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Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Linear is for Losers or "How My Lesson Went"


hey look! a stretch!
It was pointed out to me that some people think Courage is perfect because I only ever post nice pictures of him. (No one thinks I'm perfect because LOL you've all seen pics of me.)

Regardless. He isn't. He's a cool horse with a great brain, a ton of talent, and stubborn streak, and sometimes things don't go according to plan. You saw the outtakes yesterday, so here's the story behind them.

Courage ran for 6+ years as a successful racehorse. He's been off the track a little over a year and a half, and the process of changing his body from racehorse to sporthorse is a long, ongoing, and sometimes painful thing.

So I had him adjusted before his dressage clinic, and then proceeded to have two spectacular rides, a day off, and then possibly the best ride I've ever had on him.

And then he was a little wonky.

And then he was a little more wonky in our jump lesson. (Remember that weird "can't turn right thing" before the jumps? That is weird.)

just fine
So we warmed up ok for our dressage lesson. It wasn't bad. It just wasn't very good.

We worked on some stuff with my position and effectiveness and that was all fine and dandy. Courage felt... fine...

I mean, he wasn't bad by any stretch. He just wasn't really applying himself or making big improvements.

so focused
We did left lead canter and I actually had some really nice moments. Not spectacular or amazing, but soft and rideable and engaged. It's amazing what happens when I break up the tension and use my body properly, right?

Ya know.

Courage was being good. I was happy with him.

And then we "tried" to go right.

The quotes might be more accurate if I put them like this: and then we tried to go "right".

so dramatic
Regardless. Courage pretty much lost his good lil' mind to the right at the trot. He blew through my aids and galloped sideways at the fence and nearly trampled our intrepid photographer (who had to climb the fence to get out of the way).

I rode through it a few times, but I wasn't really getting anywhere other than to the fence sideways and in a hurry, which has actually never been a goal of mine.

So I asked C to get on. I probably win "least favorite client of the week". Oh well.


When he's good, he's really good
C rode through the hijinks and worked on some aids while Courage continued to escalate to levels I hadn't seen from him before.

And then C stopped and told me that to her, it felt like a pain thing.

Which makes sense because 1) while Courage can be an asshole, he's not that committed to the thug life and 2) given all his recent work changes, body-soreness, stuck spots, and pain are part of the transition.

I finished the lesson with 2 (count 'em) successful circles to the right at the walk and trot and promptly made an appointment with Courage's main bodywork person.

We'll be back at 'em, but not until after the appointment. Apparently.

27 comments:

  1. Don't forget, too, that you've been working hard at getting back to things you haven't worked on in a long while. You guys just hit some highs, so he's bound to be a little sore and tight in places.

    Don't despair, though. Pig and I went the entire summer of 2014 unable to turn left without histrionics. Remember that? I do. It was totally not awesome. We eventually got through it. Whether it was a pain issue or a stubbornness issue, I dunno. Either way, now our problem is turning right. That's training horses.

    (Speaking of being sore and tight, I just ran an epic weekend of distance for the first time in a long time. My back. My hips. My feet. They complain. I bet I would present with a pain issue if put back to work today!)

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  2. Estella is the same way. She does everything to the left just fine and when I "try" to go ride it turns into a full out bronco ride. We recently discovered arthritis in her left hock and I believe that to be the cause, so I definitely understand! I hope you get it worked out with the adjustments! :)

    And your good and bad pictures are all awesome :). He looks so good when he is good and makes for awesome memes when he isn't ;).

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  3. "He's not that committed to the thug life." LOLZ.

    Sorry C-rage is in pain and things aren't "right" for him, but keeping my fingers crossed that some bodywork does the trick!

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  4. "I wasn't really getting anywhere other than to the fence sideways and in a hurry, which has actually never been a goal of mine" <-- New favorite quote.

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  5. Bodywork can do amazing things for the ponies!

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  6. That sucks about the lesson, but it's good that you've got a good bodyworker and are listening to what C-rage is trying to tell you!

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  7. Always good to give the horse the benefit of the doubt- so often bad behavior is linked to pain. Hopefully your bodywork will make all the difference!

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  8. I giggled at thug life. Good thing to listen to your pony and get all things sorted out first though!

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  9. Curious - what do you mean by bodyworker? Is that a chiropractor? Or a massage therapist? Or do you use both? How often?

    Would love to know for my own education!

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    1. That is an excellent question that I can't really answer. I've never hired a massage therapist as such. I used to use a chiropractor and LOOOOOOOVED him, but the bastard retired on me and lives out of state.

      So the current practitioner does some similar things to the chiropractor and some things like massage and I don't really know how to label it, so I just say bodywork.

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  10. bummer about the lesson, and while it's never good to have a 'pain thing' - maybe it's better than the alternative of previously unrealized dedication to the thug life?? hopefully his body guy can work it out for him and get those new muscles feeling gooood :)

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  11. When you said thug life, I immediately pictured Big Papa in some gold chainz, sun glasses and a silver tooth...

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  12. Hopefully he'll be better in no time! Sometimes these guys just need a little bit of rest.

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  13. You know, in my February lesson Tucker felt really "stuck" to the left, like he just didn't want to use himself and was holding himself really tight through his ribcage. We sort of stopped short of a full lesson as well. I gave him a week off and had him adjusted and then brought him slowly back over the following two weeks. Sometimes they just need that. I hope the bodywork helps!

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  14. Idk he seems pretty into the thug life if you ask me. The cookie monster bonnet says it all

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  15. So many good quotes here, fingers crossed the bodywork does the job, I would bet money it does. Also time to make a thug courage picture...I'm on it!

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  16. http://windycitizensports.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/ghetto-cookie-monster.jpg?w=454&h=367 <-- sometimes this is how I imagine Courage!

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    1. ROFLAMO

      Yeah that picture is going to make an appearance on the blog now. You have been warned.

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  17. Charlie has been doing a similar thing as I try to get him back into work after having the winter off. To the left he's nice and soft and he stretches, but when I turn right he locks up, grabs the bit and (occasionally) even tries to bite my foot. He's always had something kinda wonky in his right side, and right now I think he's just tighter than normal because of having time off of work. My plan is lots of stretches and turns in each direction over the next several rides to hopefully loosen whatever's going on there, and if that doesn't work then it's time to call the chiro.

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  18. Bodywork can make a HUGE difference!!! Good luck!

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  19. Just loved those pics from yesterday, sounds like it wasn't quite as dramatic as it looked, but glad you have a plan =)
    Loled at thug life and moving towards fence non-goal hahah

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  20. Loosening him up more in between bringing him together will definitely help with the added bodywork! You guys have come so far! It'll only get better and better from here :)

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  21. I'm sure your body worker will get him all straightened out! Good on you for not pushing the issue until your appointment!

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  22. It sure sounds more like something is bothering him a bit rather than him just being bad. I hope it all gets sorted out with the body work and that he is back to his rockin' self soon.

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  23. I haven't commented before, but I really enjoyed your attitude in this post! A healthy dose of humor... Also, I admire that you know when to ask for a second "opinion" in the way of your trainer getting on. I think sometimes as the primary rider it's easy to just get frustrated when you are expecting a different outcome and can overlook the pain issue. The right thing to do is back down and go to something you know you can get right, but sometimes it is hard to see that when all you can think about is how great you both did a week ago! Anyway, kudos to doing such a wonderful job re-training Courage. You are and will be a fabulous pair!

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  24. Sometimes after some new and good work they need a few days to recover, bet he feels right as rein (hehe) in no time.

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