I rode Bear and Greyson again today. Bear ROCKED. Best ride ever on him. I was finally able to put him in a canter and go around the whole ring on a loose rein and have him keep a steady tempo. Hooray! To the left he's still a bit stiffer but he's finally starting to get that I really don't expect much from him at all and there's no reason to be anxious. Just listen up, do what I'm asking and that's all there is to it. I popped over a few small jumps as well and while he still feels a little on edge to his jumps, today he was listening for direction rather than just tensing up and taking off when I pointed him to a jump. I could get him to circle or stop or transition before and after the jumps very easily today since he's starting to wait for my instruction now. So we played a little before the jumps so he didn't get too focused on the jump itself. It seemed to help a lot. He didn't treat the jumps like they were a big deal by the end of our ride, he started to treat them like they just happened to be in our way while we were working so he just popped over them and kept doing his job. Good good pony! Hopefully with a little more time he won't even bat an eye at his jumps. He would still get tense and run at his jumps if his rider didn't stay very very quiet and balanced at this point. We are at a very delicate moment in his training.
I want to stop and point out to everyone, RE-training/UN-training a horse is a HECK OF A LOT HARDER and requires MUCH more time and patience than just taking the time to train them right in the first place! While I was in college, I rode as many horses as I possibly could. The college horses were all donated...and there was almost always a reason the horse was donated. Weird quirks, bad habits, poor training...etc. I had such pity for many of these horses. Every horse I sit on tells me a story about how they've been ridden and treated. Horses are tattle tales. My goodness I've been told some horrifying stories by these horses! Some of them get so frustrated from years of impatience and poor understanding and no respect of the training scale. Their poor brains were frazzled and quick to become defensive. It takes a while to get through to these horses that everything is okay now, and get them to start thinking clearly and positively again. Most of them put up their guards and are very apprehensive when they start their retraining. But no feeling compares to the feeling I get when I help a horse have their first breakthrough...I love feeling the huge wave of relief emanating from the horse.
I often wished I had more opportunities to show, or to ride more schoolmasters or higher quality horses...but the troubled and problem horses I have ridden in the past provided me with so much knowledge and understanding and patience and versatility. Plus I can't think of anything more rewarding than helping a horse find contentment in their work again. I need to share the story behind my old horse, Eclipse. He was my most rewarding project and went from very angry and unhappy to very happy...I've never met a horse that loved work and life as much as he did after we got to know each other.
Ok...back on track...can you tell I'm very passionate about training a horse in a sympathetic, well thought out way???
Greyson was very good (as usual!) he just doesn't have a mean or naughty bone.
I worked with him for a bit in the round pen before I taught a couple lessons. I want to work on teaching him to lunge with a rider soon so he can teach some walk trot lessons this year. He's afraid of the whip and still a little anxious when a person is moving around him so I thought I would teach him how to read my body language so we could work smoothly and quietly together. I also wanted him to get used to me holding the whip to send him forward and realize that I wasn't intending to hit him with it. I've already worked with him and the whip...waving it around, cracking it, touching him with it, waving it over his head, swishing it on the ground...and he's still tense about it but hes starting to trust that I mean him no harm and will stand still.
He was a bit quick and tense when I sent him out on his circle but we worked on a few turns and I kept my movement as clear and smooth as possible and he soon began to realize that we were working, I wasn't just chasing him with ill intent. He was a little confused at first and tried to change directions or run through my cues but it didn't take long for him to focus and read my cues carefully. He was very good then, I could get him to turn toward me, walk, trot, canter, and halt straight with little effort. We ended with another quick session desensitizing him to the whip.
After two good lessons with Alexia and Clementine, and Sierra and Belle, I had enough daylight left to ride Greyson. Hooray for daylight past five again!!!
We continued to work on staying straight but laterally soft and flexible. I rode him on a long loose rein today at the canter in an effort to make him stop focusing on staying stuck and locked and start focusing on keeping himself balanced. It actually worked quite well and we had some of our best canter yet. I stayed very Balanced and quiet on his back and kept him forward and only picked up my reins to ask for a little lateral flexion and dropped them after he corrected himself. He FINALLY started to think about what I was asking of him instead of just "OMG I'M CANTERINGGG AND I CAN'T HOLD MYSELF UP!"
We popped over a little crossrail a few times and called it a day.
I gave Moose today off...she's just getting sooooo boooored with this winter business.
I was reflecting on the horses I'm riding right now and realized how drastically different I ride most of them. I'm very traditional and methodical and correct when it comes to the way I ride and train Moose. But with the others, it's a little unorthodox. I'd love to train them all the way I'm working with Moose...but let's face it...the people who will be interested in purchasing these horses or the kids riding them should they become lesson ponies just don't have the knowledge yet to ride a horse trained to respond to very detailed sequences of aids. So I train them in a way that will create a laid-back, contented, confident, uncomplicated equine citizen that doesn't do anything fancy but is very well versed in their basic set of skills. Walk, trot, canter, jump. Hold your line, hold your tempo, respond reasonably quick to aids but not too snappy. Naughtiness isn't acceptable but do your job and everyone is happy. Basic understanding of seat and leg and giving to the bit but not too sensitive about it.
It still requires lots of time and miles and thoughtful training. I also try to train to each personality and figure out what each horse is motivated by and what their calling is.
I keep telling myself that I won't get too off track in my blog posts but then I just can't help it.
Let's end with this video...one of my favorites. It always makes me wonder why in the world I insist on being an eventer when I could be working toward something like this instead. For my non dressage students and those that just started to explore the discipline...notice how quiet the horse and rider are...no pulling, tugging, kicking, wiggling...the horse is forward and happy and attentive. You CAN achieve great things as a rider if you really want it, and you are willing to buckle down and put in quality saddle time! Let's achieve great things girls!
For those who are not interested in dressage...can you imagine just how you would look to a judge during your pleasure class or your hunter round or your jumper round if you had the ability to control and communicate with your horse this quietly?
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