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!

Imagining Counter Canter

We have been working on counter canter.  This initially required that I spend a ride explaining to Harley that I really did want him to canter on the "wrong" lead.  He did not believe me at first and saw it as an opportunity to flying change.  I had to be very clear, but gentle with my corrections, because I do want him to change when I ask, just not when I want counter canter.  The last thing I want is to squash my horse's exuberance in the name of obedience.  After half a dozen repetitions he decided to try staying on the "wrong" lead and finally got the praise he was seeking.  From there on out, he has remembered that sometimes I want him to keep the "wrong" lead.  It is called counter canter, Harley!

Once Harley started offering a flying change here and there, I read about the order in which you should train counter canter and flying changes.  Like all things in riding, and dressage especially, there are different opinions out there and a laundry list of things that your horse should be able to do before training X, Y, or Z.  Harley offered a flying change in a figure eight before learning canter to walk or a simple change in dressage fashion: canter-walk-canter.  He knew half-pass at the walk and trot, but we had not seriously attempted it at the canter and I would not even say that he had much collection in his canter at the time (May 2010).  We had spent a little bit of time in counter canter, but only by cantering down the diagonal and trotting at the fence, which was very helpful in setting him back for the downward transition.  So I was wondering, should I really be letting him flying change at this point?  Harley had not read the manual, horses never do, but he already would change leads at liberty playfully and often at speed, so offering a change under saddle was not a huge "leap" of faith for him.  A flying change is a natural way for the horse to change balance when changing direction, although it has been my experience that not all horses offer this under saddle on their own.  I decided to subscribe to the school of thought that said, "Teach your horse a single flying change before drilling counter canter, or he may think that a flying change is not allowed."  This seemed to fit Harley and so here we are at the schooling counter canter part of our plan.  It feels good to be here.

After some hit and miss success on our own, in July I told my teacher how difficult it was to ride the counter canter, especially because Harley wanted to change.  This was during our bodywork lesson, so I was not riding that day.  Not having a horse under me was, apparently, not an obstacle for my teacher.  She found an inflated yoga ball and asked me to sit on it like I was astride a horse.  Then she positioned my legs and seat in canter and asked me to pretend that I was riding.  She placed my inside leg on the "pedestal" that is the balance point for the lead.  She then "hooked" my outside leg and heel back behind this pedestal.  My outside heel was to nudge my horse to leap in each canter stride, while my inside leg (the whole thing) stepped over to the next balance point.  Since we were counter cantering, this meant that my inside leg had to step toward his shoulder instead of away from it.  She had me keep my eyes and body positioned toward the inside bend, even if we were (pretending) to go toward the outside in counter canter.

Once I modeled the counter canter position in both directions on the yoga ball, my teacher asked me to stand on my own two feet and "be the horse" as we countered cantered loops up and down the barn aisle.  I had to keep my legs in the position that I had adopted on the ball and I had to keep looking in the direction of my (imaginary) horse's bend no matter where we were cantering to.  My teacher gave me pointers and postural corrections, just like I was riding.  Sometimes she moved next to me and shifted my weight over my outside leg, so that my inside leg was free to move wherever I wanted the canter to go.  It was pretty cool and I couldn't wait to try it with Harley.

Since then, I have practiced counter canter with Harley several times.  Guess what?  It works!  Harley understands from our previous rides that counter canter is allowed and my improved position and understanding of where my weight needs to be and how to shift my inside leg around to direct his shoulders has almost made counter cantering seem easy.  We can come across the diagonal and maintain the counter canter through both corners and the next long side.  I usually ask him to trot at that point, but I am sure that we will be able to go across the diagonal again or continue around the ring before long.  On one ride, I even tried picking up the outside lead on the long side.  Harley found this to be a piece of cake when the counter lead was the right lead, his favorite.  He did well on the first couple tries when the outside lead was his left, but then I overloaded him by asking him to canter two thirds of the way around the arena.  I think that he got tired, because he balked very strongly and did not want to counter canter on that lead until after a walk break.  By balking I mean dancing sideways dramatically and refusing to go forward on the left lead.  I changed direction and asked for the left lead in true canter and he picked it up, but felted disorganized in his stride.  I believe that was fatigue.  I have to remember that counter canter stretches the horse behind the saddle and requires a lot of strength and suppleness.  I cannot be greedy if I want to reap the benefits of the exercise.

My first goal is for Harley and I to be able to counter canter all the way around the arena.  Once we can do that, I want to ask Harley to flying change from counter canter to true canter.  I do not want to spend too much time in counter canter, before asking for the change again, because I do not want to confuse him into thinking that one is good and the other is bad.  If we can be successful with the new exercise, I believe that this will be a new milestone for us.  I am excited, but trying to keep my excitement from rushing things.

Dressage Book Serendipity

I noticed a cardboard box of horse books at the barn a few weeks ago.  The books were on a variety of topics from health to riding.  Whoever mysteriously left the books had scribbled "FREE" on the cardboard box.  Well, I can't argue with that price, so I inspected the goods.  I recognized a couple titles that I have at home already and then I noticed a cover that did not look familiar to me.

Just a lovely picture of horse and rider

The book was called Common Sense Dressage: An Illustrated Guide.  I had not heard of the author, Sally O'Connor, but I had heard of fellow New Jersey resident and decorated international rider, Robert Dover.  The book was published in 1990 by Half Halt Press, Inc. with rather darling illustrations by Jean L. Schucker and photos by George E. Perentesis (unless otherwise noted).  I was attracted to the book by the clean, simple cover and the horse and rider demonstrating a light and easy-looking piaffe.  I glanced through the book and noticed that there was a section on "Counter Canter" as well as a dogear left by the previous reader at the beginning of the section on "Flying Changes".  Good enough for me!  I brought the book home, placed it at the top of a pile of hardcovers on the shelf of my coffee table and promptly forgot about it.

Until today.

My husband was visiting his usual sites on his tablet from the comfort of the couch.  I plopped down next to him and a shiny red cover caught my eye.  My free and recently acquired dressage book was calling my name.  Oh my gosh.  I meant to read that!

