Lessons, Retail Therapy and Gas

Score! Today was a day of great lessons and outstanding shopping. What could be better? Oh yeah. Quiche for lunch.

Our morning lessons were with Francisco. I worked on straightness in the canter and especially in the piaffe. I learned I needed to tap Zelo on the butt like I do my Lusitano at home, Universo do Bosque, aka as Uno or the Brazilian Butthead. If that boy didn’t lack the necessary equipment, I’d swear he was a stallion. Attitude with a capital TUDE.

Zelo needed lots of little half halts on the outside rein. I have a habit of giving much stronger half halts to the Butthead, so it was a good lesson for me and, GLORY BE, Uno has responded positively to the kinder and gentler Sue. I had to be sure to keep my hands steady with the give and take of the half halt. I was told to sit like a queen and all I had to do is allow people to bring me things and drink a sip of water. Yup. As usual, I was doing too much. 

In the half-pass, Franciso had me make sure I didn’t let Zelo’s shoulder fall out and I had to concentrate on bringing my hands toward the inside. I also needed a LOT more inside rein for straightness in the piaffe.

Meg got to ride Alambique for the first time (her favorite!) and she worked on changes with triumphant two-tempis on a diagonal line. 

“This was the day he really got after me about my hand position,” she said. “He urged me not to change the position every 15 seconds. He said not to give everything away when I praise/pat to avoid spending the whole ride fighting to get back what I had. He used the metaphor of a kid going to school – after the weekend they don’t want to go back to class. He asked me to imagine if they went to school every other day instead of five days a week, how much the work ethic would change. Consistency is key!” 

Francisco loves using metaphors and Meg especially liked one he used for the feeling in the piaffe.

“They must be in a glass box, not stone walls,” Franciso said. “They are in prison but they have the mental freedom of being in the field.”

All-in-all, a productive and happy morning. 

Lunch was quiche, salad and a cool and light vinho verde — the perfect warm weather white wine. It’s a young wine with the tiniest bit of effervescence. I’m not sure Meg enjoyed the wine as much as I did, but I think a crisp vinho verde is the perfect foil to a hot day. 

After lunch, Henrique organized a taxi to take Meg, Anne and me to two different tack shops in the area. First, we went to O Mundo da Equitação, a boutique tack shop with familiar names like Pikeur, Bates and Stubben. I live in a town where there are NO tack shops, so that would have been exciting IF I hadn’t just left Wellington less than two weeks prior to my trip to Portugal. 

Next, we headed to a place I had found online, Casa Farto Correaria. You see, I am secretly a 12-year-old boy because what 12-year-old boy wouldn’t want to go to the House of Farts? I HAD to buy something from there. It was a bit difficult to find but I was excited to pause outside the little shop for a photo. I had orders from barn buddies to buy baseball caps emblazoned with a Casa Farto logo and I had planned to buy a dozen. My friend Pat promised me her horse would sport a Casa Farto logo’ed saddle pad going down centerline in a Region 9 show and I was a woman with a mission. 

Sadly, finding t-shirts and baseball caps in Portugal is a difficult endeavor. Pat and I spent hours at the annual Lusitano Horse Fair in Golegã looking for a t-shirt and all we could find were items straight from China with no signage to show-off that we had been there. As long as Portugal is one of the top tourist destinations in the U.S., I think vendors are missing out by not supplying appropriate American souvenirs. I mean, who DOESN’T want a hat that says “Casa Farto” on it? If Mr. Farto (I am not pulling your finger on this one. Get it? Pulling your finger. See, I told you I am a 12-year-old boy.) spoke English, I would try to explain this to him and next time I return to Portugal I can guarantee the sale of a minimum of a dozen baseball caps and his shop would be famous. 

But, back to Casa Farto, a very small shop with traditional Portuguese tack. It is beautifully made in-house with obvious pride. Meg fell in love with the Portuguese half-chaps or polainas.

Mr. Farto makes similar ones for the members of the Portuguese Riding School with zippers hiding under the intricate lacing. 

Anne bought a bridle and I bought some spur straps that I asked him to emboss with his logo. Mr. Farto makes bridles for Portugal’s famous woman bullfighter, Ana Batista. He showed us photos of his lovely horses and we throughly enjoyed our visit with the charming man, but we had to hurry back to Morgado for our afternoon lesson with Martim.  

Meg and I rode together and Martim devised an exercise that forced us to work on straightness and to be ready and in control. Within the covered arena, Martim created a 20-meter long by 8-meter wide arena. Within those confines, Meg and I did walk, trot, canter, half-pass, flying changes, and 8-meter circles at the same time on two stallions. It was a lesson in anticipation and, for me, a lesson in keeping control of the outside shoulder with lots of little half-halts. When I would lose the outside shoulder, I would lose control of the turns, circles and figures. 

Meg remembers Martim saying something like, “If you think you’re a good rider or you’re doing well with your horse, make a little arena to test it out.” In other words, it’s a humbling exercise that shows you your weak spots. That being said, we both LOVED that exercise. Twenty-meter circles? PU-LEEZE. 

I also worked a lot on taking and giving of the reins, and I had trouble figuring out the fine line between taking and giving on my horse. If I gave too much, he would string out and I’d have to collect again. My horse required a whip to remind him to go forward with little taps, and I was allowed to use my seat to push forward more than I had previously. The day before, my horse didn’t understand me asking for a canter with my seat because of previous training as a bullfighter and I could only use my legs, but today I could use my seat for the canter. One of the things I love most about riding at Morgado is the chance to ride different horses to help me fine-tune my aids while gaining realization of my habits. 

I had to concentrate on riding with my hands really far forward. I have short arms (well, short everything if you want to be specific) and I was a bit uncomfortable with my hands that far forward, but I understood the concept. 

So, two good lessons and retail therapy made for a fantastic day and we celebrated at dinner. I found out that Henrique quizzed Anne about why I was so gung-ho on going to Casa Farto. She didn’t know how to explain it (come ON Anne, you are a doctor) and I told her I had to teach her the Portuguese word for fart, um peido, from the infinitive peidar. She replied that, of course, I knew that word. 

I can rest easy. My reputation in Portugal is intact. 

Tomorrow, another lesson and a visit to a palace because Francisco said I had to ride like a queen. And, because it’s Sintra.