Riding Reflection: Toe-Touching Exercises

For the horse, of course.

There was a special treat waiting for me at the barn today.  A freshly dragged arena!  I just love riding in newly graded sand, with neat little grooves.  I love making patterns with my horse's tracks.  If only I had my camera!  Sigh.  It was still great.  I made sure to tell the barn owners how happy I was.  So fun!

Today was definitely a day to take things slowly.  Yesterday, Harley worked very hard with lots of transitions to and from the canter.  He was busting his big quarter horse little tushy.  He really has heart.

We started off walking on a long rein, as always, and then I picked up the reins and gauged his response.  I was looking for him to chew the bit, softening his jaw, when I applied my leg.  If he tightened, then I opened the inside rein and gave a little hug with my inside lower leg.  I held this for a few seconds if he did not soften right away or from the rein opening alone.  He did tighten from time to time, raising his head and shortening his neck.  This also drops his shoulders, which is something that I want to discourage at all times.  We stayed in walk until he was consistently chewing the bit when I gave a small hug with my lower leg.  I wanted the leg aid to feel comforting or massaging to him.  I did not want to press or push him.  I wanted him to step from behind into a connection with my hand and seat by releasing muscles which I suspected were tight from yesterday's ride.  I added a couple turns on the haunches to test his softness.  I was very happy with his willingness, even if there was some resistance present.

The first trot transition was better than usual.  Instead of popping up off his shoulders, he stepped more from behind and mostly maintained the connection with my hand.  The first trot transition is often rough and jarring.  His improvement here must be a sign that I should make this gentle softening a requirement in our warm up.

Once in trot, I continued asking him to chew the bit in response to a "leg hug".  He was very quick to chew on the left, but took some persistence on the right side.  I was very gentle, keeping in mind that his left side was probably tight and needed to release in stages.  I found it more beneficial to ask him to chew on the right even when traveling left.  Guess which is his bendy side?  ;)

A couple times, I switched my posting diagonal to the inside and leg yielded back to the track, opening my inside rein if he felt resistant or stuck.  Before long he was feeling loose and with me.  He was trying to root against the reins less, which is a bad habit that I have not really been addressing.  If it felt like he was going to root, I would give a leg hug with one or both legs and keep my elbows at my sides.  I am a bit torn about setting against him, because he has had so much neck tension in the past and I do not want to discourage any attempt to stretch.  However, I do not like that he often pulls my elbows open, looking to initiate a stretch break.  I give him lots of breaks, so he should not be want for a stretch!  The hug and gently resist seemed to work very nicely.  He also got some more spring in his trot, although there was more weight in the reins.  I will take it for now and see how it goes.

In the canter, the toe-touching continued.  I kept it very forward and kept him cantering so that he would not have to work the same muscles from yesterday.  He is so cute, because I could tell from his ears and the way he was holding his body that he was ready to repeat yesterday's exercises.

There will be video.  Look at that tail!  He's electric.

"Not today, Harley.  You're a Good Boy."

I swear he thinks about things when we are not riding.  Sometimes he is able to successfully do an exercise after a few days break, even if we have not revisited it.  I appreciate this quality in him even if it is a side effect of being an anticipator.  But today was too soon.  I wanted his muscles to rest.

We mixed up some straight lines and circles to stretch and relax his cantering muscles, then we went on a circle and I asked him to chew the bit.  This is a new game in canter.  The timing is much different than in trot and too much neck displacement upsets his balance.  When I was originally teaching him to canter from a leg cue, I made the mistake of over bending his neck to the inside.  He would consistently pick up the outside lead, until I realized that I was blocking his inside shoulder making it impossible for him to canter on the correct lead.  I had to retrain myself, but eventually I figured out how to not block his inside shoulder and the (my) problem went away.  I guess I had one too many dressage lessons focused on bend without taking into account the lift to the inside.  This is just one of many things I have relearned.  Add it to the list!

With great care, I opened my inside rein and gave a little leg hug in canter.  I made sure that I did not cause his head to move more than enough to see the inside nostril and eye.  I was delighted by his response.  Not only did he soften and chew, but he also lifted the base of his neck in front of the withers and became lighter in the reins.  Why haven't I already been doing this in canter?

This toe-touching exercise also allowed me to find that he was leaning against my inside leg on the left lead.  This surprised me, since the left is his bendy (hollow) side.  I used a little leg yield before the transition and in the canter to encourage him to soften in his ribcage.  The canter felt nicer still and I decided to call it a success and a ride.

I think that I should be using these toe-touching exercises more frequently.  I was surprised by the places that he felt tight and very pleased with the improvement in his way of going after he touched his toes.

Riding the Circle

Hurricane Update: Harley and his companions are safe and sound.  Thank you for all the well wishes!

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Occasionally, my husband shows his coworkers video of Harley and me on his phone.  This is usually after something in the conversation leads to pets or animals and he states that he has a horse.  I like to think that he states this proudly.  ;)

Since non-horsey people do not generally know what to look for in a riding video, he tries to show them videos where Harley is doing something exciting, like cantering, little jumps, or a carrot trick.  Most people watch politely and ask a question like:

"Does your wife fall off?"
"Where do you keep him?"
"How much does a horse cost?"
"Is he a racehorse?"

and my personal favorite,

"When do you (meaning my husband) ride your horse?"