I was stuck to the couch with my nose in this book for a good hour.  I did not start at the beginning.  I just opened the book in the middle, swooned over some really nice photos of lateral work and kept moving from there.  The author discussed how to ride horses based on their conformation and temperament.  She also addressed some of the common problems that riders may face, like a horse with locked shoulders.  Ms. O'Connor was exceptionally good at task analysis and clear simple instructions.  I also noticed a couple little tidbits that really caught my eye and persuaded me to believe that this author rides and trains in a way that I would be happy to watch or emulate.
 

I taught Harley a carrot-inspired version of this exercise in the winter of 2010 and he offered his big trot this summer.  The author suggests this exercise to free the shoulders.  Thanks for the confirmation, Ms. O'Connor!

There are many great exercises and sequences of exercises in this book.  The author even briefly touches upon the difference between the "Flexion School" and the "Impulsion School", which types of horse work best under each philosophy and why she finds a combination of the two very helpful in the dressage training of most horses.

I am so glad that I picked up this book, having quite literally stumbled upon it.  I appreciate the simple, straight-forward approach of the author, which I feel resonates with my own training practices.  "Common sense" makes a lot of sense when training horses.

Frame by frame shots and descriptions of the flying change of lead every stride:  My experience has been that this kind of detail is difficult to find in training resources published online or in print.  Love it.

Riding Reflection: Dressage Test Prep

Although I do not love dressage for the competitions, I do see the benefits of entering the occasional dressage show and those benefits are reaped before we even load up to leave the farm.  Like many things in dressage, it is all in the preparation.

I wouldn't mind if Harley brought some of this on Sunday.

I have signed up to ride First Level Test 3 and Second Level Test 1.  We made it into the show ring for First Level Test 1 and Test 3 twice last year.  This is the first time either my horse or I will be entering at A for a Second Level test.  I am excited about this and I plan on taking both tests seriously, schooling show or otherwise.  I know that I have set us up for a challenge.  First Test 3 is not easy and we can certainly do much better than we did last year, but competition as it is, there are no guarantees and even though the test feels easier now, First Test 3 is not a picnic.  Despite this, I am still motivated to try Second Test 1.  Practicing for these tests is already showing me some things that I would not have learned if I had not signed up for the dressage show.

For example, I must not override my horse.  What I mean by this is, I must not go out there and let determination exude from me in the form of a heavy seat or aids.  I must not lean back or against his motion.  I absolutely must ride my horse and be there for him, rebalance him, ask him to meet the challenge, but I cannot ride him like he is a Grand Prix horse.  This totally squashes his movement.  I did this by accident a few days ago.  I went out to practice the Second Level test with minimal warm up, so that I could see what we could do without much prep, and I overrode.  Harley tried to comply, but the result was that impulsion suffered, his movement died down, and his right lead canter threatened to be four-beat.  He could not canter a 10 meter circle without breaking to trot and when I tried the counter canter loop he threw his head up and shook it from side to side in total irritation.

"Seriously, woman?"

Oops.

At least I learned that one early on.  I went back and let him go forward.  I let him stretch in the canter and we got our rhythm and impulsion back.  I found out that he was much more likely to canter a nice 10 meter circle if I sat light, let him have a little lower neck, and just nudged my outside heel at the beginning of each stride.  I have to trust him.  I cannot be the horse.  That is his job.

 Another thing that I learned is exactly what we need to do in the warm up to prepare.  When I prepare for a dressage test, I spend time practicing the warm up.  When you go before the judge, there are no do-overs.  You get one shot to show-off each movement, so you better be prepared before you enter the arena.

My Warm-Up Plan:
After as long a walk warm up as I can fit in the time schedule, begin with forward in trot.  Keep the reins long and give Harley an opportunity to stretch and go with as long a frame as he wants.  He does this nicely at home, although the show grounds may be too exciting to get the same relaxation, but I will still give him the opportunity.  Go large and round off all the corners.  Ride big circles and changes of direction all in rising trot, of course.  When he starts to flow, incorporate some walk transitions, keeping the reins pretty long and not asking for too much contact or collection.  The first goal is forward and relaxed.

Once forward and relaxed are there, we can start warming up flexibility and asking for more accuracy.  I will start riding smaller circles and smaller turns for changes in direction.  I can start asking for some leg yields and shoulder-in, still in rising trot, and walk transitions with a more positive connection.  I tried this a couple times this week and when he is ready to shift his balance back, he starts doing it on his own as the circles and turns get smaller.  Once he starts offering that shift in balance, I can sit a little taller, take up some slack in the reins and start riding him into the corners.  I must remember to ride several 10 meter circles, as this will help him in the canter, as well as a couple trot-halt-trot and a reinback to two.

Before the canter work, I should ride some sitting trot to give him a chance to accept my seat.  I must try not to control the first couple canter transitions too much and keep the figures large until he feels like he is bending properly in the canter.  This is like the trot warm-up.  Change rein a couple times through trot and then work a few canter-trot-canter transitions on the circle.  This seems to really help him maintain impulsion in the canter and establish obedience to my half-halts.  I should also incorporate some changes in gait within the trot and canter.  A walk break should be thrown in as needed, too.

Our Personal Gauntlet:
Before we enter the ring, I must be sure to ride a couple simple changes and a counter-canter loop in each direction.  The counter canter loop in the First Level test is shallow, so I may just need to ride that one once in each direction and save the more difficult loop for the Second Level test.  I was concerned about the simple changes, because Harley and I have never practiced them before.  We have trained canter to walk and walk to canter, but always on the same lead and the canter to walk was still a challenge and inconsistent for us.  So it was a happy surprise, when the simple change seemed to click for Harley this week.  This is perhaps the only time that I need to really sit on him in the canter.  The transition is not perfect, but some feel quite nice and he now seems to understand the purpose of the whole thing since we change leads after the walk.  I walked in to the test worried that we would blow these and now I see them as a welcomed chance to rebalance and breathe for a couple walk steps amidst what seems like a grueling canter tour.  The simple change is actually easier for us than the 10 meter canter circle, which I am considering riding a little large on purpose.  If we lose the rhythm or he becomes fatigued because the circle is physically challenging, we may sacrifice the rest of the test, so sacrificing a couple points for the circle is preferable.  And then there is the counter canter...

The counter canter is, by the way, the most valuable schooling experience that has come out of these test preparations.  Why haven't I been schooling counter canter?  I write time and time again that my horse likes to flying change at will and I have been struggling with this as both an obedience issue and a rider effectiveness issue and now I see what I should have been doing to help both these problems.

The counter canter.

