Saturday was gorgeous, especially after Friday's rain. I did a fairly short ride where we just did walk/trot. He was stretching down nicely (even in all of the transitions). He was moving off of my leg fairly well. He stayed relaxed in our walk work. After about a half hour of Mort being a good pony I decided that was the perfect pre-lesson ride and got off. We had a bit of a spa day and I washed his legs and tail. I like to put up his tail in the winter to prevent the mud dreadlocks that he likes so much. Sorry pal.
Sunday was the second lesson with the new trainer. I was excited to show her how much more relaxed and reaching Mort was, and I was nervous that he wouldn't be or that we'd still be missing some of the big picture. He started off a bit slow in the walk, but we walked on a loose rein while I told her what we'd experimented with and where we were right now.
The first trot was his usual slow, shuffle that I allow for him to work out his stiffness. She told me to put him on the buckle and just ask for forward. I will continue to put him on the buckle during our first trot, but I'll probably still let him work into a more forward trot over a lap or two. I know that I feel stiff and sore when I start running, and with his front leg history I'm willing to give him that time. Other than that, I liked dropping him to the buckle and really trying to steer with my legs. I did some big figure eights and as we went along he got more forward for me.
After a short walk break she asked me to start picking up the contact. I need to be more aware about when to give and when to keep him. I kept letting myself give with the outside rein when he would push into the contact. After I got over that some we were trotting nicely forward both directions with him maintaining a decent contact. We did a little canter each direction. I need to ask for a bit more forward from him, especially in the beginning, so that it feels like he's really carrying me.
Another walk break and she wanted to work on accurate 20-meter circles and square corners for the show this weekend. Mort did really well when I was able to keep him on the outside rein. Inside leg to outside rein was definitely a theme of the lesson. I think I'd let it slide some from the last lesson since we've been working on stretch and relaxation and making sure I don't rely too much on the outside rein. Dressage is hard.
We did the same at the canter and his canter is still his best gait. She's excited to see where it can go in the future.
I think the best thing that happened during our lesson was that he got sticky in the walk tracking right. I liked that she was able to see what was happening and we were then able to discuss it. His stickiness is a huge source of concern for me. It's a relatively new (six months or so) issue and it's an issue that I'm uncertain how to address. Do I drop his workload down because he doesn't understand? Is he not physically able to do what I'm asking? Have I missed something in our training that's causing tension? Do I push him through it in a fair, but firm, way? How much attitude does he have to show for it to be something that I shouldn't push him through because it points to something more than a work ethic issue?
She said that it's most likely caused by the fact that in the last six months I've been asking him to step-up the work. It's that jump between first and second level. It starts to really get physically hard for the horse and that's why so many folks don't make the jump between first and second. The horse has to dig down and really use his hind end and develop self-carriage. Mort's sticky moments are him telling me that he doesn't really want to work that hard. So, essentially, I got to ask her all of my questions and tell her all of my concerns and she talked me down off the ledge of me thinking that I'm ruining my horse.
I was so, so glad she got to see his good and bad yesterday. She saw it and still felt that we were definitely on the right track. She thinks I need to push him through the sticky; he needs to know that getting fussy and leaning into my leg aren't the right answers. If that means a bit of a tap with the whip occasionally to back-up my leg, that's OK.
It wasn't all roses of course, as she also said that I need to not feed into it and try fixing it with my hands as that will never work. Just focus on a soft, steady outside rein and an inside rein that isn't crossing into his neck but quietly asking him to soften the jaw. Inside leg stays active at the girth and if he gets behind or leans into it he gets a tap with the whip.
So if we continue along the path of me working on better connection and clearer aids and a rounder topline, slowly but surely he should get over it. She thinks 2nd level should be there for us by spring, but all I'm focusing on right now are less sticky moments, more relaxed transitions, and a powerful hind end.
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