Bodies in Space

Ms. Zoebird is a baby mare and her middle name is not grace.

middle name might be "Effort" tho

And yeah, I want her to be my all-around horse, which means I want to jump her eventually.

At four (and a young four at that), I do not want her to jump high or often. It's too much stress for developing joints. Plus, she's butt high right now and as anyone who went through a growth spurt ever can attest (that's all of you except Leah?), changing bodies are murder on balance and body awareness.

that wither lift tho

I talk about this ad nauseum in person too--essentially, I'm completely changing up the little mare's routine and asking her to using her "carrying and pushing" muscles. If you've ever been a fatass (me) and then tried to get in shape (also me), you'll know that  building muscle is f@&%*** painful and takes a long ass time.

So not only is she in an awkward growth spurt, but the potential to make her sore with repetitive exercises she's not fit for (riding) is very high.

That's why we mix it up. This week, I had a fantastic ride with our BEST TROT WORK EVER.

baby mare very tired now

But see, after a hard riding day with lots of new material, it's time to do something else and let her "carrying" muscles have a break.

Here are some facts about Zoe:

1) she thinks jumping is FUN

1) she needs a little help with understanding where her body is in space sometimes

1) she needs a groundwork tune up maybe once a week to make sure she's tuned up

Did anyone else just hear "CAVALETTI DAY"? Cuz I did. 

If you're keeping track, yes I did just totally justify spending a day goofing off with my baby mare as a training day.

I know I say this every day and most of you probably want to punch me in my stupidly happy face, but this little lady is just so much fun. She shows up every day, she tries her hardest, and I can literally watch her learn. I'm definitely laughing at past-SB for thinking she needed a horse with more talent or whatever. Current-SB enjoys going to the barn every single day and P.S. is making a ton more progress than ever before.

PS saying PS reminded me that PS is making custom sized bridles now. Anyone with a money tree want to cough up $ so Zoe can have one? Possibly Zoe's mother has to quit buying shit for a while. 

Important Zoebird Updates!

I know you're all like WHATS ZOEBIRD DOING PRECIOUS.

well we're stupidly cute together

Answer: she is featuring in our fantastic new header!! I'd totally throw a blog link to my header person, but she doesn't really blog. Needless to say, she's super talented and no I'm not sharing (but yes she might make you a header for money if you ask real nice and use paypal).

Lots going on in Ms. Zoebird's world! She's settled into the barn routine like a champion, including grazing with her mini me, smoozing all the other boarders, and learning to eat cookies.

long manes, curly tails

She had her first ride this past weekend! I'm so lucky to be on site with a trainer who really gets baby horses and she has a fantastic assistant who has a really great feel for the young ones.

two thumbs up!

ZB was fantastic! Completely relaxed about the whole thing, with not a twitched ear or quick step. They're taking things nice and slow and I'm really excited about it.

While I definitely farm out the backing process, I'm a ground work pro. I pulled out a spray bottle when Zoebird first showed up and it was definitely not her idea of a good time at that point.

everything is better with a smooshy nose on it

I really find this stuff fascinating--Zo has a fabulous brain and she's a real smart lady, but she has to understand something before she's ok with it. I'm sure I looked like a crazy person walking around the round pen, spritzing liberally while she followed me, but once she figured out it wouldn't bite her, she let me spray it in her mane. We're doing a series of slow, simple sessions in a halter, but I'm confident she'll be completely over it in short order.

ooooo look fancy!

Another fun thing we've been working on is cantering on the lunge line--it's something Zoebird was asked not to do for her driving training. I don't want to get after her about it, but she seems pretty comfortable working with me now. On Sunday, we worked on the "canter now" idea, even if she crossfired or only had a few strides before losing her balance.

houston, we have canter!

Yesterday she actually seemed pretty solid on the concept and moved to doing it saddled in the big arena LIKE A CHAMPION OF CANTERING.

These maybe don't sound like huge accomplishments, but to me they're super exciting. I dropped Zoe into a whole new world with a completely different set of expectations and languages and she's adapting like she was born to be a little sporthorse. She meets me at the front of the stall, she makes my heart go pitter pat, and she's exactly what I wanted.

Happy two weeks, little one.

