Wow!

Once again this is an old post but I want to publish it anyway so I'll have it for later (periodically I read my old posts to motivate myself or just cringe over my past foolish mistakes).  Last Wednesday I had a great lesson with Starbuck, we did a few low jumps and it just went really smoothly - her rhythm was good, I didn't have to nag too much at her and we arrived at each jump really well, without zigzagging, stalling or jumping from too close or too far away.  And even though it was a nighttime lesson with the arena lights casting scary shadows, she didn't spook once.  I gave her extra carrots and went home with a big smile on my face.

But that was nothing compared to last Thursday.  Since I was the only person who showed up for the 7 p.m. lesson and I have the exercises from the last post to work on, I told Marina I was happy to ride on my own so she could have an early night but she told me she'd stay for at least a little while and give me a bit of coaching before I started working on my own.  So since we had her full attention, she set me to working on inviting Starbuck to arch her neck downwards and lighten the rein contact at a walk.  We've been working on this a little at a time at the walk for quite some time now and mostly she knows that when I squeeze the reins gently several times it means for her to lower her head.  So we did that, on a fairly long rein (just short enough to have a constant light contact) and also focussed on keeping the hindquarters active by drawing my legs a little further back than usual and using the crop to tickle her (rubbing her against the direction her hair grows in for instance).  And when I could consistently get her to do it, I worked on getting her to stay there for longer and longer.  When she lightened the contact, I could really feel her back arching up beneath me and see the way the muscles in her crest swayed with each stride - it was an incredible feeling of lightness.

When I had several strides in a row at the walk, we did a few transitions into trot attempting to maintain the same low head carriage, flexed poll equalling soft contact and raised back through the transition.  Needless to say it all fell apart.  But we finally got one where she raised her head a little, then went right back into the correct position.  We then did the same work in trot we had done in walk and let me tell you when we got a few steps in a row it felt amazing.  It felt like riding on Pegasus or a springy magic carpet.  After lots of changes of rein, a few rests where I let her put her head down on a loose rein and some more transitions to walk and back to trot when I "lost" the physical sensation I was going for, we had gone from no strides to two strides to nearly half of a 20 meter circle with her carrying her head and back in this position, lightening the contact.  We felt like we were flying at times, and even though she was completely focussed and not at all spooky, far from having to nag at her to keep going I even had to slow my posting action from time to time to keep her from getting ahead of herself.  Both Marina and I just kept saying "Wow!" and ooh-ing and aah-ing over how well she was working.

We finished up at a canter which is the gait which is hardest for her.  I honestly didn't expect her to achieve this "mini-self carriage" at all but I asked for it anyway.  The first try didn't go so well, and she bucked going into it.  The second try she still bucked but wasn't quite so heavy on the reins as the first time.  On the third try Marina told me to try to "visualize" the same feeling I had in my seat at the walk when she went "light-and-down".  And it worked!  Only for two canter strides, but it was such a good start and much better than I hoped for.

Since then I've been able to "recapture" the same feeling at times, not like that day but certainly more than before.  And our lesson with Daniela on Saturday very obviously benefited from it - she mentioned how much we had progressed since the last lesson.  I just need to remember to ask for it every day until it becomes a habit.

Mixed Feelings

This week is one of mixed feelings.  On the one hand, Starbuck's still uneven at the trot and doesn't reach as far underneath her with her right hind.  While it's not exactly lameness, I still don't feel confident working her 100% and it's something I have on my mind pretty much constantly.  She has no visible swelling, hotspots or pain anywhere in her legs.  At the walk she's perfect.  At the canter she's perfect.  But trotting (especially going to the left) you can tell that there's something wrong.  My vet has ruled out tendon or bone issues and is convinced it's back or hip tension causing this, I've had the physical therapist out to work on her and between holidays, rain and preparing for the show with Vent she's had what amounts to about a month and a half of paddock rest with a few interludes of hour-long hacks, lungeing and very light riding.

Since she was doing better a couple of weeks ago but has now reverted to her old gimpy highjinks, I'm a little tempted to call up the "specializes in lameness" vet and ask for a second opinion.  But both my vet and the physical therapist advised me to work her normally, with an emphasis on extensions.  So I've decided to keep doing just that for at least a little while longer - if she gets worse or doesn't improve at all after a few weeks I can always stop working her and call the other vet and if she gets better then great.  I'm trying to be objective about it and remember that when I personally have pain issues (especially back pain), generally the only way I can get it to go away is through exercise.

