Jan. 3, 2011, Moscow Pullman Daily News
Franklin Elementary School fourth-grade teacher Lisa Cartwright is fulfilling her childhood passion a little late.
She and Macnetic, a 26-year-old Appaloosa who goes by Mackey for short, meet about every other day at Flying B Tack Shop and Stables in rural Pullman to socialize and enjoy some English-style dressage riding.
"He's what we call a schoolmaster horse," she said, because he knows what to do - he doesn't get fidgety or act out much. Although he was 16 when she started riding him, he has allowed her to learn how to ride.
"It's training the horse, but it's just as much training the rider," she said.
The dressage style lets horses maintain natural movement, even with a person riding them, say advocates. The style uses a flat saddle that is lighter than the Western saddle; the rider often, but not always, rises and sits as the horse moves; and the general goal is more flexibility and precision than speed.
Cartwright said when horses run freely, they are suspended way off the ground and are naturally balanced and agile. Their back comes up and the back end and legs come beneath them.
"You can imagine what happens when we sit on their back," she said. "All that just goes out the window."
The English style includes arena riding and jumping, be it cross country in which the horse runs miles or stadium jumping.
Dressage has been called horse ballet, and competitions are held at all levels, from beginners to the Olympics.
Cartwright, an intermediate rider, competes in dressage shows a few times a year.
Participants are given a riding pattern and are judged against a standard, not against other riders. Their numerical score is based on how well the horse does and the rhythm of riding, among other criteria.
A family camp held annually in the summer draws about 40 people, more adults than children, and they camp and take lessons in Deary for three days.
"That's probably the highlight of my year," she said.
Mackey isn't mounted during each visit - sometimes, he's just put on a line and allowed to run in the arena.
"The important thing is that he gets good exercise," she said, because he's just like an old person. "We gotta move. He's the same way. All horses are."
The up and down movement of riders, called posting, provides an aerobic workout - riding doesn't just benefit the horse.
She tries to visit Mackey as frequently during the school year, she said, which is a huge time commitment.
Her students know it's a hobby, and girls generally show more interest than boys, she said. She's even had a few students who have been very interested out to the barn.
Mackey first belonged to Cartwright's daughter. Mackey is not a fan of jumping, which didn't suit her daughter's interests. When she got a new horse, Cartwright took Mackey as a hand-me-down and learned the dressage style.
She said when she first started, she thought all control of the horse was with reins. Now, however, she knows it's a matter of legs, hands, how you close your hands and use of the rider's seat. Really fine movements in seat bones cue the horse to do what he does.
"It's a whole process," she said. "I've been 10 years at this."
