Dressage-ing

For the last couple of weeks, I have been starting to feel hints of where Mort and I were before all of our time off this winter. He's pushing from behind and getting more and more consistent about connecting up front and looking for me. I can feel him getting stronger and settling back into our training. (Yay!) So, on Sunday and Monday I decided to ask him for more and see how he handled everything. We touched on lifting and some collection. We did bend/counter-bend in canter (and trot). I asked for walk/trot and trot/halt/trot transitions on a figure eight. We worked on rapid walk/trot transitions every four or five strides. I played with some shoulder-in both within trot and within the transitions. For most of it, he was mediocre on the first try but rapidly improved with the following tries. I only did each of these things a handful of times before I was satisfied and moved on. I didn't want to fry his brain, nor did I want to fry his body. I would touch on something and move on as soon as I felt it connect. I'm so glad that he's coming back to where we were. I'm glad that I've got an instructor that makes me go back to basics when things fall apart instead of trying to put a band-aid on our issues. I'm glad that Mort can take a joke.* And I'm glad that everything that we had is still in there somewhere. Mort is the perfect horse for me to learn how to train. He's forgiving and willing to try. But he's also lazy and won't fake it for me if I'm not doing what I'm supposed to. Since he had two harder days in a row, yesterday was much lower key. He was on the buckle until well into our trot work. He's so happy to stretch down and do our big loopy figure eights just listening to my legs and seat to turn. We spent a lot of time taking breaks at the walk. I did eventually pick up some light contact but didn't ask him for anything more than a training level frame. I touched on leg yields at the walk just to keep him even between my legs. And I did take time to pick him up and let him down at the walk as I always do. But the ride was short, easy, and pretty fun. It's amazing how much I'm learning with Mort. He's so sensitive to how I'm holding my body that he's training me to be a much better rider. I'm getting more zen and patient about my riding, which is a huge feat considering my need to control and plan everything. Retraining Mort is probably one of the most challenging things that I've ever done, but most days I'm just out there having a blast and soaking in how awesome my horse is. *I am the joke

Another Day in Paradise

Last night was a good one. Mort stood really well for our grooming and tacking. I only had to back him once at the beginning when I went to brush around his ears. He stayed put for other horses coming in and out. He stayed put for me putting on my boots in the tack room. He's actually a lot better at standing for grooming while ground tied than he ever was cross tied.

We headed out to ride before everyone else was ready. I like the mix of riding alone and with people. I don't have to worry about traffic in our warm-up but we have to work on Mort riding with his friends and remaining focused on me. The ride itself was very similar to the rides we've been putting in lately.

We started off on a loose rein walk. After a few laps of that I started adding in some inside rein suppleness and turning from my seat. We then moved into trot with the same concepts. I can definitely tell that he's coming back. I'm getting more and more glimpses of where we were before the winter. He's starting to be able to hold connection longer and stay balanced through turns and changes of direction while keeping a forward trot. He still sometimes wants to pitter out but all it takes is a little squeeze from my calves and he'll maintain his power.

We played with canter a little. I've been doing one-loops from my seat with just a following hand--only suppling if he gets really upside-down or twisted. Most of the time I don't have to do much as he'll straighten out or bend pretty well with just my seat and legs. We can circle big and small and stay straight on the long sides with minimal interference from me. My goal with his canter is just to not mess it up too much and let the real work start after another lesson or two when we get some new homework.

After a while, the other ladies at the barn joined me in the arena. Mort got a little distracted and I had to watch out for traffic. The good thing about that is that it forces me to look up. I have always had the bad habit of looking down even though I don't really need to. When I was looking up, I still knew exactly what he was doing underneath me. I could feel if he was connected or crooked or coming above the bit. And I was getting better connection than when I was looking down. Funny how not having your upper body tipped forward will help your horse.

After some more trot work and circles and figure eights where Mort was really trying for me and looking for the contact I called it quits. Last night's ride was a bit longer and I asked for a bit more than the previous and he responded by giving me that bit more. We ended with some really lovely walk work. He was reaching into the contact and staying forward in spite of me playing with some of our lateral work. Such a good boy.

We ended the day with me finishing up pulling his mane--which he also stood for better than normal. I think he liked that I broke it up into two sessions. I think our ground work probably helped too. I know that it helped us get on the trailer last night! A gal at the barn has hooked up her trailer for us three times now and Mort has gotten more confident each session. Last night he got on four times for me. Such a good boy. This trailer is similar to mine but I'm still really happy with him for taking to the new trailer so quickly.

