Incremental Relaxation and Obedience

Hit Air Vest and Ultimate Bitless Bridle
*and notice Poptart is standing on a mattress!!!!*

Poptart and I have been practicing in the past 2 weeks since our clinic.  I do feel we are making incremental progress.  We are now easily achieving consistent steps of shoulder-in at the walk on the circle and also easily performing neck-rein aka reverse bend volte circles at the walk as well.  At the trot we are having very nice steps of relaxed yielding reverse arc circles still intermixed with "No, I am going straight, not turning that direction at all". The nice steps are definitely out numbering the "no's". Shoulder-in on the circle is also more consistent at the trot as well, I can really feel the inside hind leg stepping under.  We are playing with serpentine's around all the obstacles in my arena maintaining the same bend regardless of left or right rein circle at both the walk and trot. We are, of course, practicing both left and right bend so both sides are exercised and stretched.  The serpentine's around the obstacles help keep the exercises fun and fresh and prevent repetitive drilling. We also are now cantering bareback on a loose rein in the arena. I practice my lateral disengagement (1-rein stop) from the canter to help instill a great emergency situation brake, which will hopefully never be necessary! His canter is more willing and is improving, but at times he still gets a little more up and down, rather than forward, but he does readily listen to his lateral disengagement-- nothing like real life practice!

We are spending a lot of time riding the trails right around my neighborhood and house.  I think that riding these 'home' trails is much harder than hauling out to the national forest.  There are lots of obstacles at home:

1. Leaving pasture mates
2. Rogan (pasture mates) screaming for him to return
3. Pasture mates galloping around field, screaming...
4. Normal subdivision activity including mowers, deer in bushes, dogs, bicycles, cars, etc
5. Trail without much room for lateral disengagement, such as when riding the pasture fence line.
6. Poptart is in a hurry to return home where he feels comfortable and safe

So, my main challenge is for Poptart to feel comfortable and safe with me, regardless of location or other horse activity.  At home is a good place to practice this challenge due to the above listed real-life situations.  We are making progress!!  The challenge is to walk calmly on a loose rein with the head and neck in a relaxed neutral posture, halt when asked, and to stand quietly on a loose rein when requested in all situations and trails.  Once this is easy we will start adding in trot and then, eventually, canter.

Today we had noticeable improvement.  About 25% of the time Poptart would halt and stand without needing to laterally disengage, another 25% he only needed about a 1/2 of a circle before he seemed to say, "oh this sucks I would rather stand and be told how wonderful I am" (huge progress!!).  The other 50% of the time required significantly less circles, shoulder yields, etc before he would stand quietly and he was much quicker to lower his head and blow-out, lick/chew, and relax.  He also was much more interested in taking steps to eat nearby grass rather than trying to hurry home every chance.

I have my new Hit-Air safety vest http://www.hitairequestrian.com/ which hopefully will never be necessary, but if it prevents 1 ER visit it will be well worth the cost.  And as Poptart can be quicker than a jackrabbit and I am riding bareaback... I thought it might be worthwhile insurance...

Poptart is modeling his new Ultimate Bitless Bridle http://www.ultimatebitlessbridle.com/ which I like so far. He is very responsive to the pressure, and the bridle does readily release pressure and does not pressure the poll, unlike other cross-under bridles on the market. It should be easy to use on endurance rides as he can eat/drink from it, it provides excellent communication (and hopefully control!), does not rub, and is machine washable!!

Clinic with Theresa

On Thursday morning Poptart and I loaded up and headed to a 3 day private clinic with Theresa McManus. Theresa came strongly recommended from many people and has quite the impressive resume, but you will have to ask her all about that..  The best recommendation was horses that train with Theresa don't have the continued, chronic body issues commonly seen in the horse industry.  I wasn't sure what to expect, I am pretty skeptical of new trainers and clinicians and generally prefer to watch a few sessions or familiarize myself through books, websites, videos, etc prior to committing to a clinic. However, I was thoroughly impressed and can't wait to continue learning. I am so very lucky to have Theresa within driving distance so I can follow up with her for continued and progressive learning. (which is difficult with all of the wonderful, yet out-of-state clinicians!)

What we practiced (and, of course, these are my interpretations and thoughts on what I learned!):

On the ground

Stretch and lift the back: Raise the head by lifting up at the halter nose buckles pointing towards the ears. The horse should raise his head and shift his weight to the hindquarters. Follow this by next bringing the head and neck down and forward.  Repeat by raising the head then take 3 deliberate steps to the side (with the head up) and then ask the horse to lower his head while bent to the side. Repeat each direction. Eventually this is done while riding when the back is stronger.

Laterally disengage - (similar to a '1-rein stop, but actually bio-mechanically correct) - Lift the inside rein/lead with the fingernails up to heaven and point at the hip. The horse should bring his inside hind leg in front of the outside hind leg.

