On my feet, not my seat

Twas a horse-filled day, but my riding muscles went unused. I got plenty of exercise, though!

It started with Horton this morning. As usual, I started with lunging to make sure he was both obedient and forward. I don't know if it was the brisk, windy weather, the barn cat racing across the arena, Horton feeling his oats or not feeling his hip, but after a working nicely awhile he spooked, exploded, then raced around on the end of the lunge line.

That wasn't the end of it, either. He stayed on the muscle, occasionally clamping his tail, tucking his butt, then bucking again. I decided that keeping my feet on the ground was the sensible thing to do! At the very end, he did settle down for a cool-out walk.

One interesting development worth noting. After tacking up Horton today, on a whim I tickled his tummy to see what he'd do. Larry would arch his back like a cat when I did this, the most reaction I've ever gotten out of any horse. But Horton has never lifted his back in response to tummy tickles – until today. I checked again after I untacked him, and he responded modestly again. I can't help but wonder if this new responsiveness is a result of the injections....

Next, I headed toward the coast to exercise Lance. I took my saddle and bridle just in case, but when I found myself at his barn all alone, again I decided that staying grounded was the prudent choice. So I put on his leather halter – no stud chain – and spent 40 minutes hand-walking him while working on R.E.S.P.E.C.T. I made it clear that he had to stop when I stopped, walk when I walked, back up when I backed up, and keep his mouth off the lead rope – and me. He's a smart boy, and a quick study.

Finally, we went caroling with a group from our church this evening. One of Rick's clients brought a team of Shires and a wagon to carry most of the carolers and we wound our way through the neighborhood near our church. I left the straw bales for those who needed them and used my legs, voice and camera. It was very enjoyable!

No fluke

Yesterday was not a fluke. I rode Horton again this morning, and not only did he stay off my inside leg tracking left, he did much less falling out tracking right than yesterday. I think his reinbacks are straighter, too. Hip-hip, hurray!

Free teleseminar!

I am on Jane Savoie's email list and enjoy the "Motivation by Moshi" nuggets of wisdom she sends out regularly. Last week she advertised a free teleseminar (via phone or web), so I signed up for it. I've been thinking about what I can do with Lance at the walk when I bring him home, and figured Ms. Savoie would have some helpful tips.

The teleseminar was yesterday at noon. I dialed in while driving back from working with Lance, and for the next hour and a half got a fantastic refresher course on training fundamentals! I took notes as best I could while driving and running errands, and hope to find time to listen to it again (and complete my notes!) while it is still available on the web (through Friday, here). Nothing earth-shattering or revolutionary, just good, solid fundamentals communicated clearly and logically – which is really all any of us need!

Encouraged and inspired, I utilized what I heard while riding Horton this morning. I'm sure my increased awareness of my own position helped, but there was more. First of all, there was only one brief moment of resistance when I picked up the reins. Then, after I had been warming up at the trot for awhile, I realized he wasn't falling in when tracking left – at all! That was a first, and my entire left side was thankful for the break.

The other day Rick mentioned that he'd talked to a colleague there at the conference who has done a lot of pelvic injections. That vet said to give it 10 days to two weeks before expecting to see improvement. I'm wondering if, at eight days out, we're starting to get some of that improvement!

My beautiful brat

Yes, I'm talking about YOU, Lancelot!

 I drove over to Lincoln City this morning to walk Lance. His breeder and I were shooting for four days of walking in a row with a mind to try turning him loose in the indoor arena at the end of it. But last night I fretted to Rick on the phone (he's in Anaheim attending the American Association of Equine Practitioners convention) about the risk of re-injury, and he agreed that it would be better to err on the side of caution. Still, I hadn't ruled out the possibility of letting him loose to roll at the end of his walk....

Being the mellow boy he usually is, I planned on doing most of Lance's walk under saddle. So I brushed him off and proceeded to tack him up. Talk about trying to "hit" a moving target! Buckling the flash attachment was particularly challenging. Lance is a very busy, mouthy kid, and he did NOT want me limiting his options!

If I can get him to stop eating the reins...

...he makes a beautiful subject!

Being a sensible person, I headed into the arena to hand-walk Lance for a bit before mounting. He proceeded to explode into airs above the ground nine different times, leaping, bucking, kicking out behind, rearing, and assorted combinations of all of the above. Part of it was pent-up energy, but I do believe he was throwing tantrums over being cinched and buckled from the git-go. I managed to hang onto the reins and stay out of harm's way, and eventually he settled down and just walked. Well, I shouldn't say he just walked; once the hissy-fits ended, the mouthiness increased. I finally got on in self-defense (and to preserve my reins) – and then could hardly get the lazy thing to move at all! But you can be sure all thoughts of turning him loose for awhile were long gone....

I'm going to try to make it out to walk him again next Sunday and Tuesday. Val will hopefully be able to walk him this Wednesday and Friday, but then she will be unavailable until the following Wednesday. I don't want Lance to self-combust in his stall – or hurt her next week.

Next up, my fantastic, free refresher on fundamentals!

Pincushion update

After a temporary disruption in his training schedule due to Thanksgiving, followed by the injections, Horton is back to work. As directed by Rick, I lunged Horton lightly Wednesday, the day after he was injected. I didn't have a chance to do anything with him Thursday; Friday I lunged him again and then rode a bit. When tracking left, I could not get him off my inside leg and he was very resistant to going round and forward. I didn't get after him, since Rick said he could still be sore. But he also said that by today, any residual soreness should be gone and I could ride him with full expectations.

Fortunately, today dawned dry so that I could ride. I lunged Horton first to get him thinking forward, then mounted. Again, he balked at going left and getting off my inside leg on a 20m circle, so we did shoulder-in down the long sides of the arena instead. He did the lateral work equally well both directions, which told me his difficulty wasn't so much a physical issue as a mental one. So I worked through it with lots of encouragement and persistence until his trot quality to the left more closely mirrored the nice connection and energy he gave me tracking right. Once it did, he started thinking about offering canter, instead of bracing whenever he thought I might ask for canter. But he waited until I finally did ask, picked it up nicely, and maintained it until I asked for the trot again. I was very pleased with him!

It looks like I should be able to find a dry window during which to work him tomorrow before another soaker moves in Monday night and Tuesday. I look forward to building on today's good work.