A Work in Progress

Sometimes I love when I'm wrong.

Let me explain.

I wanted to fit in one more lesson with Shanea before the show. Based on her schedule and the weather report (seriously rain- you can stop now) we set it for Wednesday after work.  When I got home it was really gusty. The wind would calm and then blow really hard. In the barn Carmen was a bit tense. She actually scooted once (I think in response to the cat coming up the driveway). I put her back and was finishing my groom when the wind started blowing an empty water bucket right at her. She began to dance in place rolling her eyes at me
Help! It's attacking. DO SOMETHING.
I got the bucket and put it out of the wind. I was impressed that she didn't take off but stayed where I had ground tied her.

By now I was resigned to a lesson on a tense, spooky horse. After all that's how she is in this weather. And also, the grass is long enough to wave in the wind.

However, up in the ring she seemed to immediately relax.  As we worked it was clear that she was well in her comfort zone and while she was looking at the waving things she wasn't overly concerned. Could it be? I wondered. After warming up on the lunge I mounted and we walked off. I was able to pretty much walk her everywhere with no fuss. There were spots were there was some fuss but she is Carmen after all and I cannot take her for granted.

After we were walking for a bit Shanea arrived and we started our lesson. I explained what we had done in our lesson with Jane (and can I say how nice it is that Shanea completely supported my taking lessons from someone else).

Then Carmen and I proceeded to start one of our best schooling sessions ever. It was amazing- she stayed with me the whole time and there was no drama or disagreements. We had a few bobbles but she came right back to me as soon as I asked. The few spooks we had were small and easily handled. I've noticed that I don't react as strongly as I used to- in fact a few times I didn't 'react' other then to put her back on the aids and we carried on.

I'm going to share some highlights and some photos. The photos were not chosen becasue they were perfect. I'm guilty of trying to pick just the best ones to put in the blog. Not because I want you to think that I'm perfect (well maybe a little) but because it's a risk when you post photos that you will be picked apart and/or that someone will leap to wrong conclusions. But I worry that we start to think that horse training should always be perfect and easy That the rider and horse are always happy and keen.

That's not true. Horse training is hard and it often looks terrible. So here are my photos- some of which are good moments and some that are not. And I'm okay with that because that's the truth of where we are right now.

keepign the outside rein and giving the inside

The key for Carmen is to keep the outside rein at all costs.  I cannot be giving it away because it is our anchor and keep us on task. That means that when she bends to the outside I have to give and take the inside and not throw away the outside. Since I've been working on that Carmen has begun to trust it and  as soon as I steady teh outside rein she steadies. The give and take of the inside is a work in pogress and I have to be prepared to be as firm as I needed.

Giving the rein for her to stretch will sometimes result in her grabbing the bit and pulling and/or going behind the vertical.

The tricky part is to keep riding forward when she sucks back becasue she really shortens the bottom oher neck and tighten. The bending helps there too.

We introduced the idea of the free walk on a long rein. That is hard for Carmen because she needs the contact to feel safe. The first few times were not pretty as we approached the corners. Shanea talked me through how to use my legs to provide the contact through gentle pressure and not throw the reins away but keep my connection. I'm not sure how I did with that but as we kept working she began to understand the 'ask' and tried.

This is as good as we got and frankly I'm thrilled even though it probably wouldn't 'score' well in a test. The truth is that at our show our 'free walk on a long rein' is likely to be a 'free-ish walk on a long-er rein'  I love how she has an ear on me and is trying (also note that wind is blowing her tail sideways). 

We did a lot of work on staying straight. Our homework is paying off in this. It's not that we're peferctly straight all the time but we recover it muchc more easily - even at the canter. Working on the quarterlines has showed me how much support she needs to stay straight and we're cheating going on the wall. We may not pass a sobriety test at this point in time. 

what is this 'straight' thing?

We did some work on canter as well. It's coming along. At first it was a bit compressed and not very forward (especially going towards the far end). But it got better and better. 

really  not sure about where we're going but doing it anyway. 

Even though she was uncertain she listened and went anyway. And then I felt her change a gear and she started taking the canter to the bridle. I was so excited I let her do it but then she got over powered and lost control of it so we had to get it back. Oops. I need to help her find the forward and help her balance the power she has. A few times she threw her haunches in but listened to my seat and went straight without a lot of flailing or drama. 

My phone died at this point so there are no pictures but trust me- it was lovely. 

Being able to use the whole ring without the big battles has been so useful. Having Carmen tune into me for direction and trusting me is incredible. My attitude has improved as well and I'm less judgemental about her worries. When she's soft everything is so fluid and it's easier. I love how trainable she's becoming.

I'm pleased with the photos that show a good moment and I'm pleased with the ones that don't. Becasue we're working on it.