Dusting Off the Gears

Friday (two Friday's ago now!) was a gloriously cool day and, even more miraculously, the insects were taking a break.  Harley-time was on the cards for the afternoon and I was deliriously happy as I pulled up to the barn.  I didn't waste any time getting my grooming supplies out and marching out to Harley's paddock.  Likewise, he met me at the gate.  Good boy!

I consolidated prep work by feeding him some alfalfa cubes and finishing his grooming in his stall.  Then I tacked him up in his stall and he finished the last cubes just before I was ready to put the bridle on.  Score two for team work!

My partner in crime.

Once in the tack, we warmed up with our walk exercises and then proceeded to trot. Harley's energy felt great, uninhibited and free flowing.  He was reaching into the bridle and clearly asking for more, so I started riding to a point in the arena.  We tooled all around the ring with lots of changes of direction and variations in pattern.  I rode from my weight aids and my eyes.  Harley loves that game.

Since it was such a nice temperature, I thought we should work some canter, so I shortened my reins and asked Harley to step into more contact and carry himself.  As he obediently worked the dust off the gears and adjusted himself to a more dressage-y frame, it dawned on me.  I am thinking about working the canter and I have not worked the walk or trot yet!  Talk about running before you can walk.  It was time for some walk-trot transitions.

And boy am I glad that we went there.  Forward is always the first ingredient and this is no different when you are riding transitions.  I had to really encourage Harley to stay through before, during, and after the transition.  Predictably, it was easiest for him to stay forward in the upward transition, but much more difficult in the downward.  He also likes to try to suck back going right: the reins get loopy even though I have not changed their length.  I did my best to keep my elbows at my sides and give him a steady feel.  I also worked hard NOT to pull on the bit.  I let my legs tell him to lengthen his neck and carry himself by stepping more under with his hind legs. 

This was challenging, especially the part where I had to put more leg on during the downward transition.  Interestingly, my outside leg had to do the heaviest lifting.  I can almost initiate the downward transition off my outside leg alone.  I believe this is because he already engages the inside hind nicely, but has a tendency to lean in (hence his motorcycle-inspired name).  My outside leg stands him up and helps him stay balanced laterally, which improves his longitudinal balance.  Neat.

Even though he loves to GO, GO, GO, Harley needs  reminders to keep the impulsion in the downward transition.  Likewise, he needs reminders to relax and not rush in the upward.  I am sure that as we both improve our endurance this will get easier, because I typically do not like to subscribe to the "more leg" camp, but sometimes it does help work the dust free.

Twenty Minutes in the Saddle

I am learning to make the most of twenty minutes these days.  In fact, twenty minutes is a very large chunk of "free time" when you have a hungry Little One on your hands.  Can twenty minutes be worthwhile in the saddle?  I think so, and I am doing my best to relish those precious twenty when they are spent on Harley's back.  I am sure that I am not the only one who is keeping her rides short these days, as the heat of July affects us all (in the northern hemisphere), especially if we are not fortunate enough to have a covered arena!

My last ride on Harley consisted of twenty minutes of walking and five minutes of trotting with a few more minutes walking in the shady yard before hopping off.  I know that adds up to more than twenty, but only twenty of it really consisted of "work", the rest was mounting, dismounting, and getting ourselves situated.  My horse has not been ridden since April and I have had very little physical activity since then, so we are taking it slow for reasons other than the hot, humid climate.  How did I make twenty minutes of walking productive (and fun) you ask?  We focused on the mental rather than the physical game.

As always the first ingredient was "forward".  I asked Harley to march along with some pep in his step, not hurried, but with a clear feeling that he was going to continue marching.  To me this is what forward means in dressage.  I kept the reins long in the beginning and only really shortened them to the fourth-stop.  I wanted him to stretch his frame and move freely to the contact with a long neck.  We alternated between the buckle and the fourth-stop between exercises.

happy, happy, happy

Our exercises were simple.  From the walk I asked him to halt with a little aiding from me as possible.  I always picked a shady spot to halt and I was not fussy about his head and neck position.  I was more interested in if he was listening to my seat.  Before long, he was stopping in response to me drawing up tall, stilling my seat, and pressing into each stirrup as I felt him taking his final steps in walk before the halt.  These light presses in the stirrup really seem to make a difference for us.  With repetition he also started keeping "at attention" ready for the next transition and with his neck straight.

Then I added "rein-backs".  My goal was the same.  Get the backward steps with as little aiding as possible.  These were not quite as good as the halts, as I did have to resist with my hands several times to send the energy back, but they were pretty straight and obedient otherwise.  I cue the rein-back by lightening the back of my seat to "open the door" and cuing him with my legs farther behind the girth than I ask for forward steps.  Usually he moves into my hand and feels the resistance from my position before stepping back.  I like this because he is thinking forward even as we move backward.

Next, we rode some deliberate corner-turns, not at the corners of the riding ring.  I focused on turning from my outside leg and my weight to the inside over my inside stirrup, which I carry at the girth.  I wanted to feel Harley initiating the turn from his outside hind.  This starts to get him carrying his frontend more and usually leads to him bending naturally into the turn.  A little squeeze with my inside ring finger was all that was necessary to encourage inside flexion if he wasn't already there.

After several nice, honest corners in each direction, we went to shoulder-in in walk.  I wanted to see Harley's neck straight even as he carried his inside shoulder on the inside track.  I felt for his inside hind stepping under his weight.  I encouraged gently since he is limbering up after a long vacation.  He is easier to (over)bend left and straighten to the right, so I rode each direction accordingly.  This is still challenging work even if it does not leave my horse sweating buckets.  He felt like butter by the time I asked for trot.

Our trot work was very, very simple.  Move forward, straight, and in a regular tempo.  I let him chose the length of neck that was comfortable for him and he chose to stretch (Good Boy!).  He was very eager to trot, so forward was not a problem and his tempo erred on the side of too fast, but that is typical Harley, so I just enjoyed it.  He powered down the long side a couple times with some big, beautiful strides.  It felt amazing and those five minutes were up way to soon!

Now if I could just learn to squeeze a hoof trim into twenty minutes...

How do you make the most of twenty minutes?

A Rider's Seat Gone and Realized

A competent and effective seat is perhaps a rider's greatest tool in the saddle.  Sometimes the quality of the rider's seat is not obvious until things go awry.  For example, all may be well and good for a relatively well-balanced rider, until the horse spooks, takes-off, and drops a shoulder.  If the rider comes off over the descending shoulder, the seat was not properly installed on the horse.  The seat should be connected to the hind legs, not the shoulder, but this isn't always obvious until after eating dirt.

I have not been on my horse's back for six weeks now.  I miss riding him terribly, but I knew ahead of time that I would not be able to ride him at this point in my pregnancy (We have about a month to go!).  Our last ride was short, but wonderful and we spent most of the time in a smooth, steady canter.  The canter is Harley's favorite gait and it was definitely his idea to spend our last ride that way.  I also thought it totally appropriate that he requested to canter and offered a delightful rocking gait considering that he had a "baby on board".

My official reason for making that ride our last until later this summer was that I no longer fit in the saddle.  That was true, but it was not the only reason, just the easiest one to explain.  Leading up to that day, there were some hints that my saddle days were numbered.

