Progress Check
It’s hard to believe February has come and gone! It was a serious whirlwind month, too - New England finally took a snow hit worth noting (of course, nobody at the barn had winter shoes on…), so many appointments to help get Factor feeling his best, and learning the ropes of a new farm (both horse and human!). As I sit watching the pre-dawn rain chip away at the ice and snow on the porch, it’s incredible to reflect on the happenings of this shorter-than-others month.
Perhaps the easiest thing to start with is bragging rights!
The owner of the new farm had been away for the month on a well-deserve vacation and break from the cold. She hadn’t seen my boy before leaving, her departure and his arrival having been the endcaps of the same day but without overlap. We hacked in between a few lessons, and she offered the emphatic praise, “he’s cute!” when we were done our work. The following day, another instructor who’s been seeing us overlap her lessons each Sunday sized him up and offered, “he’s come a long way in just a few weeks!”
Well, I couldn’t agree with either assessment more! After the chiropractic, he’s been practically a new horse - great range of motion with his legs underneath himself. Our MagnaWave person came out again (sadly during dinner, and Mr. Ponyman was seriously disturbed that he was not included…) and though Factor was distractible and fidgety, she saw a lot of positive in his musculature and motion.
All said and done, he’s been a really great sport. He’s learning new things, he seems eager to participate. Perhaps the toughest thing about him is that, under saddle, he shows a particular frustration at having other horses move in around him under saddle. It’s been getting better around the mounting block, but in a busy indoor while we’re moving he definitely starts to feel like he needs to rush. It’s almost like he starts listening to everything and everyone and the noises and commotion becomes too much for him.
As for myself - I’ve been relying mostly on videos and pictures to help me find my riding position and tweak things. This week’s training takeaways (for the human):
Give him more walk breaks
Both to give him recovery time, but also to encourage the “slow is good” mindset.
Posture
After reviewing a recent video, it’s evident my jump seat time on Katee impacted my hip / shoulder pitch in my dressage seat. Remember:
Pecs up, almost pulled by a string, and be at the horse’s motion, not before.
Stretch tall and sit back on your seat bones. The hips, spine, shoulders, and head all should stack on top, not forward.
Toes forward, not out. Almost think about turning the leg so the back of the thigh is lifted away from the saddle.
Continue to pay attention to my hips through turns - which hip is actually opening? What is it doing down the rest of my body?
Aids
Continue to play with the contact on a longer rein - he’s getting it, and he’s softer each day.
Be careful adding inside leg support during the canter, even if he’s ducking in. The inside leg seems to be a cue for lead swaps, and I’d rather him work on the correct lead that change over.
Remember to relax the aid in between the asks, even if you don’t get the desired response. In those cases, relax and ask harder / bigger.