Oh my goodness.
What an obedience challenge.
What a rider effectiveness challenge.
I now see the light.

My first attempts at the counter canter loop were utter failure.  Harley and I made every mistake.  Head-tossing.  Flying changes (nice ones, too).  Breaking to trot.  Physical tension and a lack of attention and submission.  I almost canned the whole thing right then.  I was not sure that there was any way that we could fix these problems before Sunday.  But the good news is that attempting this exercise forced me to address some issues that I have been too lackadaisical about.  As far as I can tell, our difficulties with the counter canter were almost entirely mental.

Well, maybe 90% mental and 10% physical.

Pretty, but not easy to tame.  Keeping my butt in the saddle would be a start!

Harley can counter canter.  Believe me, he can counter canter.  He demonstrates this sometimes when he flying changes onto the outside lead.  He can even do this on a circle and will continue along in counter canter.  He is a show off.  But that whole desire to show off is an obedience issue.  When I asked him to counter canter a loop at E or B, he did not believe that I wanted to canter on the "wrong lead".  I kept my aids the same, I did my best not to shift my weight, but he would still blow through my outside aids and switch leads.  If this did not work, then he broke to trot and changed leads.  Would you believe that I do not drill flying changes?  In fact I have not asked for a change since June.  I made the decision to get to his mind and convince him to let me do the thinking.  It was the only way that I could see us completing the exercise.

So I went back and repeated the exercise.  I did not try the loop, I just tried counter canter.  A diagonal, a half circle, whatever, it didn't really matter what shape.  I kept my aids absolutely on, without overriding (not too tight or too heavy!), and I kept looking into the inside bend.  If Harley did anything other than maintain gait, I told him "no", turned him around and went back to the beginning of the exercise.  By the fifth repetition, I felt discouragement creeping in, but I shoved it back.  I have faith in my horse.  If I can just convince him that I truly want him to canter on the wrong lead, I know that he can do it.

It might have been six or seven repetitions, but he finally complied.  I felt him shift his weight back, maintain the bend and the original canter.  As soon as he came around the turn, I stopped him and praised him with a long rein and the end of our ride.  I wanted him to know that what he had just done made me just as happy as any flying change.  I needed him to remember that.

And wouldn't you know it, two days later we rode again and he remembered.  This time on the first try.  He even stayed relaxed with those cute little snorts on the exhale at the end of each canter stride.  I stopped him again and praised him like crazy.  By the end of our ride, we managed the three-loop serpentine with no change of lead in both directions.  This exercise is very tough and very new for us.  I can feel that if I push too much he will break to trot.  The turn between the second and third loop is fragile and I believe physically difficult, so I have to ride carefully.  I cannot promise that we will pull it off at the show; there are just too many variables and maintaining relaxation and obedience will be more difficult away from home, but at least I know that we have it in us.  And when we return from our adventure, I believe that we will be well on our way to more obedience in the canter and improved rider effectiveness.  If I had not been forced to try it, I may not have taken the stand for obedience and the clarity of my aids.

Harley's mind is his greatest talent and my greatest training challenge.

All in all, let's hope for a safe trip and nice weather on Sunday.  The test preparations have already made me happy with my decision to enter this fast-approaching competition no matter the scores which should follow.

Flying Change Mistakes, Lessons, and Video

Flying changes anyone?  Harley loves them.  Maybe a little too much, if that is possible.  I have regularly seen him switch leads while cavorting around the ring at liberty, but once he figured out that he was allowed to do them under saddle, he has never looked back.  I have spent the time since then trying to tame his changes without squashing his enthusiasm.  He used to literally throw changes in whenever he pleased and anywhere in the ring: on a circle, along the diagonal, or down the long side.  Of course, I also school them from time to time, asking him to change when I want him to and in a respectable manner, however, too much flying change training often leads to more impromptu changes from my horse.  I like the figure eight or short diagonal to practice swapping leads midair and, with Harley, sometimes it really is in midair!

I remember the first time that I wanted to show my Mom that he could switch leads in the canter.  This was September 2010.  He had just started offering them in response to my leg.  I knew that my Mom was watching, so I wanted to impress her and ride as correctly as possible.  I also wanted to set Harley up for the best change possible.  I sat up really tall and made sure that he was really balanced on his hindend...

...BANG!

My horse threw the largest buck I have ever, EVER, ridden in my life.  I had no idea he could buck like that.  He completed the change, but with way too much fly.  I did my best to remain calm, and like a good trainer, returned to the same spot, asking him to repeat the change nicely...

...DOUBLE BANG!

Somehow he bucked ever harder!  I was literally thrown onto his neck and I watched in slow motion as both my feet flew forward toward his nose.  I have no idea how I stayed on.  Thankfully, he did not seem to care that I was now riding his neck and cantered straight ahead on the new lead as I shimmied back into the saddle.

By this time, my Mom was rightfully concerned.  She asked what was with the "bronco stuff"?  I promised her that he had never done that before.  Sure he can bunny-hop and dance around from time to time and he used to buck into the canter when he was learning his balance, but nothing like this.  Nothing that unseated me.  Unfortunately, I had to keep riding and I had to return to the exercise that was causing the problem.  At this point, I realized that I was most likely the cause of the problem, although it could also have been partly my horse trying to figure things out.  I had to quit overriding, but that is so difficult to do, when your horse is trying to send you to the stars!

We took a break from the exercise by going really forward in the canter.  When we returned to the flying change, he still bucked so we did it again.  He bucked again, although not quite as badly and I think that I called it quits then.  After some careful thought, I decided to abandon the changes temporarily and get more control and throughness in the canter.  My teacher advised me to work on the canter transitions from the trot and the walk, as the flying change is really just a canter transition from the canter itself.  Leaving the flying change for a couple months felt like giving up and it was a bit of a hit to my ego.  I was so excited that my horse had a change in him, but I had to let it go for the time being.  That was in September of 2010.

By November, I was ready to let him try to flying change again.  Sometimes a buck emerged, but it was a small buck, similar to the ones he used to throw when he was figuring out how to transition into the canter.  About half the time, he gave me a smooth, buck-free change.  I remembered not to override and discovered that the less I did, the more smoothly he changed.  He showed me this by changing on his own with absolutely no buck.  He had the skill and balance to change nicely, I just needed the finesse to ask him without disrupting that balance and harmony.