New Adventures, Part the Second

Courage is a challenge, plain and simple.

but a pretty one

There are a lot of things that are consistent with him though. He learns much better from the ground than in the saddle. He needs me to be calm. He's a thinking horse, so if a concept is introduced clearly and then he gets to think about it, he will be better the next time. He will try for me, but the trying frequently looks like tension instead of Valegro (dammit).

He's also a horse who is VERY tight in his back.

So how do I mechanically explain to him from the ground that I need him to give through his entire topline?

I started by putting him on the lunge in his vienna reins on a 5m(ish) circle. I asked him to come forward and give to the bit at the same time in the walk.

surcingles for lazy days

For my specific horse and his specific conformation, this means AT LEAST tracking at the walk and trot with his neck actively reaching down and his poll comfortably below his withers. 

I really like the lunge line for this stuff--horses learn from the release of pressure, and it lets me release the instant he gets something right. I keep him in vienna reins to limit his range of "leaving" responses. We work in the indoor to limit distractions. Our first session was short and just w/t. 

SEXEH

 Our next session built on the same concepts. Ask him to step up underneath himself on the small circle and stretch down to the bit. The MOMENT he gave me that, I released several feet of line and let him move out to a bigger circle at whatever speed he wanted. Frequently, he'd slow down and think about it vs shooting off.

The picture above shows exactly what I'm trying to achieve--hips lowered, bigger angle in his hind legs than his front, soft through his entire topline. It's just a stride, but this is a weight lifting exercise and he needs time to understand the concept, then more time to get stronger.

ass

 But of course, these things are never easy. After two sessions of like HELLZ YEAH I AM THE BEST TRAINER EVAR, Courage regressed. His go-to evasion is to bend out and push his hips in on a circle, which is essentially just leaning in and giving me no options.

He's not being naughty. He just found a response that I couldn't/didn't correct and since that meant there wasn't pressure, it must be right. I mean. It's the path of least resistance.

not always the path he chooses

Fortunately, I've done pretty extensive ground work with him and have a range of tools available. The next time we addressed the problem, I brought my trusty $9 knock-off carrot stick. Then we did an exercise I learned from watching Tik Manyard teach last year--put the top of the stick on the horse's shoulder and ask them to walk a small circle with the stick as a neutral cue.

This is tricky with Courage. I don't lunge him with a whip because to this point, whips haven't added to the conversation in a constructive way. He's sort of okay with the stick, but likes to overreact to new things to see what happens.

But.

I have an impossible time capturing good media of ground work, so you get this sub-par picture.

 After some theatrics (far less than expected, actually), Courage was ON IT. We started in the walk, with the stick passive on his shoulder. I was careful with my body language--my line of direction stayed slightly in front of him and I kept stepping forward, not back to encourage him to go forward.

First, he got a "stop and take a break" full release for walking calmly with the stick on his shoulder.

Next, he got a full stop and break release for putting his head down while walking.

Then it got tricky--he was tentative about the whole stick thing, so he REALLY didn't want to give through his topline, which he has to do to use his back end correctly. I switched to taking pressure off/giving him a slightly bigger circle to reward the release of putting his head down.

It took a while, but he started to give me the same stretch and engagement in the walk that I had been getting the week before, but now less the "throw shoulder in and speed around" response.

champion genius

Trotting was the next puzzle--I wanted him on a slightly bigger circle but I didn't want to chase him.

However. He's sensitive and the concept was starting to make sense. I was able to put him on more of an 8-10m circle and just point the stick at his shoulder to keep it out. That also transferred well to pointing at his hips to ask him to move them out.

And when we switched to the other side, it was even easier.

That was our entire session for the day. I immediately dropped the stick, pulled the vienna reins, and loosened his girth.

pictured: a different day

This works for him not because I am a ground work goddess, but because I've slowly built it up, piece by piece. A couple times a month, we take a fun day and do simple ground work in a rope halter. He has clear, consistent boundaries and he understands what I'm asking. I try to only add one new skill at a time. It's never about getting after him or wearing him out--it's a way for us to work together and get on the same page.

fanceh

Sometimes we do cool stuff like sending him over jumps. Lately, I've been working more on the push him away/pull him back thing to see if maybe it will help his tendency to be hard to catch.

It may. It may not.

I do like how enthusiastically he participates when he understands what I'm asking. I'm curious to see where this takes us.

