I'd make excuses if I cared just a little bit more but I don't. I started this blog to monitor Mort's progress over our time and training together. I should probably post more to get a better picture, but I find that running and riding win a lot more often than computer time. I honestly don't even know the last time I cracked open my laptop at home. It's been months and I have no regrets. Christmas shopping has forced me to get back onto the computer machine (because I am not a fan of regular shopping) so here I am again.
Mort had a month or three weeks off during the "I think his legs are worse than they are debacle". The following couple weeks we worked on getting back into some shape and mainly focused on relaxing. For Mort this meant a lot of long and low trot work and happy trail rides.
Once I started picking him back up, more often than not, he started getting a bit sassy (aka angry). We've done the pain thing that came up with no real reasons as to why he'd be angry. After a frustrating ride of trying to convince Mort that he actually had to carry himself I had two things I wanted to experiment with. First, I did a ride-swap with friend/trainer/barn owner. I wanted advice on what she felt in him and what she thought we should work on. She got to ride my turd-y Mort and I got to ride her sassy Ali.
She said two things that I think really stuck with me. First, stop letting him get away with stuff. I am 100% guilty of wanting to find the relaxation and happiness and he's 100% guilty of being a horse and taking advantage of that. Sometimes in training there will be tension; as long as it's fair and you're sure you aren't actually asking for too much it's the only way to progress. She is definitely not he first person to tell me this, nor will she be the last. It's a real struggle for me to know when to push.
Second thing she did almost immediately was some sitting trot. I had played with that a tiny bit before Mort's time off, but not much. She said it helped her get better control of him with her seat. The next day I gave it a go and noticed immediately that my seat would follow his body more often than my seat telling his body where to go. My bad. Luckily sitting the trot gives me much more seat control and I could start to remedy that. Hello moving off of my leg because my seat is enabling that to actually happen.
The other big thing that I wanted to try was some ulcer treatment. Overall I see him becoming a less sassy and happier horse even when called upon for work. Being a competition horse (and an OTTB) on an ulcer supplement sure isn't going to hurt him and it's an inexpensive way to ensure that his tummy feels good.
I've had two lessons with Tara since. We've also been participating in No-Stirrup November religiously so we've done a lot of sitting trot. He is moving off of my legs much better and definitely more consistently these days. His trot work is becoming more and more established. His canter work is slower to progress but I am seeing improvements. Right now we're working on adjust-ability and shoulder control. His transitions are still animated but I'm getting more that are round rather than hollow. I'll take some small improvements.
Mort and I dressage-ing (with puppy dog hands from me of course)
I'd love to get to a couple of clinics this winter and be ready to show in the spring. We'll see how it goes and how Mr. Mort wants to improve.
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