Without a regular trainer, it has taken a very, very long time (years!), and I have learned so much throughout the process.  I would not call his flying changes completely tamed at this point, but we are getting there.  Less is definitely more, but I still need him to be obedient to my aids.  My goal is to have enough influence over his hindlegs that he no longer changes when he wants to and changes cleanly when I ask, where I ask, and without popping his hindend!  When we have that much harmony in the changes, I think that riding changes in sequence may be possible.  Maybe.  That would be a dream come true.

My husband captured some more of Harley's exurberance on video.  This is during our warm up and shows the very first canter transition.  Notice the defiant head toss.  He was really full of beans that day, but it made for some exciting video (The Big Trot On Video).  I intentionally did not praise the first flying change, because it was "unsolicited" although very smooth and nice to ride.  The second one was requested by me and was in his more difficult direction.  He does not always change cleanly going left to right, so that was worth a big "Good Boy!".

Health Note:
Caring horse people will notice that Harley coughs a few times during the video.  He also coughed in the previous video from the same ride.  I mentioned it before on this blog, but it bears repeating that Harley has allergies, which have flared up this year.  He coughs from time to time, especially in the beginning of the ride.  Unfortunately, he was having a particularly noisy day (as was the whinnying horse!) when my husband was there to film and photograph.  Please do not worry.  He is under the care of my vet, has been tested, and is receiving allergen-specific immunotherapy, which is as close to a cure as one can get for allergies.  The allergies have not seemed to affect his desire to work or ride, but if he ever tells me "not today", I will listen to him.  His symptoms are variable, but seem to lessen when he has more regular exercise.

Back to the riding...
...I find that I experience an overwhelming need to lean during the flying change that I request.  I am nice and straight for the first one, but I lean horribly for the actual requested change.  I am surprised that he was able to complete it so nicely.  My loss of balance is also evidenced by the icky downward hand pull that I commit in the transition to walk.  This is precisely the reflex that I been trying to retrain in myself.  This video was from June 2012 right after my lesson.  Although riding has been sporadic due to the weather and heat, I have been working dutifully to correct my hand position and reflexes and straightness going left.  Old habits die hard, but I think we are making progress, because Harley has not been bouncing his hindend around, tossing his head into the canter, or throwing in impromptu changes.  He has been cantering much lighter on his feet and with better rhythm.  The real test will be requesting a flying change again.

The Big Trot On Video

I wrote a memoir post a little while back about my experience learning to ride lengthenings and Harley's newly-offered big trot.  Just to sum it up, my riding education has not directly included lessons to ride a big trot beyond a First Level lengthening.  Fortunately, I have an amazing teacher who focuses entirely on the basics and my position and encourages me to be a thinking rider so that I might apply the skills that I learn to my love of dressage.  Combine this with my horse's generous nature and my belief that he can do just about anything, and you have a recipe for some exciting things to unfold.  When my husband offered to take photos and video at the beginning of June, I felt obligated to take advantage of the opportunity to "see" what Harley and I were doing when we accomplished his new, bold trot.  Video is an immensely helpful training tool.  This cannot be understated when one embarks on training a dressage horse and mostly solo.

I like the videos which I have posted below, because you can see Harley and I working toward the objective.  This is a snapshot of our training.  You will not see perfection in either of us.  This is about the third time that I have asked Harley to produce his big trot down the long side after a bit of canter to put his weight over his hind end, so the process of getting there is quite rusty.  When everything falls into place, Harley powers forward with longer strides and I just try to stay in the middle of our balance.  I am happy to report that the photo below reveals that what I thought I was feeling is exactly what Mr. Harley was doing.  Check out the elevation of the diagonal pair.  Please also notice that there is a slight loop in the rein.  Although I had to increase the rein pressure to show him that I wanted him to keep his weight off his shoulders before the big trot, once he finds his balance he pretty much does it himself.  The feeling is exhilarating!  This is one of those things that I was not sure that I would ever get to experience.  I am thankful for my generous horse.

Go Harley!

In the videos you will see that my priority at the beginning of each long side is to remind Harley to keep his weight back.  His head will be up, but this does not bother me.  When he finds his balance with the power to open up his stride, his frame "snaps into place" all on its own.  No fiddling, flexing, or driving necessary.  In fact, my legs are passive at this point.  He is supplying the power and I am just directing it and suggesting where it should go.  His personality is such that he loves anything where he really gets to push off with his hind end so he accepts the invitation.  You will also see this as he displays some bouncy shenanigans and a flying change or two.  You may also be able to see that we do not have great control of the power of the big trot at this point.  We have improved since the time of this video (early June), but the corners here are a bit precarious.  I especially dislike a couple strong inside hand pulls that I commit in the far corner of the ring, but if my memory serves me, it felt like we were about to careen into the fence!  You will also see a mega-half-halt before that same corner.  I needed Harley to curb his enthusiasm enough to acknowledge the turn ahead.  Harley's best efforts are the ones when he approaches the camera.  The last effort is conservative, but I wanted to end with a controlled corner.  In later rides, we got much better at maintaining balance and control after the big trot and practiced it across the short diagonal as well as the long side.

So for your viewing pleasure:
My 15.1 hand quarter horse big-trotting his little...scratch that...
...BIG heart out.  Enjoy!

Here we are going to the right.  Harley had lost most of his steam at this point, but he still offered a nice effort the second time around, so we ended with that.  His elevation in front was not as impressive, but his balance in the loading diagonal pair was very good to my eye and something to strive for in all his big gait efforts.

Loading phase even across the diagonal pair.

All four off the floor in trot!

Dressage Homework #3

The series continues...I have a lot of homework!  
Hopefully these posts will help me remember everything.


Use my good side to help train my weak side.
Since we are doing so well going right, my teacher encouraged me to ride a couple circles to the right to find the feeling and then go to the left.  Only stay on the left circle once and then return to the right to reestablish "north".  If I was really having trouble finding or keeping the straightness in my body, then she suggested that I only travel to the left for half a circle before returning to the right.  I thought this was some interesting advice.  I have read about the importance of not only riding your horse on his easier side.  This does nothing for his more difficult (stiffer) direction.  But what if your horse's easier side happens to be his "stiffer" side?  Harley is not really stiff going right, but it is his "stiffer" side.  He is flexible enough when traveling right, but the real strength is that he is more easily made straight.  The left side is his more bendy side (and my more bendy side!).  In fact, it is too flexible, which makes if very easy for both of us to collapse.  This makes his left side the more difficult direction to ride, because it is the more difficult direction to find true straightness.  He can fool me into thinking that it is easier, because he goes on the bit easily and flexes to the left more easily, but our balance is tenuous until we can align ourselves laterally.  Longitudinal balance follows shortly thereafter.