And let's be real. I love the challenge.

Cross Training the Dressage Horse

One thing I'm being very conscious of with Courage right now is variety--if he has a solid dressage day, I try very hard not to repeat the same thing the next day. I also don't always feel like riding (or wearing pants), so we find stuff to mix it up with. Toodling. Spa day. Ground work.

Courage is a horse that learns really well from the ground. Now that he's pretty comfortable going W/T/C/ plus halt and back off body cues in the halter, we're started adding a few things. One of them is ground poles--asking Courage to think and place each foot without anxiety or rushing. Some enterprising boarder has a mess of poles set up in the top of the outdoor, so once or twice a week I send Courage through them (from the ground, in a halter, at a walk) and if he calmly walks through, we just go on to something else. With a bit of creativity and a lot of walking, he's even gone successfully over raised cavaletti and started to be ok with it.

Another thing I've added is something Tik talked about when I audited his clinic--creating a vacuum in space essentially to "pull" Courage towards me. I can send him away just fine. Now I want him to come back. 

Courage, with his typical "I'm-the-best-at-this-watch-me", has embraced the concept and it's completely adorable. 

A post shared by Aimee Towell (@sprinklerbandits) on Mar 12, 2017 at 4:26pm PDT

Oh, and the video shows something else we've added back in--jumping.

I'm really enjoying breaking everything down to it's littlest parts and attempting to rebuild it, piece by piece.

Poles caused anxiety and rushing, so we just occasionally throw them in until he understands the question and is comfortable.

Now it's a jump. Because of the groundwork principles that are now in place, I can send him over the jump, and then take a break between each effort and have him come to me for scratches. The jump is a "trick", something he can show off and be the best at, without creating more anxiety.

Courage has always had a stylish, snappy front end, but then his back end. leaves a lot to be desired. It's not really conformational. I mean, it is in that he's short-backed and probably doesn't have the scope for HUGE spreads (think Grand Prix), but it shouldn't be an issue for him at the 3'-3'6"ish level.

really not worried about his scope

I do think part of his problem was his inability to step up underneath himself at the canter and be adjustable, which we've been addressing both on the lunge and now under saddle. He's made HUGE strides.

note inside hind now ahead of parallel with outside fore

So now we've fixed his canter, reduced his anxiety, and made jumping fun (on the line, from the ground).

But how do I show him how to use his back end? If this is going to pan out for him, he needs to not land on all four feet simultaneously, because that is no fun for anyone.

Lest it sound like we're drilling this--we're not. Once a week (or less), I throw him on the line in the halter and we just play a little. And again--Courage is a dressage horse now. I really don't think he wants to be a jumper, BUT this is another way to problem solve and address his back end without drilling dressage concepts over and over. Same principles, different medium.

And I think we've finally had a breakthrough.

demolished jump but HELLZ YEAH BACK END

Courage has always been a very careful jumper, so when he nailed this vertical with his front end, he jumped the hell out of it behind to stay clear. It's a good plan. It's very safe.

And it's the first time EVER I have seen him use his back end like a jumper instead of just sort of dragging it along awkwardly.

What's more, if you watch the video, you can see that while his next few attempts were awkward, he maintained some of that hind end motion.


(Notice: most of my jump media is off the left lead. That is mostly because I'm right handed and trying to lunge, video, keep the horse in the frame, and aim him at the jump with only two hands is wicked difficult.)

In case you're a video-hating curmudgeon (me), here's a still shot:

no demolishing needed

I'm fascinated. Utterly fascinated. Can I continue to teach Courage how to use his body in such a way that jumping under saddle is a potential future option that he would actually enjoy? I don't know. Maybe. The intellectual exercise alone is enough to keep me on track.

What is the compelling factor here? Was it hitting the jump? Is it jumping bare-legged? Is it a combination of learning to use his body and enjoy his job that's allowing him to work through more comfortable ways to do things? Is it just a one-off fluke?

I don't know.

I mean, riding Courage over a jump is not on my immediate radar--some days I'm still not trotting and cantering is definitely a special occasion at this point. Courage seems pretty happy as a dressage horse and I don't think any of this will change that.