Follow the lateral disengagement with a reverse bend shoulder arc. Lift the inside rein/lead (with the fingernails up) and step into the shoulder. The horse should softly cross his front legs and move over softly.  Reward/praise and repeat on the other side. Continue until horse is relaxed and warmed up.

Continue my other groundwork exercises/stretches as they are great too.

Riding

Riding follows the groundwork. You can perform the same "stretch and lift the back" exercise, but I am not to do that with Poptart as his back is not strong enough (yet).  My "Go-To" exercise is the lateral disengagement (or bio-mechanically correct 1-rein stop).  This exercise, when performed correctly has the horse lift his loin and then step under with the inside hind leg crossing in front of the outside hind.  My steps are: 1. Lift the reins up 2. Slide my inside hand down the rein 3. Bring my inside hand with my FINGERNAILS UP  to my sternum and wait for the disengage 4. Next (if needed) continue to lift my hand up my chest (fingernails up!) as if I am gutting myself  5. Next (if needed) take my opposite hand and point at the hip that needs to move.

I need to practice the lateral disengagement as part of our warm up for several reasons.

1. It stretches and warms up his muscles 
2. It relaxes him and promotes obedience 
3. It builds his topline every time he steps under while lifting his back 
4. It will be in both Poptart's and my muscle memory should we need an emergency brake/1-rein stop. 
• This is important because if your lateral bend is not always associated with the inside hind leg then you can flip your horse if you have to use the 'emergency brake' at high speeds, such as during a spook or bolt. If your horse associates the stepping under of the inside hind leg he is much more likely to balance himself and yield during that situation.

Next, we move into the same reverse bend shoulder arc practiced in the ground work. This is accomplished by simply lifting the inside rein up at a walk or trot  (fingernails up, but do not bring the rein to your body) and opening the outside rein as needed. It was like magic! With a very light lift of the rein Poptart would float over, easily crossing his front legs.  We even played 'pole-bending' at the walk using the reverse bend steering, so much fun!

We also practiced upward and downward transitions and steering 101.  To have basic steering you take your hand softly holding the rein and point out to the side and up toward the sky, like you are pointing towards a bird. I think of it as having airplane wings or when a small child pretends to fly she sticks her arms up and out to the side.  I practiced this steering and called it airplane steering.  I also use this when Poptart is relaxed (finally) and will not move. I ask for 1 step to the left and then 1 step to the right until we became 'unstuck', or if necessary, I ask and then follow with a light touch on the hip with the stick. I think as your horse gets used to this all you will need to do is point and they will follow your hand regardless of reins/bridle until you can easily steer bridleless.

To go forward, I use intent, a smooch, and I lift the reins lightly and move my hands forward (this kind of reminds me of children pretending to be cowboys and pushing their hands forward for 'go'). I do not use any leg and if needed can lightly tap the hip with a stick.  The leg is saved for lateral work and very advanced movements requiring extra impulsion.  The horse should easily perform basic transitions off intent.

For downward transitions, such as halt, I push my heels down ('stop riding'), lift 1 rein and if needed lift the other rein to prevent circling/lateral movement, release when he comes to a complete stop. This worked well, but it will take Poptart a few more sessions to figure out heels down = whoa.

I also learned to ride with my hands much higher than I am accustomed which in turn helped Poptart balance and shift weight off his forehand, it was a very lightening and freeing sensation to me as a rider. I need to keep my elbows bent and basically have my elbow joint at a 90 degree angle.  I need to move my elbows forward and back with the natural rhythm of the horse. I tend to unconsciously brace my shoulders, especially when I am concentrating on something, and this, in turn, causes brace in my horse.

We then practiced these exercises with obstacles such as poles (that had scary cups on them to play 'move the cup' game aka 'rattle the cup and scare Poptart', LOL!),  ground poles,  and cavaletti.  We even jumped our first 'official' jump together-- I will be proud even though it was only a 12" crossrail at at the trot!

And to end the 3 days we went swimming in the lake. This was Poptart's 2nd time in deeper water and he comfortably made it in chest deep and had fun playing. We will build up to full swimming as I want him (and me) to stay confident and keep having fun!

Other fun stuff including watching videos, looking at books, and developing an eye for correct movement versus incorrect  movement (dropped back, overflexed, etc) often seen in modern performance. We played with tack and saddles and practiced standing calmly in the barn aisles with kittens and chickens darting between legs. It was great!!

Homework:

1. Do not pass go until Poptart is calm, relaxed, and will lower his head. Do not take one more step until relaxation is present!
2. Walk calmly on a loose rein with the head/neck at about horizontal or lower. Progress to this at a trot and then canter. Be able to easily laterally disengage at all 3 gaits if Poptart speeds up or becomes less relaxed or nervous. 
3. Accomplish reverse arc circles (about 6m) and shoulder-in on the circle at the walk and then the trot. Be able to do this at a trot prior to starting any canter.
4. Accomplish a calm walk, trot, canter on a loose rein while out and about in the world, ie on the trail, with other horses, etc. 
5. Oh, and all this is bareback.
6.  When all this is accomplished schedule my next session!