I'm hoping we can have several more sessions with it over the next few weeks to really cement in the fact that it's not a scary place. Mort and I have a clinic the 11-12th of May so I'll have my trailer out before that to remind him that it's not scary either. We're well on our way of getting him confident on two of the three trailers that were on my list of goals for the year.

A Matter of Trust

Mort was good for me in our training work on Friday and yesterday. I wanted to reward him by keeping the training part short but that left me wanting to still work on some fitness. Back when we had easy access to trails, I would have adventured with him on those (hopefully we can get a loop established on our property someday). But now we're near town and I'm not adventuring on a major road. So instead, I let him have a hand gallop.

We didn't go for all that long and he probably didn't gain all that much fitness. But it gets his heart rate and breathing up and it puts a pep in his step. It's fun for both of us. I do of course end the ride with lots of walking to make sure that he doesn't revert to a total racehorse.

But the point of this post isn't to talk about our training, but our trust.

For the first 6-8 months of our relationship, I didn't trust Mort. We didn't know each other and he was tense and spooky. He wasn't bad, but we were both new to each other and he was in the totally different world of being a sporthorse versus a racehorse. So we slowly worked our way toward trusting each other. We started to explore trails. He started to enjoy being on a loose rein. He got a little self-confidence and our confidence in each other grew.

Fast forward a couple years and he was a horse I'd trust with almost anyone. We'd traveled to clinics and shows where he was a champ. Steven would graze him while I cleaned stalls or hose him while I changed out of show clothes. I let my sister ride him, which was her first time on a horse in over a decade. She was nervous at first but quickly realized that he was a horse who wasn't going to do something stupid out of the blue. I could go on vacation for a week and hop on him bareback for a hack along the gravel road.

We knew each other and had confidence that we were both there to take care of each other.

Then from 2.5 years to 3.5 years Mort and I were at a barn that was close to home but eventually showed that it wasn't a good fit for us. The trust that we had slowly got chipped away.

I didn't notice it at first. I would still hop on him after a day off without trepidation. In my mind he was still the easy-going horse. All horses spook sometimes. All horses have bad days. All horses have issues. He was still my Mort.

The incidences were infrequent at first. Maybe the barn owner had a hard time with leading him outside and he got pushy. He pulled back in the cross ties and broke a halter…and then another and another. I stopped tying him in the wash rack because he'd more often than not be nervous. I stopped riding him bareback without a second thought…then I basically stopped riding bareback all together. I started getting nervous if he'd had more than one day off from riding. He stopped only being pushy with the barn owner and started being pushy with me. I would rarely start a ride on a loose rein.

It's so obvious now that we should have never gone to that barn. But in spite of all of the red flags that I've just admitted to, there were still so many good days where we'd walk the gravel roads and the pasture behind the arena with confidence. It wasn't immediate, but I did see it before I did anything about it. I didn't want to admit to myself that Mort wasn't the same. The barn was close to home and they weren't doing anything glaringly wrong to cause Mort's behavior. When I finally started to realize it wasn't the best for Mort I thought we could wait until he moved to our property. That was selfish and I deeply regret it.

It's been almost exactly two months since I've moved Mort and it feels like a lifetime. I asked Mort to hand gallop on Friday without a second thought. I not only trusted that he would take care of us, but that it would be fun. I don't find myself stressing out when he's had a day off (or a week when the weather was still horrible). I don't keep myself awake at night worrying about his mental health or whether he's being pushy to the barn owner. I've ridden him bareback again and all of our rides start on a loose rein walk.

Just like with losing our trust, I didn't fully notice it being built back up again. For some reason, the desire to go fast on him again helped click it into place. I don't think we're back to 100% from where we were; there are a few scars that will take a little longer to heal. But I do trust my horse again and in trusting him again, only now do I realize how much that I didn't trust him before. I trust him and I trust that we'll continue on the path toward where we were--and beyond.

It was hard for me to write this post. Putting it down here is the first time I'm going to admit it to anyone other than myself. I don't blame the barn, and I definitely blame myself. We live and learn and thankfully Mort is forgiving.

Working on Our Homework

I came back from my quick vacation to Wellington feeling motivated and refreshed, so I've got a bit of a game plan heading into summer. Mort and I are going to a clinic the second weekend of May. This means that we've got to be back in shape and working together by then. It also means buddy boy has to be more reliable about trailering. So most of my game plan involves those two things.