I have a strong habit of collapsing in the left direction.  It feels normal or comfortable to me when I let my left ribcage sink toward my hip.  This offsets my weight onto my right seat bone, which also feels normal to me and inviting to Harley to do a flying change onto the left lead if I happen to collapse left while in canter right.  This is more likely to happen on a straight line, which explains why he likes to throw those changes in on the long sides of the arena.  This also explains why it would be more difficult for him to flying change from left to right canter.  If I am collapsed left when I am hoping for the change, neither of us is in the right balance or position to do so.  My teacher explained that correct practice was the only thing worth our time.  Repeating several collapsed left circles would only serve to un-train Harley and my own body.  If I want to re-circuit my habits, I need to make every repetition as correct as possible.  Look to what we do well and use it to improve our left direction work.  She warned that "perfectionists" and dressage riders alike tend to focus too much on what is being done poorly, which is why she gave us permission to use the positive!

Memoirs: A Horse Girl's Big Trot Experience

In high school and college, I used to take weekly dressage lessons.  I paid for them with my own coin and worked hard cleaning stalls to pay for shows and the lease of the Mare.  I received a well-rounded education from an amateur who regularly trained with professionals and had trained her mare to FEI and a couple other horses to third level and beyond.  Although my Connected Riding instructor has filled in some gaps in the mechanics that I learned from my dressage instructor, most of my early education is still very applicable and something that I draw upon from day to day as I train and ride my beloved Harley.  I blend the old (traditional dressage instruction) with the new (Connected Riding instruction) in an attempt to glean the best from my teachers and experiences.  Despite this, there are a few places in my education that I consider gray areas.

One gray area is the flying change, which Harley started offering on his own a while ago and I have been learning how to ride and prepare on my own.  The other is the lengthening.  I have written about them before.  I rode lengthenings and received 6's and 7's "back in the day" when I had regular dressage lessons, but I do not recall learning any real technique.  The Mare that I rode was a Hanoverian/Thoroughbred cross with a heavy head and huge shoulders, but tons of drive from behind.  I thought that I used to release the reins and let her go, but the photo below says otherwise.  She did not have awesome balance or elevation, but she did lengthen on her own.  I remember schooling the lengthenings a bit by riding ten meter circles before and after the lengthening or shoulder-in to balance her on her inside hind before take-off, but I still feel like it was mostly her.  I was just lucky to have her to ride.  If I had taken some lessons focused on improving the lengthenings, maybe those scores would have turned into 8's.  She certainly had the power.

The Mare: A scanned photo probably from summer 2001.  She was a 16.2 hand Hanoverian/TB cross, age 14 here.  The Mare was a big, strong horse which encouraged a very assertive position in me.  Here she was offering a nice lengthening in a round frame.  I can see the overflexion now, but I was not aware of it at the time and we probably still got a 7.  She was not a light horse to ride, but she was definitely fun.  Oh, and I had bigger biceps back then. 

Harley's gaits are smaller than the Mare's were.  Where she received 7's, he gets 6's, but we were able to earn a couple 7's for his canter lengthening last year in the First Level tests.  Having ridden both horses, I can attest to the fact that Harley has tremendous power in his hindend, even if his movement does not inspire high scores.  For his size, I actually think that he has more power than the Mare did, he just wasn't bred with dressage in his blood and he is far more sensitive than she was.  The Mare would barrel forward relentlessly and had to be ridden with spurs to keep her respect.  On the other hand, Harley will stop if he feels too much tightness in his rider's seat and legs, but can fly when there is nothing blocking his forward energy and drive.  Spurs have not graced my boots since I have owned him.

Harley's big trot pictures from July 2011.  For comparison, Harley is a 15.1 hand Quarter Horse, and 13 years of age at the time of the photo.

I like his head and neck position and level frame.  The attitude of my body is much more following with my shoulders nicely over my feet in rising trot.  My teacher is always insisting that I do not lean back against my horse.

Sure, I have felt Harley's big trot.  It feels like he reaches forward with his entire body.  The trot feels smooth yet big and definitely with longer strides.  He hits a flow, which is not always easy to initiate.  The idea seems to be his first, mine second.  I am okay with that, although if I was a dedicated horse show competitor, I would need better control.  I would need to crack the code, so that I could ask my horse to produce his amazing trot whenever the test called for it.  Without regular instruction, I had realized that this would be very difficult.  Maybe even impossible.  Maybe Harley just couldn't produce the kind of lengthening that could lead to medium trot and extension.  Since I did not really know what I was hoping to create, I had kind of been halfheartedly schooling lengthenings from time to time and not really getting any further than I had years ago when I rode the big mare.

This photo is from summer 1999 or 2000.  That was 12 years ago!  I like the relaxation in the Mare and my following hand position, although this was probably a less impressive lengthening than the first picture.  I think that the judge pictured may be Heather Mason of Flying Change Farm.

Until now.

My time with Harley has been haphazard lately.  Between school, family obligations, and his allergies, riding to train has been on the back burner.  I am just happy if we get a nice ride in at all.  Schooling lengthenings has been farthest from my mind and, perhaps, that is what opened the door.  Harley does like to offer new tricks or discoveries of his own.

Last weekend, after we finished a few laps of canter, I brought Harley back to trot and started down the longside.  Every ounce of him wanted to canter again, but I resisted.  I half-halted on the outside rein and told him "trot".  I continued to half-halt every stride, saying "trot-trot-trot" as we went.  The power and energy that he wanted to use to canter did not dissipate just because I did not allow him to, instead he put that power into his shoulders.  They came up.  The feeling was almost comical at first.  He seemed to be pushing off his front legs and his hind legs at the same time.  The strides were still in the trot rhythm and the tempo was nearly the same, but his front legs were moving with a looseness and upward feel that I had not experienced before.  He also arched his neck more and pushed his back up almost dramatically.  I found myself fumbling the rising trot a bit and laughing at myself.

"What was that, Harley?"

