Experimenting

     Mort and I had a much better ride yesterday than we did Tuesday.  I gave Mort Monday off (because I was a lazy turd on Labor Day).  So Tuesday Mort and not only had a day off but it was also about 20 degrees cooler and quite breezy.  He was tense then I was tense because of him being tense.  I really struggled getting him to connect in the bridle which meant I really struggled with everything.  I don't think I got an easy left bend the whole ride.  I was frustrated and Mort was tense; it was not a recipe for success.

     Wednesdays are Mort's scheduled day off because I like at least one weekday where I can just go home after work and fit in a longer run.  That meant that last night was going to be another ride after a day off.  I decided to start experimenting with his rides after a day off.  He doesn't really get explosive, but he does get a tense back which makes everything else SO MUCH HARDER.  It's actually really similar to how he can get at shows so it's something that I need to figure out.

     Last night I experimented with spurs to see if I could do a ton of bend and counter-bend in our warm-up to unlock him.  With the spurs I'm able to really "ask, tell, demand".  When I tap my leg with the dressage whip it sometimes causes him tension over his topline so it's not a good solution when he's already stiff as a board.  I did use the spurs a few times throughout the ride, and it really seemed to work well.  Mort started out tense, but he worked out of it fairly quickly and we had a nice ride.  I made sure that he had a few stretchy trot moments throughout the ride and I kept it fairly short and sweet.  I want him to know that if he comes back to me from being stiff and tense that he'll get rewarded with stretches and short rides.  This isn't the first time that I've used my spurs on Mort, but it was the first time after a day off and I think I'll do it again.

     I know it's not the nicest part of training but sometimes the pony does need to listen.  If I've gone through the checklist and I know that he can physically do what I am asking and understands what I'm asking, then I "demand" that he does it.  I'd much rather make one or two good corrections than nag, nag, nag forever until he becomes dead to my leg.  I'll also say that Mort was moving off of calf pressure wonderfully for the majority of the rest of the ride.  It's so much nicer to use a soft aid instead of squeezing so tightly with my leg trying to get a response.  It makes my position better, which makes me more effective, which makes whatever I'm asking him to do easier.

     Tonight I have no real plans.  I may hop on bareback or I may throw a saddle on and work on an item or two from the First level tests.  We will spend some time wandering around the pasture because someone lost his fly mask (again).

P.S. Because it's the internet and someone may read this and think I'm an awful and abusive human:  I use soft roller ball spurs.  I also have enough leg control to know how to keep them off of his sides when they are not needed.  I had them on the whole ride and used them maybe three or four times.  I am NOT a very demanding rider--ask literally anyone who has given me a lesson because I'm always told to ask for more from my horse.