In our last lesson a couple weeks ago Mort was so behind my leg that my instructor basically told me that we should go back and start from scratch. He was out of shape and weak behind so he couldn't carry himself properly. I had been letting him be lazy the last few months because I thought it was better than an explosive alternative, so he also developed a bit of an issue about being forward. I'm glad that she has seen us on our good days because I would have been even more embarrassed if the Mort she saw was the only example she had of us.

She also worked with him in-hand a bit to see what our trailering issues were. He basically didn't respect her space or trust her as someone who could help him. He's also just plain scared of the trailer. So we got a lot of homework there as well.

The next two rides after that lesson were forward boot camp. If he even thought about getting behind my leg, I'd follow up with a tap from the whip. It didn't take long before Mort remembered how to move forward with me quietly asking. I think I smacked him twice in ride one and just had to wave the whip once in ride two.

The next couple rides addressed him ignoring the sideways portion of my leg. I put on a pair of spurs for back-up. In between the focusing on forward, I'd occasionally ask for a step sideways. I'd start by asking with my calf followed by the spur if he didn't listen. This one is harder for him mentally and physically, so it's going to be a slower process than re-installing forward. I'm just trying to be very specific when I ask so that there is no confusion. I double check how I'm sitting and where I'm placing my legs. I make sure that I'm not holding with my hands, and I just ask for a simple step off my leg.

The first ride just involved me asking him to move a few times each direction--two of those times were at the halt to really keep things simple in his head. The second ride involved checking to make sure he remembered moving a single step sideways then evolved into a few short leg yields each direction at the walk. He was doing well, so I asked for a single step sideways at the trot a time or two as well.

After the first ride after my lesson I started to quietly ask for suppleness again as well. At first I started with just one rein and it would evolve into both reins as he responded positively. I'm trying to be really consistent with keeping my hands on either side of his withers. I don't want to allow myself to do too much of an opening rein and I definitely don't want to allow myself to get sucked into the indirect rein trap. He has been giving me really nice moments of suppleness and connection, especially tracking right.

Our last ride was with the whole group at the barn. As I've discussed before, Mort is easily distracted when his friends are out there. So it was a more simple ride. He was still very forward but we didn't have much else. So, instead of worrying that everyone else was watching, I just worked with what I had. I asked for forward and I'd ask for suppleness. He didn't want to give it to me as he had been in our solo rides. That's OK. We did several short, loose rein walk breaks. I finally got some decent suppleness doing some figure eights at the trot. I stopped. I asked for a single step sideways at the walk and we just walked around on the loose rein until he was cooled off.

I'm glad that I didn't get sucked into trying to pull him back down into reality. I'm glad that I was ok with dropping the sideways back down because that's really hard for me mentally. I used the figure eights and turning to work on him wanting to counter-bend and go toward his friends. He kept his forward and we ended well.

I read a quote from Denny Emerson this past week that really resonated with me. It basically broke down that in training, you don't feel a lot of success in any particular ride. You find a good place to stop long before it becomes drilling. But eventually, all of these non-eventful rides will add up to success--months and years down the road. You don't feel it day-to-day but you see it looking back at where you've come from. I'm hoping to keep this in mind if I start to want to drill and get greedy asking for "one more time".

So this is where Mort and I are in our riding right now. It'll come back quickly since it's all in there and I can still feel it sometimes. I'm sure I could be asking for more now that I've got the forward back, but I don't want to get stuck in the same trap as we got stuck in this winter. His fitness has to be established first so that it's fair to ask him for more.

Our in-hand homework is as follows:

He needs to move off pressure

If I put a finger to his neck I want his whole body to step sideways

If I put a finger behind his girth area I want his hind end to move sideways

He needs to not get into my space

He gets backed up if he crowds me

He needs to focus on me as a "leader"

We're working on standing in the aisle for grooming and tacking without being tied

He has to focus on me all the time and gets moved back into place if he steps forward

He needs to walk forward toward me when asked

I stand in front of him at the end of the lead rope and ask him to step forward toward me

If he steps forward before I ask, he gets backed up a step

I'm being very specific about how I handle him. We spend at least 10-15 minutes every time I'm out there working on our homework by the trailer. Saturday we hooked it up and I practiced asking him to move his body toward it. We worked on getting him to step toward me while I was standing on it. He put his front feet on several times and I would ask for a step backward, then a step forward. That was fairly successful. He does get treats occasionally while we work on the ground--particularly for stepping to me when asked.

He definitely understands what I want on the ground now. He's very good at the different tasks. I don't know that he sees me as a "leader" but he's at least thinking about me a little more. I'm hoping to continue to do the forward and back commands on the trailer a lot over the next few weeks before our clinic. Hopefully him focusing on the exercise will help us get on the trailer.