He repeated the stunt a couple more times.  The last time, I immediately brought him to walk and praised him enthusiastically, leaving the ring to signify that he had done something truly remarkable.  In my mind, I still wasn't sure what we had produced, if anything.

The following Saturday, I was granted a few hours late in the day to ride my horse.  Feed was being dropped in the buckets by the time I swung my leg over the saddle, but I was confident that Harley would humor me for a ride before he ate.  I think that he misses riding as much as I do when we have short time together.  He did not disappoint and warmed up well.  I could tell when he was ready to work, because his trot hit a fluid stride and he powered around the ring.  I heard my friends who were feeding say, "Look at Harley."  I bet it felt even better than it looked.

After we warmed up with some canter-trot-canter transitions, I decided to try to initiate the weird trot from last weekend.  We cantered around two corners and came back to trot for the long side.  I felt him want to power forward, but I resisted his urge to canter like I did the last time that we rode together.  Without hesitation, he bounced his frontend up in what felt like a bonefide lengthened trot.  I stopped and praised him with a break.  "Okay", I thought, "this is real."  Something had apparently clicked into place for both of us.

After a rest, I repeated the pattern, sticking to what was working.  We cantered a few strides and headed down the long side in trot.  This time I remained seated in the saddle so that I could better support the half-halts with my seat.  I knew that this might discourage him from trotting bigger, but I had a hunch that it might work.

As we started down the long side, I felt him want to canter again, I resisted and half-halted trying to repeat my aids in the same manner as before.  This time he broke into canter, before trotting bigger.  I rode the canter and brought him back to trot for the next long side.  Apparently sitting in the saddle, seemed like an invitation to canter, since I typically sit that gait, so I half-halted with more assertion.  Surprisingly, the feel was very strong in my hands, but this did not cause him to fall forward or lose steam.  I lifted up on both reins, even though I had not half-halted in that manner before.

Harley's shoulders came up with the reins.  I saw each shoulder move forward separately with a new hesitation.  I felt the hang time between his swinging shoulders.  This was not like his previous lengthenings.  This was not even something the talented mare had given me in the past.  I cheered,

"Good Boy, Harley!!!"

We tried it again.  I felt like I had the secret now.  The more strongly I half-halted up, the bigger his shoulders moved.  It was so counter intuitive, that I was not sure if I should trust it, but clearly my horse was doing something very different.  He even produced the new big trot without the canter prelude.  I only asked for a few strides at a time, praising him and encouraging his every attempt.  I started chanting, "Big, big, big..." to keep the rhythm of my half halts consistent.  It was amazing and yet so odd.  The stronger the feel that I took on the reins, the more he seemed to understand that I wanted big strides and the more they went up instead of forward.  I can understand why it would take a lot of practice and strength to maintain something like that for an entire diagonal.  I had never felt a trot quite like that before.  It almost felt like a different gait.

Just when I think that we are not riding enough to progress,
Harley surprises me.

I would appreciate some feedback, if you have ridden a big trot before.  What does it feel like to you?  Did you have to half-halt up?  I felt I was almost tugging on the reins, but Harley did not get offended.  In fact, he moved even bigger when I increased the "tug".  There was so much energy that I did not really use my legs at all.  It was so strange, but so exhilarating.

Riding Reflection: Four Barrels

As an adult rider with her own horse at a small farm, I do not have the opportunity for many lessons.  There are a slew of reasons, but the biggest two are finances and level of instruction and those two seem to build upon one another.  Better instruction costs more money, which means that I can only afford a small number of lessons each year.  Good instruction can also be difficult to find, which requires trailering your horse or hiring a trainer to come to you.  Neither of these two is cheap and seeing as how I drive a Honda Civic, which, by the way, does not come with a tow package, and am trailer-less, I must subscribe to the latter.  After years of less than delicate instruction, I am very, very picky about who I am willing to give my money to and I will only ride with an instructor whose philosophy melds well with my own.  This considerably reduces the trainer pool, but I am okay with that.  I do have an instructor who is reasonably-priced and whose expertise blows my mind, but unfortunately she lives out of state, so I only get to ride with her when she travels to the area for her usual group of private students.  This gives me the motivation to make the most of my lessons and leaves me on my own most of the time, which I like very much.  However, sometimes I just get the hankering for a lesson.  I want someone to give me an exercise that is substantial and let me tackle it.  Harley enjoys this too!

On our last ride I had that "lesson hankering".  It has been weeks since we have gotten in a good ride and months since our last lesson.  I did not want to work Harley's body really hard, but I did want to work his mind.  As luck would have it, someone else had set up four barrels in the arena, probably for another lesson.  Sometimes I get annoyed when there is stuff "in the way" when I am riding, but this time, I decided to embrace those barrels and make up a lesson for us.

Simple can still be interesting.

We started our trot warm up, moving around all four barrels.  Then I started picking barrels to circle around.  I picked them out ahead of time, so that I would have to prepare my horse, and I did not always choose the same barrel and I did not always make the same size circle.  Harley learns patterns very quickly, which I can use to my advantage, but sometimes I also like to make him wait and listen.

The circles started connecting the barrels with diagonals lines.  This was how I changed direction.  The barrels inscribed a little dressage arena where we were always changing direction and bend.  Harley had to stay on his toes, as did I.  I started to feel something interesting.  As we finished a small circle and began a new diagonal line.  I felt Harley dropping his weight onto his inside shoulder.  This was noticeable, because the turns were frequent and challenged him to keep changing his balance.  I want Harley's weight to stay more on his outside shoulder as he completes the circle so that he can lift his inside shoulder.

Then, I want him even in both reins and ready to shift his weight onto the new outside shoulder as he lifts the new inside shoulder.  This allows me to correctly turn him from the outside shoulder rather than ride from the inside of my horse, which compromises balance.

The simple barrel exercise had shown me something rather profound, as this shift in balance between his shoulders was also essential for the canter depart and the flying change.

In order to help him keep his weight on his outside shoulder a little longer at the end of each circle, I started taking a firm hold on the outside rein just as we approached the straight diagonal line.  I few times, he over corrected and sidestepped slightly at the beginning of the diagonal.  This was good, in my opinion, because he was stepping toward and into the outside rein, which gave me more influence on his outside shoulder.  I gently eased the pressure on the old outside rein and gradually increased the pressure on the new outside rein as we passed the midpoint of the short diagonal.  It was like passing the responsibility from one side to the other.  Harley's weight transferred accordingly and I checked my own balance to make sure that I was staying centered.  I did not actively shift my weight in the saddle, as that would tell his haunches to move around and I wanted him straight behind and continuing forward.  This exercise was almost entirely about his shoulders.