The first hint was how I was using my hands.  As a dressage rider, I take great pride in "using" my hands very little.  Connection, straightness, and balance information are transmitted through the reins between me and my horse.  I do not use the reins for steering and it is rare that I have to truly "pull" on the reins (banish the thought, I know, but it does happen).  However, as my rides approached the first week in April, I started noticing that I was "using" my hands more and more.  I was starting to steer a bit with my hands and slow my horse down with a "squeeze and release" technique that I have taught to beginner riders.  The most dramatic case was in the canter.  I wanted to circle at one end of the arena and realized (with a certain amount of horror) that I had to haul on the inside rein to bring my horse onto the circle.  This was a very rude way to circle a horse who will follow my weight and take direction from my seat and legs.  The crude turn via my hands was an involuntary backup response, because apparently my seat and legs were not behaving as usual.  Harley obliged without a fuss, but I still apologized for my inferior technique.

The second hint was the use of my voice.  This was less noticeable to me as a clue that I would have to abandon the saddle, because I always talk to my horse when I ride.  I use the classic "gait" verbal cues as well as a couple of my own token sounds or sometimes I just talk to him, you know, like in English.  His ears are always back listening to me, which I greatly appreciate.  As our rides progressed with the second trimester, I realized that I was riding almost exclusively off my voice.  Harley would trot or canter from the sound of the word or a cluck or kiss and he came back to trot or walk when I asked him aloud.  This is not really a bad thing and it certainly doesn't hurt my horse or qualify as bad riding, but it was an indication that my physical aids were losing effectiveness.

All of a rider's aids work in concert, but the deal-breaker for me was the loss of my seat.  The seat is the keystone for the rest of the physical aids.  During our last couple rides, I literally could not sit in the saddle except at the walk.  Posting trot was delightful exercise and I stood straight up in my stirrups for the canter.  I have been gifted with excellent balance, so I never felt unsafe, but the writing was on the wall.  I cannot use my seat if it is not in the saddle AND if I did sit to try to rebalance my horse, nothing happened.  I could not engage my core to regulate my horse's pace (hence the "squeeze and release" on the reins), I could not control the shift of my weight to turn (hence my man-handling of the inside rein), and I could not support or initiate a half-halt.  Our last canter was glorious, but it was also all Harley.  He took me for a nice ride.  I was a complete (albeit well-cared for) passenger.  I tried to offer some input at one point and realized exactly how ineffective my seat and aids had become.  My abdominal muscles were so stretched out and without anywhere to go when I needed them to contract and support.  Without my abs, my back muscles were also unsupported and the stability of my torso at risk.  Neutral pelvis started to fade away.  It was not lost on me just how lucky I was to be riding a kind horse who had no intentions what-so-ever of taking advantage of my current short-comings in the saddle.  I was most definitely vulnerable, even if I still felt secure and safe.  I did not want to risk riding into uncertain territory and even the best horse can react unpredictably.  Those of us who have been riding and working with horses for a long time know this truth through and through.

So I patted and hugged Harley.  I thanked him for an outstanding ride and called it quits.  It killed me to do that and it took several weeks to admit definitively that I was no longer riding (I kept telling people that "I thought" I was done riding for now).  I appreciate that no one told me to stop riding before I quit on my own, including my husband.  He waited for me to make the decision and trusted that I would know when to say "when".

There are many silver-linings here, getting to meet our daughter in a few weeks being the greatest one.  The other is the realization that in losing my seat as a rider, I learned just how much I used it before.  I always hoped that I rode from my seat and that my seat was effective, but it was not until my seat was immobilized that I could be certain of its worth.

A Lesson On Elasticity

Harley and I enjoyed a second riding lesson in November on the last day of the month.  My teacher had something unusual in store for us.  I think her teaching techniques should win some prize for originality, but I will let you be the judge.

On this day, my teacher brought a new (to me) teaching accessory: a stretchy, tan bandage.  It was exactly the kind of bandage that a person might use to wrap a sprained ankle.  Extra props were in order for selecting a cost effective instructional aid and for making me scratch my head as to what was coming next.

Disclaimer: Don't try this at home.  Harley was nonchalant about the exercise that follows, but I am sure that not all horses would respond in quite the same fashion.  Always use a healthy dose of caution and keep safety first!

The first phase of the exercise was to place the bandage over the bridge of Harley's nose, securing it underneath spare leather from his bridle.  I held the ends of the bandage like reins.  This was reminiscent of a bit-less-bridle or hackamore, but with one distinct difference: the bandage felt very fragile.  The fabric is probably stronger than it feels, but there is so much elasticity that it feels like you are holding nothing.  I kept the reins attached to Harley's bridle in my hands, but with a lot of slack in them.  Then I asked Harley to walk on.

The sensation of my horse pushing against the elastic bandage was positively delightful.  It made me laugh.  I could feel every little movement of his face and neck.  My teacher offered this exercise so that Harley might be encouraged to reach and stretch into the elasticity of the bandage.  Surprisingly, he did and almost immediately.  I used my legs to keep him moving forward and to direct him around the ring.  Once or twice we got a little mixed up with our signals, but for the most part it was smooth sailing.

Even though this activity was meant for the horse, I found it really interesting, too.  With nothing to hold or brace against, it felt like my shoulders were part of the elastic.  I could feel them moving with Harley's nose.  Each of my shoulder blades felt independent.  It was really cool and so silly that it made me laugh out loud!  This was a great exercise for me, because I tend to hold tension in my shoulders, although I must say that those days are melting away.  This activity just added to my awareness.

On a whim, my teacher decided to try moving the bandage up to Harley's forehead.  This time she secured it through the browband on his bridle, which was a good idea because I dropped it more than once.  Again, this was something that did not bother Harley, but might upset another horse.  The new position of the bandage had an interesting effect.  Harley starting pressing his forehead into the elasticity of the bandage since it was higher up.  Can you imagine what that would do for his neck?  He stretched his topline and advanced his poll forward.  What a lovely ride that was!  And guess what, there is video:

In the last segment of the video, I dropped one side of the bandage by accident.  Harley hesitated and then continued on with a lovely posture.  Shortly there after, I let the other side of the bandage go and just held the reins at whatever length they were already at.  My teacher marveled at the freedom in his shoulders.  You can see it especially in this final segment of the video when Harley is in the frame of the camera, that is.  Harley demonstrated self-carriage and a winning attitude as the bandage dangled next to his face.  He is one cool dude!

I was excited to share this lesson, because it was so out of the ordinary.  I do not practice these exercises without my teacher present and she is so eclectic, that I imagine we may do something completely different next time.  I have enjoyed my rides on Harley since then and I think that we both have a better understanding of the type of elastic connection that can be possible between us.

What unusual exercise have you practiced with your horse?

Memoirs: A Girl and Her Horse, Six Years

On December 9, 2006, Harley and I were officially a horse-owner pair.  An informal contract on notebook paper and the exchange of payment sealed the deal.  His previous owner was happy, because he felt that he had found the right person for a horse whom he had loved and cared for since he was a two-year-old and I was happy, because, well, no words can suffice to explain the incredible feeling of finally purchasing my own horse.  I had been waiting for Harley since I was three years old, when I first sat on Littlebit.  I had wished for him at every birthday and before every Christmas, even looking out the window into the backyard on Christmas mornings and for a split second allowing myself to believe that a pony with a ribbon would be standing there, staring back at me through the window.  I guess I liked to torture myself with that one!

