Mr. Sassy Pants

 In my post I alluded to a clinic that I took Quaid to and now I'm here to give all the details. 

Spoiler: he had lots of feelings. None of which were 'yes let's do this' or 'I just love clinics' or even 'sure if you really want me to' 

These clinics are not new. They are at my friend's Krista's place and he's been participating in them for 3 years now (I had to double check, like 3 years already?!). So the location is not new. And we've been there multiple times since spring. After we had been so successful at the show I was expecting, not pefection, but that we could carry forward with the work we've been doing. 

I rode him 2 days, Friday (when I brought Carmen) and Sunday when he came by himself. 

Saturday: 

It was a windy day and the indoor was blowing. He was, understandably, a bit tense to start but Jane had me regulating his rhythm and asking him to step under. It actually was going really well. 

He was listening and trying really hard to follow what I was asking for. We had some lovely trot going and then it all fell apart. 

He began to protest going forward and began to hydroplane (which is what I call when he throws his haunches to the inside and starts to go sideways). Jane was getting me to ask him to go forward and to have flexion. Right before he starts to throw his body around his neck gets straight and becomes rigid. then he can do what he wants and go where he wants. 

My job was to get flexion and steer him forward. If he broke out of trot, fine but there was to be no rest. Once I had him straight he had to trot right off. Jane believes (and I agree) that he knows when he gets upset and acts up I'll stop and let him rest. Which was fine when he was 4 and super green but now he's using it against me. When he can shut down and get behind the leg he can do lots of things, few of which I like or are productive. 

If I can unlock this horse he's going to have one
hell of a piaffe. 

My job was to quiet my hands (even when he was throwing his head around and they were innocent bystanders in the whole thing) and to keep my tailbone down in the saddle.  I made good use of the grab strap to stabilise my hands. If I lightened my seat I could not be effective. It was interesting watching the lesson after because I didn't look as wobbly as I felt in the saddle. Not that I was awesome and you all should follow me on IG because I'm the best trainer ever.  But I felt like a beginner rider with all the changes in pace, direction and flow.  and I was to ride him forward. If he got all wobbly go in a circle to get flexion and then carry on. Jane likened it to a hose. If you choke a hose the nozzle will start whipping around everywhere. So you need to let the water flow out and everything stays stable. 

Which, like, yeah. Sure. I'm trying. Riding is hard. 

We had moments that looked good. 

And moments of sideways. That I  didn't ask for....

At the end we had some really really good trot work. 

I felt pretty good about riding through all that and getting to a good place. And I enjoyed having a day off in between, lol. 

Sunday

I loaded Quaid up mid morning. He was not thrilled to go by himself and Carmen was calling in the barn. But we got loaded up and hit the road. I was, to be honest, expected us to pick up where we left off. and initially it felt like that was true.  I had put my crop down because I found holding the grab strap and managing the crop a lot. Morgan Freeman's voice: she would, later, regret that decision. 

We went into trot and it was all going well. Until it wasn't. And he started to protest the whole forward thing again. 

I was feeling so optimistic  here. 

We were trotting down the long side when I could feel him just switch to 'nope, not gonna'. Honestly, that's how it felt. Jane told me to bend him on 10 metre circle to get the flexion and then ride out. At which point he stopped all four feet and refused to move. Jane quietly picked up my dropped whip and told me to keep asking for him to walk out and to not stop. She then gently tapped him on the butt to get him going. 

Quaid: stop tapping my butt! 

I'm so glad I did all that groundwork with him teaching him that a tap is not a punishment, it's an ask. Because he totally understood it. 

The entire lesson was of him shutting down and us getting him forward. And he was not allowed to rest unless he gave a try. 

Here's a brief clip (I'm sharing with trepidation because people love to hate on a bad ride but whatever). 

By the end we were totally sweaty. But he didn't get to end until he was actually listening to me and not making all therse decisions. I've watched the videos and I'm happy with how I stayed quiet. I was definitely exasperated but I was not mad. I was just done. I've done a lot of thinking about his behaviour trying to understand it. There's a definite in-gate sourness component because a lot of it occurs when we ride away from the door. And that's interesting because I swear by all that's holy I do not stop and rest or dismount by the gate. EVER. Usually our rest spots are by the more 'spooky areas'. But horses are smart and they know where they came in. I also think that him being alone contributes too. Again that is something he needs to adapt to. I do not want a horse that I can only ride if conditions are perfect. 

I walked away from the clinic with more information and a game plan from Jane. which will need to be another post because this is too long already.