Compartmentalizing your horse's body is very similar to separating your own aids making them independent.

When Harley and I got the coordination down, I started adding in the canter after the straight diagonal line.  I wanted him to shift his weight onto the new outside shoulder before he picked up the canter.  This allowed him to lift smoothly into the lead and with a nice gentle bend in his ribcage.  I cantered around half the barrels, returned to trot, assessed his outside shoulder, and began the next diagonal.  Just like in a lesson with a ground person, Harley was totally on.  He understood the task, figured it out, and was ready for the next phase.  When he picked up the right lead early on the diagonal and before a left turn, I knew we were on the same page, paragraph, and sentence.  I chose not to move my legs as this can sometimes block his efforts.  I just paid attention to turning his outside shoulder, sent my intentions left, and... 

...collected flying change, in perfect rhythm!  He stayed in the bridle, his butt did not pop up, and I felt him switch all four legs and land softly on the new lead.  It felt great!  I praised him with pats and "Good Boy's" while enjoying a very engaged left lead canter for half a circle.  Then we came back to walk for a break.

That was the same beautiful change that he did on the trail last week.  He is getting so much more organized and much less poppy (Check out the 2011 Bloopers video to see just how much pop he can muster!)

As we walked I pondered the ultimate training question.  Do I end on that excellent effort or try the other side?  There have been many times where I chose to end it, but this time I decided that the exercise was in our favor.  We should go for it.  Harley has more difficulty changing clean in this direction.  He switches behind pretty easily, but tends to switch in front a stride late.  If I send him really forward along the diagonal, he is more likely to get it clean, but he also gets strung out, so I am trying to back away from that strategy.  When I ask in a figure eight, he almost gets it, but sometimes it feels like half a stride late in front and I am not sure if he is landing correctly but extremely softly or putting a foot down and then switching his shoulders.  Now you see why this shoulder exercise was so groundbreaking!

I picked up the reins and started a left-hand circle around the barrels.  Harley's energy let me know that he was still onto the game, but it came with some tension, so I circled and made a few transitions to walk so that he softened his neck and back again.  I whispered for him to canter and he smoothly lifted off.  I checked the outside rein connection and felt for his outside hind landing in my outside hand.  I can feel this if the horse is really stepping into the rein.  He was with me, so we casually approached the diagonal.  I asked him to wait with the outside shoulder and he did.  He gave me those ears that said, "I am going for it."  I kept my legs passive again, and as we began the right turn around the barrel, I felt him push off with a grunt and...

...he landed on the right lead.  All four feet!  The maneuver had clearly taken some thought and physical effort on his part and for a second it felt like he was motionless in the stride.  I gently supported with my legs, now in the new canter position, and he pushed himself forward in the right lead canter.

I cheered for him and he immediately came to a halt as I dropped the reins, patting both sides of his neck.  We turned for the gate to add a crescendo to his praise.

"You're done!  You did it, Harley!"  What a great lesson!

Love.

Buttermilk Buckskin: Changing Colors

And a ride!

Since I was absent from the barn last week, Harley's coat changes have nearly gotten away from me!  His light, cream-colored fur is being replaced by more reddish tones, which should lead to dapples on his rump and shoulders.  The new red hairs are visible along his cheek bone and behind his eye in the photo below. 

I have always enjoyed watching his color changes, but this is the first time that I have tried to document the changes gradually.  His spring transformation seems to be picking up speed!

More red hairs on his nose.  The red and cream together give him that golden look.

Can you see the star on his forehead?

Red hairs on his hip points, croup, and...

...withers.  Sometimes he almost gets bands here, but I think that is in the fall.  The lines that you see are just shadows.

Check out the black patches above the backs of his knees.  Those were not there last week!

The fronts are just about there.  I guess knee-highs are always in fashion for Harley.

A lot more light hair has left his hind legs.

The good old-fashioned grooming block is the trick for helping the short hair shed off the front of his hing leg.

This is a totally insane picture of his mane.  The "frosting" is nothing new, but has grown quite long on top of his dark mane.  The lower section is growing in for the first time since I have owned him.  This is thanks to some foal fencing that I paid for and helped put up in 90 degree weather.  I was happy to have his mane grow in, but I was even more happy to not have him contorting himself through the fence to eat grass.  I do not think that he is as happy with the arrangement.  He would rather have the grass.

"Enough pictures already!"

Sorry Harley, but just look at that blue sky.  Unreal.

We did go on a trail ride after this long never-ending grooming session and photo shoot.  He was extremely pleased to be out and about after a week of waiting around and trying to amuse himself.  Although I am still getting over the cough and I do not sound great, I am feeling better, too.  We kept the ride to lots of walking and some trotting here and there.  I tried to keep Harley slow in trot for the sake of our company (we are always faster than our company), but he was not having it.  I got to feel some beautiful lengthened trot along a sandy trail and he rounded up into an equally powerful collected trot as we navigated a winding path around trees.  The path was cut to slow horses down on the way back home.  I guess no one told Harley that!  It was very, very fun to ride in sitting trot, changing the bend around each tree and feeling him push off his hind legs.  Dressage is beneficial even to trail riding!

Once we got back to our property, I let him canter along a wide path leading to the paddocks.  He did this beautiful collected canter-right and when we approached a gentle bend to the left, he lifted up into an expression and exciting flying change.  Totally clean and totally awesome.  I did not ask him for it deliberately, but I am sure that I shifted my weight and that is all the encouragement he needs for his favorite trick.  The left lead afterward was so full of excitement and joy that I could feel the power beginning to overflow and I could see what he looked like in my mind's eye: arched neck, flared nostrils, expressively articulating knees and hocks, and flying mane and tail.  Harley may be beautiful on the outside, but his true beauty is this fire inside of him.  The desire to show off his energy and spirit.  I feel completely honored that he chooses to share it with me.

