I Know I Rode

True confession. I was lazy and didn’t write down what I learned in my lessons until later in the week. My mind is more like a sieve rather than a steel trap and if I don’t write it down, it’s gone. Meg, on the other hand, is young and can remember stuff. Be glad Meg was there.

Here is what I do know: Meg and I rode twice that day. It was hot, but not as hot as it was in Portugal last August. Those were record-setting temperatures and my WTForecast weather app had lots of fun with that. Let’s just say the screenshot is NSFW.

In the morning, I rode Escivo, a new Lusitano at Morgado. His nickname, The Mosquito, aptly describes him. I think we found each other mutually annoying. Meg rode Xau (pronouned SHAOW). Meg remembers more than I do about her first ride with Francisco.

“I was a bit intimidated at first,” she said. “The expectations are high riding Lusitano schoolmasters with seasoned instructors It’s a lot to prove, like ‘Can I hold my own?’ but now I realize it was more about proving something to myself than to anybody else. What I lacked in technical skill and mileage I was determined to make up for by being an attentive, diligent student.

‘The Fillis Method is what I’ve used in my limited experience with the double bridle. I have a background studying the French classical Ecole de Légèreté, which uses this method. I was prepared for Francisco to have negative things to say about it, or write it off, as so many have**, but he didn’t. He simply explained that the horses there weren’t used to that method of rein holding, but it was not wrong – that good riding is good riding! This was SO refreshing to hear and set the tone for the week. 

The theme of my lessons became consistent contact, keeping my hands more steady and doing less. I have a tendency to lift my hands and move them about in an attempt to find a direct line to each corner to the mouth, endlessly wary of  ‘trapping’ or ‘forcing’ a head carriage, but often at the expense of consistent contact.

**The Ecole de Legerete is pretty polarizing – in its attempt to ‘advocate for the horse,’ it has alienated many riders with stern criticisms and its elitist/morally superior, black and white outlook. I don’t ‘drink the Kool-Aid’ anymore, but I still love and respect the ideas: lightness, freedom, choice for the horse, poll always the highest point, nose slightly in front of the vertical – think the opposite of rolkur – up and out, not low and deep.” 

Meg continued: “At the end of the first lesson I was left with a biomechanical question: doesn’t bringing the head down oppose the ideal in dressage of the horse lifting weight off the forehand and coming into self-carriage? (From my background head down ≠ correctly moving back). This sparked later discussions about proper use of the back and its relationship to head carriage.”

Back to Sue now: OK. Well, that was humbling. I talk about drinking and she talks about important stuff like contact and head carriage. Dammit. I loved riding with Meg. First of all, you have to trust whomever you share the arena with because you are both riding stallions. Second, she’s a great student and lots of fun. Third, we laugh a lot.

In all the years I have gone to Morgado, I can recall a couple of times I have ridden with three people in a lesson and those were special circumstances because of a schedule change–usually on our part. Lessons are for two and they are now building private lessons into the schedule for those staying a week or more. When one of us had a private lesson, the other had a chance to ride with some of the other guests-whom I also trusted.

This trip, our lessons were with Francisco, Pedro and Martim and they were all enlightening. We were disappointed to miss learning from Rui, a principal rider with the Escola Portuguesa de Arte Equestre or Portuguese School of Equestrian Art, who was in France riding in a joint show with the Cadre Noir of Saumur. Jenny, Rui’s wife and another favorite instructor, was just getting back to work after an injury and, with Rui out of the country, her schedule was curtailed.

When I was in Portugal during the heat wave, Rui informed us that he was more worried about the horses rather than the riders (how much do I love that?!) and our lessons were in the lower gears. I learned more that week than I ever had at Morgado. One morning, I asked Jenny to help me perfect a turn on the haunches. Not only were the instructions precise, but when it cooled down a bit (that’s a relative term) and we graduated to a canter pirouette, that movement made a lot more sense.

During that same heat wave, another fabulous instructor, Francisco, had us learn half-pass zigzags at the walk and I worked on controlling the horse’s shoulders so that when we moved up to working on zigzags at the canter, I had a better grasp of the mechanics involved. Mind. Blown.

Back to May. In the afternoon Pedro taught us as I rode Xial and Meg had a private lesson aboard Ehercules, another new horse. I had the pleasure of sharing my lesson with Anne, a physician from Australia. Yes, I trusted Anne, too.

One of my favorite parts about going to Morgado is meeting new friends from around the world and, since there are so many repeat visitors, I often reconnect with people I’ve met in the past. This trip, I was happy to see Nina from the U.K., with whom I sweated during the heat wave. Besides Nina and Anne, were Sue from the U.S., a Facebook friend for years whom I finally met in person, Giovanni from Italy, a more recent Facebook friend, Rodney from the U.K., Maria from Finland, and Anastasia and her husband, Mikele, from Russia, who came in for lessons.

Meals are always interesting with a group of well-traveled people. Breakfast isn’t a group affair as the buffet accommodates different riding schedules and we connect in passing.

Lunch is a sit-down meal where we are served soup, a main dish and beautifully presented fresh fruit. That reminds me, when it was so hot in August, I had no desire to eat the hot soup. A guest from Finland and another from Switzerland tried to convince me that eating something hot cools you down. Don’t EVEN go there with me. I grew up in Florida and live in Mississippi so I know a bit about stifling heat and humidity. These chicks from cold climates were trying to tell me something that anyone from the South will tell you just ain’t true.

Dinner is one of my favorite parts of going to Morgado. We generally shower before and change into something (relatively) clean, and I love the casual dress code and optional make-up. Once clean, we meet at the library in the main house. A pre-dinner drink while catching up with friends on their lessons or emails home are in order. There is an impressive gin & tonic faction of aficionados at Morgado who take the crafting of G&Ts with boutique gins and all the accoutrements to new levels.

Then, we are served a three-course dinner with lots of wine and more lively conversation. I’ve imbibed more than my fair share at Morgado, but I am proud to say that I have not skipped a lesson the next day because of my debauchery. OK. I will admit that my friend, Pat, and I went to an afternoon lesson once more than a bit inebriated after a winery tour at Quinta da Murta in Bucelas with our new BFF, Franck, but that’s another story for another day.

Next up, a trip to see the young horses and a tour of beautiful Óbidos, a charming town with cobblestoned streets, traditionally painted houses and a medieval castle. I won’t even try to phonetically spell how to say Óbidos because I don’t know how to write out all the “shushing” noises and closed vowels. You’ll just have to come to Portugal to experience it.