On the other side of the coin, Harley had been waiting for me since March of 1998, which was just a few months before I graduated High School.  He was too young to know that he was waiting for me, but now that we have each other, I am sure that if he could look back on his life, he would realize that he is a very lucky horse.  Since horses live in the present, I am content with him being happy right now and, as far as I can tell, he is.
 

From the first moment that I saw Harley, I knew he was a project.  He was eight years old and had spent an unknown number of years as a pasture ornament.  He did not have other horses for companionship and although his owner loved him and paid him attention, I got the impression that he was more of a big dog than a riding horse.  I have since met a nice woman who was Harley's neighbor before he moved here to live with me.  She said that Harley and her dog were friends and that she saw him when he went out for walks.  I think she meant that Harley was the one going for walks and I also think she might mean that he was being walked on a lead just like a dog.  That is kind of cute.  I could see my social horse enjoying his (hopefully) daily walk and making friends with neighboring humans, dogs, and whoever would sniff noses with him.

My new horse on December 17, 2006: See how eager he was!

Project horses can be many things and they always have their own unique set of challenges.  Harley was no different.  He had a great mind and a great engine with a healthy dose of enthusiasm for activity, but his under saddle training could be summed up in three words: stop and GO.  He knew "stop" and he really knew "GO", but without any nuance.  He would turn and he was willing, but it was obvious that he had never been directed around a circle or corner under saddle.  In this blog, I write a lot about the awesome stuff that Harley can do and how easy it is to cue him.  I also boast about his balance and ability to collect or go on the bit for me.  What you must understand is that Harley was introduced by this blog as an experienced riding horse with a lot of miles under his "girth" and lots (and lots and lots) of time spent with me developing our communication.  He did not start out that way.  This story is about the original Harley and it is one of my barn owner's favorites.

I think that those of you who ride a horse who is very green or has some challenging training issues may appreciate reading about this side of my dear horse.

The Original Harley

Rewind to late December 2006/early January...

Harley is an American-bred quarter horse and based on his papers, he was bred from barrel racing stock.  I do not know much about barrel racing, but I believe that this is why his build is rather light and to my eye, resembles a small thoroughbred in some ways, although his cute face is decidedly quarter horse, as is his cute behind.  I know that his previous owner took him on trails for at least some point in the time that he owned him and the only other thing that I know about is that someone tried to race him around barrels.  I do not know if they were successful or how much "training" was involved, but two western saddles were gifted to me when I bought Harley and one had beautifully tooled leather indicating that it was a prize won at a barrel competition.  The implication was that someone (not his owner) won that saddle on Harley.  What Harley told me after beginning to ride him was that he strongly preferred cantering on the left lead and he had no concept of a leg cue to pick up his leads.  He was willing to canter, but he sort of rocketed into it from a fast trot and his back was so rigid that I could not sit on it.  You may be wondering why a dressage rider would choose such a horse for a project.  His mind and raw eagerness made him a joy to work with, but these things did not magically transform him into a made horse in sixty days or six months.

One of my first training goals was to teach Harley the leg cue to canter and to convince him that he could canter on the right lead.  I had cantered him in both directions for the prepurchase exam, but this was mostly a fluke as he picked up the right lead by accident going left and we went with it.  He was sound as an instrument, but he didn't play like one yet!  Harley learned that a "kiss" meant canter, from me repeating the sound each time he picked up the canter from a fast trot.  He learned the word "can-ter" with a distinct raising of tone in the second syllable and I used these two verbal commands to teach him the leg cue.  He caught on to the pattern very quickly, but the left lead remained his favorite.  He understand what I meant by "canter", but he did not understand that I might want him to pick up a specific lead.  He was more comfortable with a rider going on the left lead, even if he used both leads freely at liberty.  Carrying a rider changes everything.  Teaching an eight-year-old horse to accept a new balance is no small thing, but I was not inclined to give up.  After all, I finally had my own horse.

During one of our earliest rides, the barn owner and a few spectators were standing outside the big ring interested in watching "the new horse" be put through his paces.  I had warmed Harley up and decided that it was time to work on that right lead canter.  He picked up the left lead obediently, if not smoothly, and then I changed direction and proceeded to gently coax him into picking up the right lead.  I positioned my seat and legs as clearly as I could and used my voice to help him understand that I wanted him to move up a gear from trot.  Each time he obediently picked up the left lead, even though we were traveling right.  I did not praise him and gently brought him back to trot.  I tried asking in the corner.  I tried asking along the long and short sides.  I tried asking from a slow trot and from a fast trot.  I tried placing his nose a little to the inside and a little to the outside, but nothing was clicking.  I decided that I was just going to have to gently repeat the exercise until "luck" gave us the right lead and then I could praise him like crazy and hopefully his smarts would allow him to realize the lesson. 

Before too long, luck came through for us.  Harley advanced his right hip and shoulder and picked up the right lead canter.  The transition came through like an explosion.  It was so rough that I lost my seat for a moment and one of my stirrups.  I regained my balance quickly, but unfortunately my horse did not.  Harley was cantering so quickly that I had to assume the jockey position and this was in a bare-bones dressage saddle with no extra padding or knee rolls.  His back felt like a jackhammer and his neck shot forward and back like a piston in an engine.  Thankfully, the big ring is large enough to accommodate turns at speed, because we ripped around each corner in a very precarious fashion.  My stirrup flapped in the breeze, but I didn't dare move my foot to find it.  I was perched on my new horse's neck, with one stirrup and moving at break-neck speed.  The barn owner and bystanders looked on.  I couldn't see their faces, but I know their jaws had dropped.

"Mayday, mayday,"  I squeezed the reins, but my horse did not respond.
"Mayday, do you come in?", I used my voice to encourage him to slow or stop.  Harley's ears flicked back to me, but he continued forward, picking up speed with each long side.

At that point, I realized something.  My horse was green and untrained, but he was not a bad horse and he was not trying to kill me.  My horse was not being disobedient and I would not even call what he was doing a "dead bolt".  My horse was not slowing down, because he did not know how.  This is a scary realization.  I did not dare try to turn him as I was sure this would tip him over.  The dressage rider's most useful rebalancing tool, the half halt, was a silly notion in this situation.  Jerking on the reins or even a pulley stop were useless, because it would not explain to him what to do with his feet or his balance to stop the train.  I tried to sit back, but this seemed to make him hollow out and run more.  I felt at that moment, that the safest thing for both of us was to wait it out.  My horse had to stop eventually and he was moving straight ahead like a racehorse following the fence line, so I could stay with his predictable flight and even though I was perched on his back with one stirrup, I preferred this to bailing out.  I kept the reins short enough that I could feel his mouth and pressed my knuckles into his neck and mane.  The Black Stallion, my favorite horse story, flashed through my mind and I was Alec on a diluted black stallion.  The expression "be careful what you wish for" applied nicely.

Around and around we went.  During one pass by the barn owner, she asked if I was okay or if I needed help.  I said that I was okay and we continued by.  I am not sure what could have been done to help me.  Maybe a human wall could have persuaded my horse to find his brakes, but, honestly, I think we would have just plowed through them.  So I remained there, close to my horse's neck, sponging the reins gently and telling him "teee-rroottt" as the wind roared in my ears.

After what felt like an eternity and probably a good ten circuits around the large ring, my horse finally figured out where to put his feet.  He broke into a trot, at last, and I patted his neck with a ridiculously huge grin on my face that must be blamed on adrenaline.  It was still coursing through the both of us, as was the feeling of elation that we had survived in one piece.
 