Riding Reflection: New Year's Tradition

I have a made it a personal tradition to always ride on the first of the year.  Long before Harley and when I was still in college, my riding teacher invited me to come out and ride my giant mare in the snow on New Year's Day.  Since the farm did not have access to trails of any kind, this was a special treat, with or without the snow.  We rode in a group of five or so, every horse went out, and my mare jigged and sassy-stepped the entire way, but I loved every minute of it.  Trail riding used to be something that I only got to do on vacations.  I am very lucky to have trail access where I am now, and a trusty trail horse, of course.

From that day forward, I decided to try to always ride on the first of the year.  This is much easier now that I have Harley and I get to say things like "Best ride all year!" and "I have to go the barn, because I haven't ridden since last year!".  Those never get old.  ;)

We had a very productive ride today, with lots of variety.  We started off with a little hack around the yard.  Harley likes those.  Walking outside the arena is always good for the mind.

Then we went inside the ring, and marched (slowly) on a loose rein.  We walked little figure eights with a full arc in his body from his nose to his tail.  His neck looks really long when he walks with it stretched out in the turns.  It is amazing how he can turn into a neat, little package when he collects his frame, although he also turns into a not-so-nice little package when he is really tight.  Those days seem to be almost forgotten, now.

After walking with contact and starting to ask him to carry himself more, we revisited a lateral movement called "turn on the forehand in motion".  This is an excellent exercise, which I believe is not widely practiced.  I learned it from Dr. Thomas Ritter, when I had the pleasure of riding with him (twice) and by auditing many of his clinics in New Jersey.  He produced a two-part video series on riding this deceptively challenging exercise, which was the best possible explanation of the exercises outside of him standing there and teaching you in person.  Unfortunately, the videos are no longer available for viewing, but at least check out some of his articles.  I have read most of them more times that I can remember.  They are that good. 

Turn on the forehand in motion is just that.  Instead of planting the front end and walking the hindlegs around the front, the horse must turn his entire body.  His front feet inscribe a smaller arc than his hind feet as he steps sideways and around a central point.  The horse's body is like the radius of a circle with the center of the circle several feet in front of his ears.  Those lovely videos were a much better means of explanation...

Even though it has been a long time since we played around with this exercise, Harley seemed to remember what to do after an attempt in each direction.  I found that he was much easier off my right leg, although he tended to try and step backward to avoid the exercise if I did not think forward to the outside rein.  Once we got moving, he was almost on autopilot (good memory, Harley).  From my left leg, we had initial issues.  I started losing him through the right shoulder immediately.  I recognized this as rider error.  I centered my seat and weight distribution and straightened his body before our second attempt.  I kept my outside rein steady and used my left lower leg and seat bone to ask for sideways movement.  A couple taps from the whip were also required to further convince him to work gently through his own stiffness.  I love this exercise, because it is challenging, but also low impact and gentle.  With short stretchy walks in between, the learning curve was very short and I had a much softer, compliant horse in both directions by the third repetition.  I can feel how this exercise targets my effectiveness as a rider and Harley's obedience as the ridden horse.  It also supples tight shoulders and hindquarters (all in one exercise) and reinforces the all important inside leg to outside rein concept.  Perfection is not a prerequisite to the benefits of the movement.

We followed the lateral work with some rein backs.  Walk back a few steps, then walk forward.  Walk back a few steps and try to encourage him to reach into the bridle while walking backward and then keep that feel as we move forward again.  This is challenging!  I am not sure that we quite got it, but I did see an improvement in his frame through the transitions.

Next we warmed up the trot with some poles.  I rarely trot Harley over poles under saddle.  He loves trotting over poles on the line, but I usually do not take the time to set them up for a ride.  Also, he tends to hollow over poles under saddle, which is counter productive.  It has always kind of bothered me that he does that.  Am I doing something wrong?

Today, there were three trot poles already set up.  They looked too far apart, but I decided to trot over them just for fun.  Harley pushed from behind and lifted himself over the poles with pretty, strong strides.

"What?" 

I brought him around again, and this time he cantered over them without touching a pole.

"Okay, now you are just playing around.  Can you trot over them, or not?"

The third time around, I half-halted to ask him to stay in trot and he powered over them again with a lovely long neck and a "bloom" in front of his withers.

"Harley!  That was TOO cool!"

He repeated the lovely pole work several times and then in the opposite direction.  This was by far the best he has ever trotted over poles with me on him.  It actually felt like the poles were helping him to achieve a better balance and encouraging him to push from behind and work over his back more.  I know that poles are supposed to do that, but they have never felt like they were very helpful to my horse (except on the lunge line).  After our ride, I went back to check the distance.  They were a good foot or so farther apart than I normally place them.  Five and a half to six of my feet in boots.  I am definitely going to try that distance again.  Harley was working so nicely over them.

We worked some transitions with a focus on keeping his back up and not popping off the contact in the canter depart.  This seems to be a habit, which I have been ignoring subconsciously.  The downward transition to trot is feeling really great, as highlighted at the end of the bloopers video.  This has been our greatest accomplishment to date!  He used to just run and tighten in anticipation of the next canter, even if I only asked him to canter once a ride, which was something that I used to do to dampen his intense need to anticipate.  Now, he stays on the outside rein, and supports himself from behind into a lifted back.  I can ask for a couple canter transitions in a row and he doesn't lose his cool or speed up.  He is a new horse!

We ended with some flying changes, because he loves them and I am slowly breaking down the best way for me to prepare and ask him for them.  I got a "bucky" change on the short diagonal (see Bloopers Video) and a very nice clean change from right to left after some canter half-pass right.  His right canter has become so balanced and so easy, that this was not even a challenge.  He just strides sideways and then I switch my legs and he changes.  The left to right change is much less reliable and more difficult to setup, because his left canter is not as balanced.  He gave me one nice one after several attempts and a walk break.  I am more than happy with that, especially because I was not expecting to go back to canter.  He has this uncanny ability to zero in on the goal, even when I am ready to let it go.  He was determined to do the left to right change, which I could feel and see from his posture and attitude as soon as we went back to trot.  I indulged him, because I like to take his input into consideration.  He thinks about things and then comes back and does them.  Sometimes the next ride, sometimes the same ride after a break.  I try to learn from it.  Was I doing something wrong and now he is showing me that he can do it when I am not blocking him somewhere?  That might sound unbelievable, but that has been our training relationship for five years.  We have a modest collection of ribbons and scores, but that is not why we ride and not really a good representation of our successes.  That is my opinion, at least, and a happy partnership is worth the most to me.

You know what?

Best ride all year.  ;)