. "Keep squeezing her with
your legs." |
A full cheek snaffle bit. |
Coquetta milled around inside the barn, then whizzed out and
circled to the gate, which was closed. It looked as if she was hoping to get another fun rde gaiting across the King Ranch with the antelopes. Virginia kept up
the leg pressure. Coquetta milled in circles in front of the
gate for a few minutes. Then she headed out at a diagonal across
the pasture.
"OK," shouted Debbie, "now turn her by pulling
the rein on the side you want her to go."
Sure enough, Virginia turned Coquetta. They made a few more
planned turns. Then Coquetta stiffened her neck and headed for
the gate again.
When Debbie saw that stiff neck, she called "Don't fight
her. Let the reins loose. Just keep her moving."
Virginia rode her though another episode of milling at the
gate. Once Coquetta headed back into the pasture, she began guiding
her again. After about an hour of this, Coquetta was consistently
getting along with Virginia. When Valerie took her turn, Coquetta
was now ready to accepted her guidance right away.
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