An early canter picture: How is all that hind leg going to fit under his body?

My favorite early riding photo together

Harley never took off like that again, but I am not going to tell you that his canter leads were perfected a few weeks later or that it didn't take years for him to learn to remain balanced in the downward transition to trot.  I am also not going to tell you that I wasn't battling fear the very next time that I asked him to canter.  I hated the idea of being afraid of my own horse and that is probably why I forced myself to canter him again on the right lead after we caught our breath that very same ride.  Improving his canter (and the trot afterward) has been a long, slow process that has taken years.  Even today, his inclination is to speed up down a long side and in the trot afterward, so I still have to remind him to keep his tempo or allow him a few mistakes in the warm-up so he can find his balance again.

The good news is, six years later, he has a lovely, smooth canter that is easy to ride and his most enjoyable gait.  He is equally confident on both leads, but guess which one is his favorite?  The right!  He can collect his right lead more easily and dramatically than the left and he prefers to flying change and jump from this lead.

Harley has taught me so much over the past six years.  Learning how to ride a horse who has a "strong" canter was one of his important lessons.  We practiced every canter exercise in the book and then made up some of our own to improve his way of going.  I left the canter alone for weeks at a time and improved his balance in the trot and lateral exercises in a effort to help his most challenging gait.  I incorporated jumping later on and I entered clinics, watched dressage DVDs, and took lessons to improve my seat and my riding.  The most important ingredients to the improvement of his canter were time and creativity.  We didn't waste time and we didn't just let time pass, but I did allow time for all the various exercises to take hold.  I celebrated small improvements, but kept the image of the ideal canter firmly in my mind.  I tried many different training exercises and I incorporated those that worked and rejected those that didn't.  One of my favorites was leg yield in trot to canter on a circle.  My least favorites were "round-penning" and a dressage classic: trot-canter-trot transitions on a circle.  Both of these exercises played to Harley's tendency to anticipate and made him crazy and incredibly tense.  The most surprising exercise that worked was cantering him around the ring (circles and going large) without stopping.  This seemed to change his mindset.  If cantering is a marathon instead of a sprint, then you better conserve your energy and slow down!

I look forward to many more years of cantering with Harley and I hope that this story gives you some hope if you are near the beginning of the journey with your project horse.

October 2012: Six years later, Harley is still listening!

June 2012: Right lead canter

 

A fiery picture of Harley's strong canter

Riding Reflection: Variety Day

Yesterday, I finally got to ride my horse again.  Between work, the holiday, the weather and after school commitments, I have only been able to ride him once a week for the past couple of weeks.  Of course, moving the clocks back does not help either.  We have arena lights, but once the sun goes down, the temperature drops pretty quickly and the horses tend to get fed earlier in anticipation of the setting sun.  Harley has learned over the years that he may still have to continue working, even if the rest of the barn is eating.  He doesn't like this, but he remains obedient and I usually get some very enthusiastic, expressive movement out of him.  Even though I could keep riding, I tend to cut the ride short anyway, because I do not want him too warm before dinner and I have to stay later and feed him myself if I keep riding.  Riding in the cold is one thing, standing around waiting for Harley to eat his food in the cold is entirely another.  What can you do?  That comes with the territory this time of year.

Warm and sunny, the weather was absolutely glorious yesterday.  I did not even need to wear my jacket!  I tacked Harley up and set out to walk around the arena and past the paddocks.  He looked longingly out into the woods, so I opted to warm up through the short trail-loop behind the farm.  He marched along with a pep in his step and I took in the colors.  Most of the scrub oak have lost their leaves so the trail was padded with a carpet of bright orange, yellow, and red.  It was so beautiful that I almost didn't recognize parts of the trail, which we have walked hundreds of times.

Once we returned to the farm, we entered the arena and continued our warm up around barrels, cones, and poles, which are ever-present in our ring for lessons.  Sometimes all the "stuff" in the ring annoys me, especially when poles and things are placed inconveniently (like along the track), but on this day nothing was going to dampen my mood.  Harley smoothly changed bend as I guided him through figure eights and changes of direction around the arena "junk".  Before long, I asked him to trot and was delighted that his first transition was crisp and fluid.  Sometimes that first trot is a little choppy.

After trotting some large figures and diagonals on a longer rein, I picked up a little more contact.  As long as my legs ask for more energy as I pick up the reins, Harley changes his balance and assumes "dressage-horse-mode".  I remember my original dressage trainer teaching me to always use a little leg with the hand to keep everything in balance.  A decade later, I still think that this was sound advice.

We tackled the barrels and cones again, this time riding figure-eights in trot.  I lifted the inside rein with each change of direction and watched Harley's crest flip from one bend to the other.  I pushed my elbows forward a little and kept my balance back, practicing the exercise from our last lesson, then I brought my elbows closer to my body again.  This exercise makes me and my horse more responsible in carrying ourselves, which makes it much easier to move together.

After a break, we tackled the trot poles.  I had moved them farther apart, becuase they are almost always set too close together for my horse.  At 15.1 hands, Harley is not a huge mover by any stretch of the imagination, but he seems to need the poles set farther than any of the lesson horses.  Even the draft horses require a shorter pole distance.  I have always found this surprising.

Harley enjoys pole work, which he expresses by speeding up.  I love the improved impulsion, but I have to remind him the first three times or so that his job will be easier if he slows down and just lengthens his stride.  Once he organized himself and put his enthusiasm to more effective use, he powered over the poles with a lovely flow of energy over his back.  I could see and feel his withers come up and his strides even had some hang-time.  We practiced a few circles in each direction, and then rode some figure-eights with the three trot poles at the center of the eight.  Wow, that got his tempo squared away!  Harley was floating and he was having fun.

Finally, it was time to canter and this made Harley even happier.  Since we had not ridden all week, he was full of spring.  He cantered from the trot.  He cantered from the walk.  He transitioned down to a balanced trot and stretched into my hand.  I rested back, pushed my elbows forward and whispered for him to canter again.  Off he went, and if felt like heaven.  I felt my legs hanging down his sides and my torso tall above his back all at the same time.  His neck stretched forward in front of me and I could see his inside shoulder coming up and then reaching forward.  It all felt incredible easy.  That is what I want in my riding horse.  I want it to feel easy.  Trust me, I know that it doesn't start that way; Harley's back used to be so tight that I couldn't even sit on him in the canter, but that was almost six years ago.  For that hour in the saddle, easy is my goal.  I work hard the rest of the week and we have worked hard together for six years to get here.

How did we finish our perfect ride?  We revisited the short trail, this time leading the way for two grandchildren riding their respective Grandmother's horses.  The Grandmas led each horse and Harley led the group.  We stopped often, so the kids could do various activities on the trail, but Harley did not mind.  He likes going out with other horses and would frequently snake his long neck around to peek at his gang in tow.  We scouted out some deer and walked in parallel with them as the kids whistled to tell the deer that we were not trying to sneak up on them.  Prey animals seem to appreciate this.  The deer trotted away, halfheartedly showing their white tails, and then turning back to watch the parade as we made our way back to the barn.

A summer picture: Now the trail is covered with the colors of fall.

