So my Christmas day consisted of Graham and myself and beautiful warm winter day. My family was delayed arriving until later in the week so we had absolutely no plans and all the stores were closed. So, of course, I took advantage of the free time and lovely weather and practiced in the arena with Sunny. And since Graham was off he filmed about 30 minutes of video. The ride wasn't especially smooth or amazing, though Sunny always tries very hard. I felt we were both struggling, especially with lightness and bending at the trot. Sunny would trot nicely stretched on a loose rein, but when I shortened the reins for more precise communication he became very heavy and kept trying to stretch back down. I would lift a little and ask him to keep his head up or neutral, but no stretching; he was not sure about this and resisted. To the left he would drop contact suddenly by lifting his head and at times would 'bounce' off the contact -- very uncomfortable for both of us I am sure-- though I am using a bitless bridle that is a little more forgiving of my mistakes.
On the video I observed several things (it is like having a delayed self-lesson, LOL!) --
1. I need to make sure I release the reins all the way when he is stretching, otherwise the slight pressure tends to make him over-bend at the poll (bringing his head behind the vertical) when I really want it stretched out and forward.
2. I need to look up more, instead of down at my horse's head (I have been assured his head is not going anywhere!) I also tend to get behind the motion, especially at the walk.
3. The video showed me all the moments of tenseness and mis-communication that I felt; and actually, they felt much worse than they looked in the video-- Good news? It also showed me the few moments where things started to come together!
After the ride and watching the video I realized I really needed to prioritize relaxation and softness over achieving an exercise (duh! but sometimes as a human I get too focused on the goal instead of the relationship). This has worked very well in our last few sessions and I think we have already had significant improvement in lightness, balance, and communication. Or maybe, the heaviness and confusion is a normal learning stage the horse goes through and he needs the extra support temporarily while he learns to re-balance his body? I am not sure, but as long as I keep my priorities straight it will be okay!
No comments:
Post a Comment