It has been another tough week in regards to getting good ride time in- damn the winter weather! Shelley rode J on Tuesday and I was so happy when I got an email indicating that he did really well and tried very hard. That was so great to hear!
I couldn't ride on Wednesday due to sub-zero temperatures, so J got the day off, which wasn't too terrible as he had worked pretty hard for several days in a row. But then he got Thursday off too! I had been checking the weather temperature all day while at work and it didn't look good, but I wanted to get out to the barn to at least let him run around in the indoor and groom him, as I had a lesson scheduled for Friday morning and J hadn't been outside for a couple of days. So I went to the barn on Thursday night, donned in sweat pants, and found that the barn temperature was absolutely balmy- CRAP! So I gave him a good grooming and shook a lunge whip at him for a little bit in the indoor. Then I decided to hop on him bareback, with only his halter and lead rope. This has been done THREE times in his life (not kidding!) and he was a bit confused at first, but quickly got the idea. We walked for a bit and even did some lateral work!
So my lesson came this morning and I wasn't sure how J would feel, as he has been inside since Tuesday, with only one (real) ride and some turnout time in the indoor each day. I lunged him first to get him stretched out and moving and then Shelley got on him. She worked on getting him really solid on the outside rein- especially when going to the left, as he is very dependant on the left rein and doesn't want to go to the right rein. She commented that he wasn't as supple as he was on Tuesday, but that was understandable as he hasn't been worked or even turned outside since then. He eventually got more reliable and honest about his contact, although not without some protesting. J has MANY tricks in his bag, all with the goal of getting out of working correctly. Whether it be hanging on the left rein, throwing his haunches to the inside, slowing his tempo or lowering his poll into his little "hole" where he cannot be bothered, it is all to get out of working properly. So we addressed many of these issues today- first by making sure that my body position was correct and relaxed, secondly making sure that he kept up his tempo the entire time, then asking him to yield to my inside rein (whether it be using a slow, short "take" on the inside rein with a straight neck or using a bit of overflexion if was being especially resistant) and finally using my inside leg to push him to the outside rein, either doing an actual leg yield or capturing that energy with my outside leg and sending him straight forward. While doing this, he would typically want to slow his tempo or lower his head to a point that he was curling behind the contact and in his "hole". So my aids had to be quick, not allowing him to lean on the inside rein, keeping his hind legs quick and asking him to raise his poll if he got too "into" himself. The aids were super close together but never overlapping- which is much easier said then done!
So with all this work and effort, it was amazing because everything actually came together beautifully! I felt so connected to him and felt that I wasn't fighting my own body. He got more and more consistent and it was nothing short of fantastic! The canter that we produced felt like the best canter we have EVER done! It felt truly powerful but under complete control- such an adrenaline rush! Our most successful leg yields felt like he was truly dancing underneath me! I am addicted to this feeling and it gives me so much motivation to work hard this week and hopefully show Shelley some improvement in my next lesson next week!
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