Photo Reflection: Walking

This is a very busy time of year for me.  The first marking period is ending and the grades will be due very soon.  My students are finishing and turning in their final projects and completing their tests, which means that I have been bombarded with paperwork.  I am burning my red pen at both ends, which doesn't leave much time for blogging.  I am also off to teach therapeutic lessons after school today and it is cold outside.  Have a mentioned that I am not a fan of cold weather?  We actually had snow yesterday, but it has completely melted as of now.  The New Jersey coast and New York have really gotten more than their fair share of inclement weather recently.  I hope things calm down soon.  My husband and I bought an infrared space heater in preparation for losing power during the colder months.  No AC in July was the pits, but freezing under blankets almost sounds worse.  Yesterday's early snow was not a good sign for what may be to come this winter.

In lieu of one of my lengthy posts, I decided to post a photo that I really like from October.  This shot was from the very beginning of our warm up, which is part of the reason that I like it.  We have barely even begun to ride and Harley is soft in the bridle, starting to engage from behind, and listening.  I like the bend through his body and the fullness of his back behind and his neck in front of the saddle.  If only I had a photo from five years ago for comparison.  He looked much more like a llama, back then, even if he was a cute llama.

I am happy with my position in this photo, too.  My leg position and upper body look correct.  I am really down in that saddle and my elbows have bend, but my wrists are still soft.  I think that I am correctly lifting up in the corners of Harley's mouth with the bit in this photo.  He has nodded forward like his nose is "resting in a basket".  Aside from a little encouragement to move forward in the warm up, I am not doing much of anything except sitting as well as I can and holding the reins.  I like it when my horse rewards me for keeping it simple.

November Lesson Reflection with Video

Yesterday, Harley and I had a riding lesson.  Our progress was reviewed, we learned some new exercises, and we experienced some really wonderful moments of self carriage and softness between us.  I wrote a rather long and detailed post to record what I learned and to share with you.  There are two short video clips at the end.

Improvements since our last lesson:
Harley's neck muscles and posture
His straightness and forwardness
His willingness to seek the bit on his own
I am finding the center of my horse more quickly
My legs are staying forward more consistently
My seat is closer to my horse and I am staying upright more consistently
My arm and hand position have improved

Things to continue working on:
Strengthening Harley's hindend
Stretching the base of his crest just in front of the withers
Allowing Harley to make the connection for me
Keeping a bend in my elbows and an upward feel to my forearms and hands
Keeping my shoulders down and loose even when I raise my forearms
Encouraging mobility and flexibility in Harley's ribcage by keeping my leg muscles loose and mobile

My teacher prescribed some interesting exercises in this lesson.  She could see the effects of our work since the last lesson.  She also liked my image of Harley's hindlegs stepping forward through my stomach, which has, no doubt, helped my posture in the saddle.  The typical way of beginning a lesson is she tells me to ride and then sees the next thing that she wants to work on with us.  This usually takes all of thirty seconds and this lesson was no different.  Even though I have been working diligently to keep my forearms light and up, there is still a downward tendency in my inside hand, particularly the left side.  This downward tendency goes "hand-in-hand" with collapsing left, my natural inclination.  One of my teacher's strategies is to exaggerate the postural correction, so that the rider's body must abandon the original habit and recalibrate.  I like this technique very much and find it to be quite effective.

So my prescribed activity, was to bend my elbows so that my hands were tapping my sternum; she wanted my hands moving.  This means that I had to let the reins slide almost to the buckle.  She called this "praying mantis".  This position kept my upper arm parallel to my sides and helped my shoulders stay down.  Since I was totally unable to "make" any contact with the rein, Harley had the opportunity to initiate the connection.  In this position, it was also basically impossible for me to tighten across my shoulder blades when Harley did pick up the bit.  This was the recipe for recalibrating my riding habits.

So while riding around with this rather silly arm position, I also had to stay in the middle of my horse and keep him traveling straight around the circle.  No rein aids allowed!  I figured out how to shift my weight and ask Harley to follow my center of gravity around the circle.  I ride like this, to some extent, all the time, but the experience is amplified when you are prevented from using the reins for guidance.  Remarkably, I felt Harley straighten and rebalance himself very effectively using this technique.  He also tuned into his hind end in some startling ways.  All the rein supports had been removed and this was very challenging for me to ride at times.  When he shifted back and powered off of his hind feet, it felt really unsettling, even a little out of control at first.  I was pushed and tipped off center many times.  It is difficult to have been a rider for so long and just allow this to happen, especially when I know that I could hold everything together if I made the contact instead.  Thankfully, before too long, we found our rhythm and our balance.  Harley demonstrated some genuine self-carriage.  No half-halts, driving, or holding required.  Years ago, I would not have thought that possible without more boundaries and control from me.  It was so cool.

Once Harley picked up the connection, I was allowed to let my forearms lower toward his mouth, but I had to be very careful not to let my shoulders tighten.  The next exercise was in two parts.  "Part 1" was to push my hands forward toward his mouth.  I had to try to keep some bend in my elbows and not lean forward with my arms.  To compensate, my teacher told me to lean back.  This directive kept me straight in the saddle and allowed me to support my horse with my posture as I offered for him to follow the bit forward.  This was really tough at first and moreso to the left.  Everything is easier going to the right, which interestingly, is Harley's less bendy side.

Once I was able to push my hands forward without surrendering my position, I kept my outside rein for tempo control and "stirred" my inside hand toward his nose.  This was "Part 2".  Again, this was more challenging to the left and Harley seemed to be working against me by rooting forward abruptly.  This was frustrating for me, because I felt like it was preventing me from offering him the rein.  My teacher said that he does this when he feels my shoulders tighten.  If my shoulders stay soft then he is less likely to push against them.  There was no need for him to force his nose forward, because I was inviting his nose forward by moving my hands toward the bit and moving the inside rein in a circle toward his nose.  I wish that I could tell him that!  Eventually, he became steadier, but that habit is going to take a long time to dissolve.  Putting more responsibility on him to make the connection with me and carry himself should help.

By the end of the lesson, we had changed directions a few times in big loopy figure eights.  I was completely absorbed in my position, when my teacher brought to my attention the softness we had achieved.  Every muscle in my body and every muscle in his body felt quiet and without tension.  I looked at his neck (which means I had not been staring at it already, yay!) and he was very clearly stretching the base of his neck in a beautiful "bloom".  I could feel our center beneath us.  I could feel my shoulders soft.  I want that again!  I want to ride like that all the time!  And now I have some insights and exercises to get us a little bit closer to that magic.

My teacher took these video clips and very kindly sent them to me.  It was late so the lighting is not great, but you can get a little taste of what my lessons with her are like.  These clips are of the "stirring" exercise going to the left.  You can see us both struggle between figuring out the exercise and experiencing its effects.  The exercise looks simple, but it was very challenging!

Enjoy!

Imperfect Photo

My husband came with me to the barn yesterday, armed with the camera.  The weather was gorgeous and the farm decidedly empty and peaceful.

Happy day!

Unfortunately, perfect conditions do not guarantee that your horse with allergies will have a clear day.  Harley's cough was bothering him yesterday, despite my long-term efforts to mitigate his hyper-immune response.  I had to cut the ride and the photo shoot short.  This makes me sad for many reasons, especially when he trots off like he wants to work even though he is not feeling 100%.  I like to celebrate the good stuff that we are doing on this blog, because there are some days that we are stuck in the starting gate.  I did have some time in the saddle, so I should not complain.  Thank goodness I am not really interested in showing, because how could I sign up for a show when I cannot predict if he will be coughing that day?

Since we had an imperfect day, I decided to share an imperfect photo. 