On the other hand, we are really reaching a new level in our relationship which I'm absolutely thrilled with.  I'm convinced that my focussing on giving her more positive feedback and trying to dial down the negative feedback (less scolding, more praise) is really having a great effect on her behavior and motivation.  I'm also able to use lighter and fewer aids than before and hardly ever get to the point of having a battle of wills.  It actually feels like she's listening to me and waiting for my next instruction, and I hardly have to nag at her to keep going at all.  In our lessons, to try to ensure that she doesn't just go around and around "practicing" unevenness, Marina has suggested that I do lots of transitions and work a lot over ground poles and tires and stuff so she has to think quick on her feet.  We're also doing a fair amount of turns on the haunches to loosen up her back (which she's starting to get pretty good at), shoulder-in to build her up a little for more impulsion and trotting poles to work on her abdominal muscles.

As a result of all of this, her transitions are really getting spot-on - right when I ask for them, with ever-lighter aids and less dragging of feet than she usually does (trot?  you REALLY want me to trot?  are you SURE about that?  oooooookay...).  And after about 20 minutes of warming up with walk-stop-walk and walk-trot-walk transitions, her trot is definitely a lot more even and the irregularity is barely noticeable.  But best of all?  Her canter has improved immeasurably!  Tuesday and Wednesday we only did transitions, never letting her get more than 5 or 6 canter strides in before going back to a trot.  But yesterday she was moving well enough I decided to let her keep going for about a 30 meter circle to the right, and it was the best canter I've ever experienced on her.  Smooth, rhythmic, energetic, even a little floaty... it was like a dream come true!  And in the other direction it was almost as good, although there was a little head-shaking (probably related to the unevenness thing).  And best of all?  In the three lessons we've had this week, even now that it's dark enough for the arena lights to cast long and scary shadows, she's only spooked ONCE - and even that was when another horse spooked first, and she didn't take off galloping, only jumped to the side and spun a little.

So I'm really having a blast riding her both out on the trail and in lessons, and we get along much better on the ground - she pays much more attention to me and is a lot less bargey now that she knows that a neck rub, a "good girl" or a carob bean are right around the corner.  And best of all, she seems to actually be enjoying our rides nearly as much as I do.  So if we can get her movement and back issues worked out, we'll be right on track.

Long in the Tooth

Today Starbuck had her first visit from the dentist (Sandra Fortuny)!  She's a woman about my age or a little younger who did her veterinary residency in the USA at animal hospitals near Belmont and Aqueduct racetracks, so she's seen a lot of horses in her day.  Both Starbuck and I appreciated her calm, professional "stallside" manner and she was also really instructive, explaining what she was doing and how to tell if problems arise in the future.

So first she sedated Starbuck since we decided that we didn't want her to come away with a scary memory of the dentist and I only had a couple of hours (it was on my lunch break).  Then she stuck her hand in there and checked her out-- apparently my baby girl has some wolf teeth which will have to come out in the coming year.  Then she did some light floating (rasping away of irregularities with a file) to see how Starbuck handled it (pretty calmly seeing as how she was way out of it).  Afterwards she used a speculum to keep Starbuck's mouth open while she really sanded down any points that might cause pain when they rub against her teeth and gums, and while she was doing this Starbuck lost her other front tooth... so I have a (kind of gross) souvenir!  At the very end the dentist took the speculum out to finish off with a small file.

Starbuck behaved like a real lady during all of this and only kind of protested towards the end when Sandra was working on her rear molars (she's still got her last molars coming in so that area must be kind of tender), I was so proud of her!  The vet says that not all horses behave so well even under sedation.  When this was all over (it took around 40 minutes) the dentist showed me how to tell if the teeth were growing incorrectly (holding Starbuck's mouth shut, I should be able to shift the lower jaw left and right 1 centimeter) and also told me to call her if Starbuck starts showing signs of having pain due to the wolf teeth so she can surgically remove them.  And I got a fancy report with a diagram of Starbuck's tooth wear and growth patterns as well as recommendations until the next visit next year.  And Starbuck got a nice long scratchy massage and an extra fluffy bed to sleep in tonight!

All in all an educational day and much less stressful than I feared!  Thanks Sandra!!!