My husband has an answer ready for that last one.

"I just take the pictures."

Actually, he probably says something wittier than that like

"She won't let me ride him."
 or
"He thinks I'm only good for pretzels."
or
"My parrot would get jealous."

If he read these, he would undoubtedly come up with something better.  I like to kid that I do not want him to ride my horse, because I do not want to have to share him in case my husband catches the horse bug.  I guess that would just mean we would need a second horse!  In all seriousness, I think Harley is too particular for a beginner, but I am probably not giving either of them enough credit.

On one of these occasions, someone asked:

"Why does she keep riding in circles?"

That is a perfectly valid training question.  Why the circle?

I was thinking about this the other day, because in the schooling video I stayed on the circle for most of the ride.  I have taught entire lessons focused on riding a circle and I have certainly received entire lessons on the shape and size of a good circle.  A corner in the arena can be thought of as the quarter arc of a very small circle or volte.  All lateral work, which incorporates a bend, is taking the circle along for the ride.  In fact, truly classical use of lateral work suggests that a 10 m circle be ridden before and after lateral movements such as shoulder-in and travers.

Recently, I rode a young horse who needs some gentle conditioning work.  I started off along the track, feeling how he handled the turns and how straight he was traveling.  I made sure that he was listening to me with some transitions and voice commands, then I popped on a large circle.  Riding a circle on an unfamiliar horse offers volumes of information.  It is immediately apparent if the horse is practiced in circles.  I am not just talking about the rider's aids and obedience.  Riding a circle and purposefully choosing a line of travel, gives the rider information about the balance and suppleness of the horse.  The horse's crookedness and flexibility become apparent as does the strength and coordination of the inside hind leg and the looseness of the muscles around the poll and down the length of the neck and back.  The circle can be made an easier exercise by increasing the size or only riding half of a circle.  The circle can also be made more difficult by decreasing the size, including transitions and changes of direction, or lateral movements and increasing the gait, with the epitome being the canter pirouette.

The only limit in the value of the circle as a training tool is the rider's imagination.

That being said, the rider should always be aware of how difficult even a simple circle may be for a horse based upon his level of training and fitness.  Improvement will occur if the horse is challenged, but riding figures which are too difficult can be detrimental to the horse's body and mind.  When I think again of the movie-viewer's question, he or she may have thought that I continued in a circle for lack of a better activity.  Like riding in a circle was mindless or boring.  I know that the question was innocent, but I cannot help feeling amused.  The circle is deceptively worthwhile and challenging!

So what this young horse told me was that, he was not practiced in circles, he was used to being steered with the reins, he was tight in many places in his body, and he generally did not know where to put his shoulders and hips in order to travel straight ahead, on the circle or along straight lines.  He was "jack-knifing" around the circle and in response to a single leg or rein aid.  This little guy had not learned how to cope with bend.  In my opinion, a well ridden circle comes down to training a horse how to bend.  A circle is simply the horse traveling straight ahead while maintaining a consistent bend throughout his body, from nose to tail.  If you can initiate the right amount of bend for the circle you want to ride, your horse should just "auto-circle".

Simple, but not easy, as most any rider will agree!

Harley, June 2007: Just learning about bend and cantering.
It looks like he has miles of hind leg!

Harley, June 2011: About the same moment in the stride four years later.
His hind end is much more organized and under his body.

A different view on the circle, but still with the last foot in the stride down.
And he has learned to bend!

Hurricane Harley

New Jersey is projected to be hit pretty hard by Hurricane Irene tomorrow night.  Since we are near the coast and Atlantic City, the barrier islands and surrounding areas are being evacuated.  My town is not on the list.  We have been stocking up on food stuffs, filling water containers, and gathering supplies like a camping stove.  The gas stations were traffic jammed today.  Caravans of emergency vehicles passed by as I ran preparatory errands.  The shelves were want for D batteries and flashlights.  The south bound Garden State Parkway closed.  Our fearless governor told residents to assume that power outages will occur and to store five days worth of water and food.  My house is fitted with hurricane strapping which is supposed to withstand 130 mph winds.  I chuckled when the builder said it was the updated code.  We are not that close to the shore, I thought.  Let's hope that we do not have to test the limits of those giant staples.

The barn owners did a fantastic job of securing the farm and preparing for the storm.  They have plenty of food and hay and filled many large containers with water.  I feel badly that I was not there to help them out.  Eleven horses will be in the barn.  The paddocks are just not safe enough.  Too much debris.  Too many trees.  Even though he will be inside, I still felt the need to attach identification to my beloved.

Plenty of mane for this job.

The barn owners are very experienced horse people.  I am sure that everything will be fine, but I am still apprehensive.  What if the roof blows off the barn?  What if there is flooding?  What if we are suddenly told to evacuate?  The thought of my horse trapped in a barn is unbearable, but the thought of him loose in a hurricane is equally terrifying.  If they had to be turned loose, would my horse take care of his friend?  Would he know where to go until we could retrieve him?  I believe that he is an intelligent, sensible horse.  He is strong and fast. 
Harley vs. the Hurricane. 

 

Best wishes to all who will be weathering the storm this weekend.