Does this count as expressive?

I believe this was our first walk to canter transition in this direction.  Obviously, there is a lot to be improved here.  I know that we are capable of a much better transition.  What we lack in finesse, we make up for in effort.  That is Harley's "game face" by the way.  I still think it is cute.

Prior to this transition, I did not engage Harley's walk enough to place his outside hind under his center of gravity, allowing him to lift his front end smoothly into canter.  The walk to canter transition requires coordination, suppleness, and strength.  I enjoy practicing the transitions that skip a gait for just that reason.  Although Harley was not quite in the position to perform an elegant, controlled transition, he still went for it.  This is his nature.  He used brute force to make the transition happen, which required that he also flip his head and neck up.  He was compensating for not having his weight over his outside hind (my fault).  I admire the roundness of his back behind the saddle and those flexing muscles.  They don't call them quarter horses for nothing!

I have been working on keeping my seat more firmly closed in the transitions, so I am happy that I have accomplished that in this "imperfect" snapshot and that my inside foot is forward, encouraging the left lead.  I would like to see my hands side by side, but I am glad that I have not surrendered my elbows.  It is possible that Harley was expecting me to give up my position, so that he could throw his neck forward into the gait.  I wanted up in the canter, which he can do.  A clear picture is important even if this one isn't exactly pretty. 

Training is a process with many imperfect photos along the way.

Rebalancing for the second stride

What a difference one stride can make!

Wracking Up The Stars

Harley is on a roll.  He has collected many stars in the past two weeks.

Star number 1: A body condition score of 5+ and clean blood work

Star number 2: Super floaty trot (Dare I say, cadence?!)

Star number 3: A smooth, flying change from left to right

Star number 4: Being a model ambassador for the horse

Star number 5: Lungeing through a deep puddle of water

I just can't keep up, but I am loving it.  

The fall vet visit was a blast, because we did not have to have the conversation about how to improve his weight.  I also had blood work run to ensure that he does not have an infection hiding in there.  When you have a horse with allergies who periodically coughs, you have to be careful that the allergy symptoms are not covering up another illness.  His blood work came back absolutely perfect.  He is healthy as, well, a horse!

Harley has had two sets of children visit with him in the past two weeks.  He stood like a champ for both visits, waiting patiently while little hands patted him, brushed dirt off his coat, and laughed at his funny faces.  Little children inevitably forget that they are not supposed to walk behind the horse.  Harley is a good first-horse for children to be around, because he is very forgiving of those types of mistakes.  He stands solid and, even with his sensitive nature, is not bothered at all by the excitement and unpredictability that accompanies little kids.  I was so proud of him and it was a lot of fun to introduce little children to a big horse.  Parents and grandparents alike commented on what a nice horse he was.  They were preaching to the choir, but I still liked hearing those compliments.

I rode him during afternoon lessons last week, so we had a little audience.  Harley was moving out so beautifully.  I could feel the energy traveling from his hind legs to my seat, up to my elbows and down my lower arms to the bit.  There was no break or kink in the lines.  I could adjust the tempo or stride length and the connection remained, true and powerful.  At some point, I could see and feel his shoulders coming up and swinging freely.  I almost called out to the barn visitors,

"Are you seeing this?"

But, this would have been in vain, because they were not riders and would not have been able to see what I was feeling.  I kind of laughed to myself at that thought.  I would have to enjoy it alone. 

Harley was floating. 

I have been working on myself a lot lately.  I keep imagining that there is room from his hind legs to keep traveling forward through my seat and waist each time we make a transition or while we are moving forward.  This is keeping me more upright and reminding me to keep my core fully engaged.  I have discovered that I have a bad habit of collapsing my waist and opening the back of my seat.  I think the image of his hind legs stepping forward has made me aware of this.  It is almost like his hind legs step forward and tip my seat forward out of alignment if I am not thinking about keeping my seat closed and receiving that energy.  I did not realize that I was doing that and quite a lot, especially in the canter.  My position must be better as indicated by that floaty trot and he gave me some of the absolute best walk-canter-walk he has ever done on the same ride:  relaxed, balanced transitions with barely anything in the reins.  He was listening so closely, I could feel him in my mind.  Please allow me to remind you that I am a very scientific person, but that was how tuned in he felt.  I could hardly believe it, because walk to canter is very challenging to his relaxation and canter to walk is very challenging to his balance.  Improving the rider's position is such an effective way to improve the horse.  It was like all the static was gone.  I love relearning that over and over again.   

And to think, when I started years ago, I thought that dressage was more about the horse.  
I was so wrong.

The clean, smooth, gorgeous flying change in his more challenging direction arrived on a previous ride after lots of circle work, tempo changes, and more walk-canter-walk transitions.  Harley felt very through and connected along the inside of his body.  This is work continued from a previous post where I described how I have been using the inside rein more.  That's right.  The inside rein.  I have been neglecting it for a long time, with the feeling that using it was bad.  I guess I had "inside-rein-guilt-issues".  They are dissolving quickly and as a result, I believe that Harley's suppleness, throughness, and relaxation have improved, with his balance following closely behind.  Having the inside rein improve his balance is so counter-intuitive to me.  I see use of the inside rein as something that sets a horse off balance, but this has not been the case.  I guess that I should acknowledge that the inside rein is not working in a vacuum.  All of my aids are present.  I must just be learning how to let the inside play its part more effectively.

And finally, I lunged Harley yesterday.  He walked.  He trotted.  He cantered.  He stretched his neck and back, all in a plain halter.  No extra gear necessary.  We practiced transitions and then I drew the line in to decrease the circle.  He trotted smaller circles around me with beautiful bend and balance, as if he had an invisible rider.  Then I asked him to trot through a big, deep puddle at one end of the arena.  I let him enter the water and do whatever felt natural to him.  I fully expected him to walk or stop, but he didn't.  Harley kept trotting and picked his feet up as he pranced through the water.  He did try to drift to the side a little, but the puddle was so wide that there was no going around it, so with a couple repetitions he was marching straight through.  He started dropping his neck, in stretchy circle fashion, and dragging his mouth through the water, coming up with water dripping from his cheeks and jaw as he continued to trot around me.  Tons of praise and "Good Boy's" were in order after that!

Harley.
You are a five out of five!

Stars sound delicious.  More, please.

Riding is Life

There just never seems to be enough time in a day,
and then I am reminded that riding is a metaphor for life. 
Keep moving forward.

Got in a quick ride after work yesterday.  Worked on sending Harley really forward in the canter.  I let the tempo increase.  I wanted to feel the energy going all the way up to the bridle.

He gave me two flying changes with power behind them. 
I had both legs ON. 
Forward is always a positive in life and riding.

Flying Change Fix

I have not asked Harley for a flying change since the beginning of June.  That is about four months.  I wanted to take a break from this rather exciting movement and work on the quality of the canter: forwardness, obedience, straightness, and relaxation.  We also spent some time honing our counter canter.  I believe that is what you are supposed to do, when you are trying to improve a movement in dressage.  It is not about the movement itself.  It is always about the basics.

Four months later, my horse has no inclination to throw in an impromptu change.  His transitions in and out of the canter feel very nice.  His is relaxed and carrying himself.  I can throw in a little counter canter here and there without too much fanfare.  Admittedly, I have not practiced the counter canter as much as I originally intended.  The summer heat does not go well with lots of canter practice.