There is no wrong answer here-if Courage never jumps with a rider again, I'm no worse off. I don't have expectations or plans. I'm just enjoying the process of puzzling him out, and as long as we're both having fun, what's the harm?

Building a Canter: Back in the Saddle

Back in January, I talked about how I was working to build a canter for Courage. It was all on the lunge line, because I wasn't cleared to ride.

If you remember the post, I started working towards creating good moments in the canter itself first.

I'm now back in the saddle (if not riding well) (SOB), and I was fascinated to see how all the lunging would turn out. Our first intentional canter was last Sunday. It wasn't brilliant, but it was quiet and obedient and check out this canter moment:

#perchypotato

Interesting similarity there, wouldn't you say?

Next in the lunging progression was to get the transition into canter more balanced and back-to-front, which took weeks of training to get to and then even more time of careful, thoughtful training to solidify.

it's actually gotten better but screenshotting lunging video makes me want to gouge my own eyes out

Of course, this isn't a perfect 1:1 ratio we're talking about here--I was able to control a lot more variables from the ground and if Courage had some "moments", whatever, my feet were on solid ground. Under saddle, I'm leery of "moments" because they make my body mad. Oh and I can't ride for shit. And get tired in like 4 minutes.

But. In my lesson this week, Courage apparently decided to discard the "be perfect and take care of mom" card and throw the "right lead is haaaaaard" card in the mix instead.

um hellooooooo have we met?

There was definitely no sitting down to play dressage queens and lots and lots and lots of my trainer saying "give. don't brace. give. forward. give." while Courage remembered that cantering right is something he actually can do, thought it's admittedly hella hard with a giant, off-balance #perchypotato inhibiting him.

BUT THAT TRANSITION AMIRIGHT

So we had a lot of this in between:

air time!

giant Courage buck!

And it was good, because I do know that right lead is hard for him so I need to not make it harder by bracing my knees and holding with my hands. Also it was fascinating to ride through in draw reins vs the standing martingale--in the standing, I'd grab the neck strap and get super braced in my shoulders and way too involved with my upper body. With the draw reins, I know he can't 100% flip himself inside out and blast off, plus I have nothing to grab, which means I kinda have to listen to my trainer.

Apparently she has some good ideas, too. Weird.

Anyways. I never actually sat down on him because that was too much pressure for his brain that day (plus who are we kidding I suck at riding the canter right now), but after finally making my body do what trainer was suggesting, we ended on this canter:

this i will take

So I guess the answer to "will the lunging work translate to under saddle, since a lot of things change in that process" is yeah pretty much I'm riding a whole new horse.

I mean. My feel is waaaay off right now, so I naturally told my trainer how those were our BEST TRANSITIONS EVER and she was like "yes, you're very smart, shut up" and then I watched the video and realized that perhaps our left lead transitions were less stunning.

feet on ground does = win

Less stunning still means calm and rideable and ready to move forward, all of which are new since last fall. Plus, when I asked for canter, he cantered vs just sort of thinking about it for 10 strides and then maybe or maybe not bolting.

I have a long ways to go in terms of rehab and after this ride I most definitely went home and laid down and took a lot of drugs.

so thrilled with him

AND I just have to share this trotting picture because I super love good trotting pictures.

right?

It's slow going. It's going to stay slow going. But at least it's slow going towards a light on the horizon now. I'm excited to see what we can do as I get more balanced and able to ride and he gets more confirmed in this new "cantering" business.

PS and yes there is video but due to laying down + drugs, I didn't get it edited last night.

In Defense of Gadgets (or "Yes, Those Were Draw Reins You Saw")

I hate gadgets the way a rich, white Trump supporter hates welfare recipients--you know, theoretically but with very little personal experience to apply because I don't use them or hang out with people who do.

And now I have Courage. He's a thinking rider's horse. The "normal" stuff doesn't work for him, but walking the road less traveled can have spectacular results. I would never, ever intentionally take two months off riding. I would never have purchased a weird-ass lunging contraption (or two!). I would never, ever think I'd be riding my horse in draw reins.

And here I am.

yup there they are

In draw reins.

I've skirted around this issue, taken them off for pictures, and intentionally not said anything, because I'm 100% pro-horsemanship and 110% anti-shortcut, anti-gadget, and anti-training-your-horse-by-polling-ottb-connect-because-you're-too-stupid/vain/shortsighted-to-work-with-a-trainer.