Yesterday we went on a trail ride.  I warmed him up in the ring to see how he was feeling.  He did not cough even once!  I was so, so happy.

I had been thinking that the time to ask for a flying change was near.  Apparently, Harley could hear my thoughts.  As we went to change direction in a figure-eight, I started to ask him to collect a little for a transition to trot and he offered a smooth-as-glass flying change from the right to the left lead.  It was gorgeous!  With the maiden change out of the way, I couldn't wait to get back in the saddle and try it again.

Today, we schooled flying changes.  I learned some interesting things.  Harley has not forgotten them and they still make him excited.  He is still much better at the right to left change than the left to right.  We did not get a really nice left to right today, but I can be patient.  After all, I waited four months with the hopes of improving them by working on just the canter and the transitions!

Harley bucked into the change a few times.  That is not gone, despite all the transition and relaxation work in the last four months.  I need to approach the change with more clarity.  I think "flying change" and he knows what that is, but what he gives me is not exactly what I want.  I want a balanced, calm change with his shoulders up, not his backside!  I need to start making that part of my mental image and riding the change like any other gait or transition that I want uphill.  I have been asking that of him for a while now.  I cannot forget it just because we are doing something exciting.

Things I Need To Do:

• Ride for an uphill change.  Keep the backdoor of my seat closed and the front door open.  I know how to ride this way, but I tend to lean forward in anticipation.  I just need to stay focused on my position before, during, and after the transition.
• Keep my legs forward and minimize the outside leg cue.  He does not change at all if I slide my leg back and push.  Just doesn't work.  I need to ride from my seat.
• Imagine his shoulders up and ride them that way.  Do not accept a change that begins with his head, neck, and shoulders diving down.  I was able to stop him in the dive a couple times, because my position was really solid.  He was surprised and complained a little, but I need to make my expectations clear.  I want a healthy, balanced change.
• Prepare for the change like any other transition.  The two best flying changes that he did were when I prepared like I wanted a canter to walk transition.  He stayed level and just swapped his legs.  He was light on his feet and it felt easy.  I tried to memorize the feeling.
• Do not let him get too tired on the left lead.  He gets too heavy.  If he cannot do a canter to walk transition, he does not have the balance or strength to do a change.  Quit and try next time.
• Praise him for the right kind of change and have fun!  Allow him to move out his canter or relax with a longer neck if he gets too tight.

I am really glad to be practicing these again.  So is Harley.  The first one that I requested had too much "fly" to it, but he was so delighted that he snorted with happiness several times.  We may never perform them in the show ring, but I still think that this is something within our reach.  I also love to make my horse happy and flying changes bring him joy.  His canter felt great.  I just need to remember my position and prepare like it is any other transition.  That is so much easier to write than to do!

Riding Refection: Borrowed Training Exercise

My horse really impresses me.  I guess that I make that readily obvious every time I write about him, but he does.  The school year has started up again, so I am not able to ride much more than a couple times a week, plus his allergies have been acting up so strenuous work is out of the question, but despite these things, we just seem to pick up where we left off each time that I sit in the saddle.

The last time that we rode, I decided to try an exercise which I saw on another blog, Dressage Mom.  Dressage Mom is an upper level rider bringing along her newest horse, a beautiful Arabian gelding.  She writes about their training and posts videos of their lessons from time to time.  I find this to be not only informative, but very fun to watch, as horse and rider are a talented pair.  The exercise that I decided to try is described by her trainer as the "Headless Snowman".  I think that is really cute and describes the figure-eight pattern perfectly.  Her blog entry includes a video.

My interpretation of the exercise:
The figure eight exercise is simple by design, but challenging in practice.  One half of the figure eight is a 20 meter circle.  The other half is a 10 meter circle.  Ride the entire exercise in trot or incorporate canter for the larger circle.  If I were riding a horse that could not handle 10 meters, I would just enlarge the second circle to a size that was challenging, but within the horse's abilities (i.e. 12, 15 , or even 20 meters).  If I needed to increase the challenge, I would ride the figure-eight in canter with a transition through trot or walk between the two circles or incorporating counter canter or a flying change (Wouldn't that be fun?).  The change in direction between the two circles is demanding for horse and rider, because the flexion, bend, and direction of travel must all change where the two circles meet.  The horse must stay balanced over his hindend in the change of direction to complete the exercise.  Too much weight on the forehand or displaced on one shoulder makes the change in direction and bend very difficult.  This exercise not only trains the horse and rider, it also reveals areas that need improvement.  I love dressage exercises that help the horse and are easy to modify.

I presented the figure-eight exercise to Harley first in trot.  He bounced along from one circle to the other with no problem.  I was careful to encourage him to maintain his energy from behind in both circles and to lift my inside rein in the new bend to encourage him to keep his inside shoulder up.  Then I added the canter on the bigger circle.  Wow!  Something about this exercise really helps the horse achieve a balanced uphill canter transition from trot.  Maybe the change in direction and bend helped him stay on his toes.  After cantering the large circle, I asked him to come back to trot and rode the smaller circle.  Here is where the exercise was a good diagnostic exercise for us.

When switching from the left lead canter to a 10 meter trot circle to the right, Harley lost his balance.  He had trouble switching the bend and I could feel that he had fallen on the forehand.  This made the 10 meter circle difficult to begin, so the circle was not on the center line.  He recovered quickly, so the second half of the circle was better.  I kept him on the smaller circle to practice the feel of the balance required and then "released him"  onto the 20 meter circle: gorgeous balanced canter transition every time.

The exercise was much easier when switching from the right lead canter to the 10 meter trot circle left.  This was not a surprise, since the right lead is his more balance lead and the left side is his more bendy side.  He swapped flexion and bend so quickly that he offered to canter the 10 meter circle.  I let him do this a couple times, but asked him to trot the smaller circle a few times as well.  The transition to the right lead was not as expressive as the transition left.  He also sneaked in a nose flip once or twice.  I need to make sure that he is forward into that transition and stretching to the contact.  This is the challenge with the right lead.  He feels really balanced and maneuverable, but he is less keen to stretch and reach over his back.  He stretches and reaches more easily in the left lead, but also tends to lose his balance on the forehand and into the trot more easily.  The lopsided figure-eight was a fun way to work on these areas.  Harley learned the pattern very quickly, which was a good thing in this case.  It gave him confidence and anticipating the transitions actually encouraged him to shift his weight back and stay balanced between his shoulders.  I think that I need to ride the canter all the way up to the change of direction.  I tended to ask for the trot about a quarter circle before the smaller circle.  I think the downward transition should be closer to the circle change to reap the full benefits of the exercise.

But...
...holding the canter that long is asking Harley for a flying change.  We have not practiced those since June.  I have been working on the quality of the canter and obedience to my aids.  I want to return to the flying change and see if he will continue to listen, rather than turn into a flying change machine.  I think the time to ask is near.  I would be lying if I said that I am not itching to go for it!

Relaxing and Thinking It Through

Lately, my rides on Harley have been about relaxing, partly for him and partly for me.  This has been driven by my mood more than a training regiment.  We have still been working on the exercises from our last lesson, but with a larger dose of joy than determination.  Our focus on relaxation has not been without energy and our rides have been quite peppy in tempo; it is just that I started work again last week and feel the need to be comforted by my horse and riding time.  I just want to enjoy it and the beautiful autumn weather, before we change the clocks back and the cold creeps in.  I want my horse to enjoy himself, too.  I am sure that he has noticed the sudden decrease in my barn visits.  Harley is attentive, but not an overly affectionate horse.  Recently, he has seemed a little more so.  Sorry, boy.  Gotta work to pay your feed bills!  We are lucky that we get so much time together during the summer months.

During our last relaxing ride, we had a wonderful trot warm up.  Harley's strides felt sweeping and fluid.  We changed direction with lots of variation: tear drops, small figure eights, large figure eights, three-quarter circles that change direction at the rail, and looping serpentines.  I practiced holding the reins a little more up and insisted that Harley maintain his energy with taps from a sturdy whip (rather than a "whippy" whip, as recommended by my teacher).  I really started feeling what my teacher meant about the horse slipping into the "on the bit" groove.  I was getting better at transferring the responsibility from one inside rein to the other with each change of direction without locking my shoulders and Harley was getting more and more fluid in his strides.  This was all done in rising trot.  How would it feel while sitting?

After a break, I asked Harley to trot and remained seated.  Harley felt pretty good, but something about his movement was different.  There wasn't the same fluidity and surge.  I tried riding a few circles and transitions to see if that would help us regain our forwardness and balance, but it still wasn't quite right.  I thought about what I was doing and realized a big difference in my riding.  When I was riding all those changes of direction in rising trot, my eyes had been looking ahead and tuned into our next destination.  Where were my eyes now?

Staring at my horse's neck and, worse, at my hands!  Oh dear.

No wonder Harley was not feeling it.  My intent was gone.  I was not thinking forward.  I needed to ride the sitting trot exactly as I rode that lovely, flowing rising trot.

I tried it again, but after a few strides of looking where I was going, I found myself staring at Harley's pretty neck again.  Darn.  Why was this so difficult?  I struggled with it a little longer and than took a break.

I thought about what I was doing.  I knew where I wanted him to go, but I had stopped thinking about how I wanted him to go, at least beyond the part of him that I could see.  I thought about his feet.  I needed his hind feet to step energetically forward, lifting his back and freeing his shoulders to move with those big sweeping strides that I had felt earlier.  I decided to imagine that the only thing I was riding was his hind feet.  I even imagined that his hind feet were stepping from my belly.  That sounds really silly, but it did wonders for my position.

I started off with a couple short trot sets, the length of the short side or halfway down the long side.  As long as I pictured his hind legs stepping through my stomach, I kept my hands up and my chest open.  I stayed more on the back of my seat, because it felt like I had to make room for his hind legs.  I remembered to keep my belly button back toward my spine, even though I was sitting taller.

The result was beautiful, flowing movement from my horse.  He felt like he was in rear-wheel drive and the transitions back to walk kept that forward feeling.  I tried it in canter and imagined my belly cantering behind my horse's shoulders.  The sensation was so carefree that I couldn't stop grinning.  Each time we surged forward in trot or stepped into the canter, my horse felt light and easy and so much fun to ride.  Every single time that we lost that wonderful movement, I lost my image.  This was most likely to happen in the trot after the right lead canter.  I am not sure which one came first, but they were definitely influencing one another.  My eyes dropped, my position dropped, and my horse did the same.  When I succeeded in holding that image in my mind, my position felt rock solid and I finally had the feeling that I was riding my horse uphill in the sitting trot.  My hips even felt like they were ahead of my shoulders, but I do not think that I was leaning back.

My horse was quite happy to carry me this way.  I was being rocked along as his hind legs stepped through me.  Relaxing is not the word.  It was mesmerizing.

Riding Reflection: Using the Inside Rein

The inside rein is almost taboo in dressage.  At least, that has been my experience.  In the past, I have heard more riders scolded for using the inside rein than anything else, myself included.  Subconsciously, I have held onto this.  I do not want to pull my horse onto his inside shoulder and I do not want to be guilty of the cardinal sin of using the inside rein to turn.  During my last lesson, my teacher essentially gave me permission to use my inside rein in the exercise she prescribed for us.  I was a little hesitant at first.

Me: "Wait.  You want me to keep full contact with the inside rein for the entire circle?"

My instructor: "Yes."

Me: "Like this?"

My instructor: "Absolutely and rotate to the inside of the circle."

Me: "Really?  What about my outside rein."
Me thinking, "There must be something with the outside rein, right?  What's the catch?"

My instructor: "Keep your outside elbow and allow with your outside shoulder."

So there you have it.  No "half-halt on the outside rein", no "hold the outside rein steady", no "inside leg to outside rein", counter-flexion, or anchoring of the outside.  I was instructed to lift both reins up a little, especially the inside, so that the bit works in the corners of my horse's mouth.  My elbows were to be bent and, most importantly, my shoulders down and mobile.  I tapped Harley's inside hind with a long, sturdy whip if he started to lose energy and the rest of the responsibility was up to my inside rein.  If really felt wrong at first, but different always feels wrong.  It is important in riding to ignore this feeling in the face of change and read your horse.

Inside rein in use in our August lesson: Even though I said that I was lifting the inside rein, look at how dead-on straight the line is from bit to elbow.  I also like the reach in Harley's frame and movement.  Notice how my leg is not back, as is often taught in dressage.  This would tip me onto the fork of my pelvis, pressing Harley down in front and dampening his energy.

Harley is engaging the inside hind, but I have dropped the rein and my position a bit.

Harley pushing his nose forward and opening his throatlatch area as he stretches into the rein.

A few strides later, he has rebalanced himself in a more uphill frame.

Harley told me very clearly what this exercise did for him.  He flowed right around that circle in trot.  He lengthened his neck.  Contrary to my fears in using the inside rein, he was less likely to tip onto his inside shoulder and if this did happen it was almost always because I let the inside rein drop.  Nearly instantaneous change.  How's that for cause and effect?

The more I allowed my shoulders to move, the more he fluid he was in his stride.  I tapped him with my whip as needed, but my legs were completely passive.  I kept them under me and my pelvis in neutral.  If we lost the flow it was usually indicative of a loss of energy (Harley's job), a loss of neutral pelvis (my job), a dropped inside rein (me, again), or tight shoulders (you guessed it, me).  If I kept these things correct, everything moved along effortlessly and I literally felt like I was doing nothing.

Nothing!  Just try doing nothing.
Now try hard to do nothing.
It is incredibly difficult, especially for people who like to "try hard".
People like me.

I have revisited this "new" exercise of using the inside rein on each previous ride.  Harley loves it!  He is so flowy and relaxed.  His canter has been amazing.  Now that I have tried giving the inside rein the responsibility it deserves, I think that I have been annoying him with the outside rein in canter.  I like to half-halt on that rein nearly every stride, especially going left.  I had not realized that I was doing this until I started focusing on the inside and felt the urge to hold the outside at the beginning of each stride.  At first I wondered if Harley was going to barrel out of control without the "support" I had been offering him.  How wrong was I?

Not only was Harley's canter more fluid and consistent, he was lifting in front, shifting his weight back for turns, smaller circles, and transitions, coming down to a balanced trot with ease, all without the "help" of my half-halts or the outside rein.  Instead, my inside rein was there in the corner of his mouth the entire time.  He was even giving these cute little snorts with each stride, the hallmark of a relaxed horse in canter.  For a self-proclaimed dressage enthusiast, that was a really weird revelation. 

Correct use of the inside rein does not equal evil and does not make my horse angry, annoyed, or off balance.  Quite the opposite.

I am loving this.