But.

Draw reins have been with us for a very long time and while abominable excuses for horsemanship have too, those fads tend to come and go. Anyone used a bearing rein recently? No? Didn't think so. Those kinda went out in the Black Beauty era. I stand corrected. Apparently they're still a thing. Carry on.

Honestly, even talking about draw reins makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit--the potential for misuse or abuse is huge. The idea that someone could read this post and think "wow, she mocked my strategy of polling OTTB Connect for training ideas but then said something about draw reins so I'll get some" and would then run out and buy a set to throw on their woefully under-educated horse makes me physically ill.

So don't do that. I will publicly and privately eviscerate you. Consider that fair warning.

But I'm not dealing with your under-trained horse and under-educated riding. I'm dealing with my horse who has years of solid, thoughtful, educated training under his belt and yet still struggles with certain mechanics of how his body works. I'm working under the auspices of a professional trainer, who to my knowledge does not even own a set of draws and whom I have never seen use a gadget of any kind on any horse.

I'm talking about a long standing issue that I've addressed in every way under the sun with multiple professional trainers and none of them could touch it. I've spent years building Courage's trust and education to this point. I've spent months lunging him under saddle in what is basically fixed draw reins.

And in those months, I have seen Courage go from this:

one kind of air time

To this:

a much better kind of air time

I'm not talking about a quick fix here. Not at all. Courage was scoring around the 70s at training level at recognized shows. He hacks out. He toodles. He jumps (a little) and he's been in professional training for the better part of a year now. He was just not getting it in terms how how to use his body to push and go forward, especially in trot/canter transitions and especially as we asked him to move into first/second level work. We did lessons and pro rides and body work and talked to vets and covered all our bases there.

And then I quit riding and added the vienna reins lunging. It took months. Not a joke. Not an an exaggeration. I don't mean months of ripping around in mindless circles, either. Months of thoughtful, horse-first training in which I found different ways to present the information and explain to Courage what I wanted without ever getting angry and always being quick to reward the slightest try on his part.

Months.

late nights and early mornings

And now, I have a horse who probably 75% of the time on the lunge line, can give me a correct, balanced trot/canter transition in a calm manner. That's HUGE for us.

But now it's time to start back under saddle. I'm physically compromised and Courage is learning to transfer the information he's gleaned, but he's not confirmed and he can't be until he also understands with a rider.

I need the same effect that I get from the Vienna Reins, but I need it in a format that's safe to ride in. I need something I can release, but something that continues to explain to Courage that the balance he found on the lunge line is a balance he can use under saddle.

Draw reins it is.

BUT.

They are a gadget. They are so easy to abuse. You can wreck a horse permanently SO FAST. Ever seen a panicked runaway with it's nose on it's chest and that horrible look of pain and fear in it's eyes? Even if you have a tolerant saint of a horse, you can create so much distress, as Lauren pointed out. You can make that. You don't want to. It's flat out cruel.

Draw reins are not something I pick up lightly and they are something that will go away as soon as is reasonably practicable. I've introduced them very slowly. Lots of walking and toodling and just letting him feel them without having them do anything.

Now we've added in trotting and he's going well. So well. Not gonna lie, he feels like a whole new horse. He's learning to give me the base of his neck, which is what I need to go forward from here.

Even with all the training Courage has had and the education we both have, using draw reins pretty well freaks me out. I don't need him hyperflexed. I don't want him behind the bit or dumped on his forehand or any number of other Very Bad Things that come from a device that give me this massive amount of leverage over a flighty prey animal.

my first trot post-accident. 

These are a tool to explain to him that he can use his body a certain way and nothing more. They only work because he already understands contact and rhythm and has the basics installed to give him a frame of reference for what I want. Just like with the lunging, they have to be presented in a calm, horse-friendly manner and the only way he learns is if every single step makes sense to him. No rushing. No pushing. Once he understands what I'm looking for, the tool will go away and I don't anticipate bringing it back out.

And that's where it's at.

Theoretically, I hate gadgets. In practice, I'm using one and I'm very pleased with the results. That doesn't mean I recommend them and frankly, if you think they'll work for you, I think you're an idiot who needs a trainer and dear god please don't ruin your horse. Please.