Field Tripping the Update

 

Starting in June we’ve been hauling out to a local boarding barn every Sunday morning.  I think we’re on outing 13 or 14.  Things started out pretty hairy with Cruise way over threshold and uber worried.  Bordering on unruly.  I’ve taken Warwick Schiller’s philosophy about this that any “misbehavior “ is about the horse feeling unsafe though, instead of thinking about it as a dominance thing.

Using TRT leading on a long line to bring his focus back, TRT clock face and behind/across for calming, and adding in the tension release technique have all helped.  He’s gone from super worried and unruly in hand weeks 1-3, to rideable after ground work and lunging weeks 4-9, to getting off the trailer calmly and doing all the things quietly.  Including cantering and walking the indoor on a loose rein.

We’ve been getting to the barn early when most of the horses are out, doing all the things and then quitting as the horses’ food is being prepared and they’re brought in.  This last week we unsaddled but stayed in the ring and started working on his feelings about horses being loose in the aisles, the feeder’s dog darting around, and all the other chaos that ensues.

The plan is to add this under saddle when he’s pretty solid in hand.  Then add a horse in the ring.  Then add multiple horses.  Then add cold weather, which is always a tension multiplier for him.  I’m planning on keeping my stall over Winter and hauling as many Sundays as possible with the weather factored in.

I can’t tell you how pleased I was yesterday (on a cool morning!) to have him get off the trailer quietly and sniff the ground, and stay under threshold for ground work/lunging/under saddle/scary chaos ground work.  It’s going oh so slowly, but it’s going!

New TRT Method Tension Release Technique

 

One of the nice things about buying the TRT Method is that you get lifetime access instead of paying a monthly fee.  I usually check back in periodically for new content and was pleasantly surprised to find new tension release modules in the groundwork and also the riding sections.

The technique is pretty simple.  You touch areas of tension on the horse’s body and wait for a slight change of focus or a softening of the muscle and then you release by taking your hand off.  The groundwork module walks you through it step by step and then the riding module teaches a bridge from the ground cues to riding cues.

I’ve been playing with this for a couple of days and WOW.  Both horses love it and had huge releases, licking, yawning, and chewing less than five minutes in.  It’s pretty simple and I think a form of guided meditation/body scan for the horse, helping them to be more present in their body instead of focusing on external distractions.  Interesting stuff.

Lower Leg Lightbulb Moment

 

Yesterday I was checking in with Facebook and viewed THIS reel about rider stability.  Lightbulb moment.  What if my eternal quest to fix my pitched forward upper body has less to do with my upper body and more to do with my lower leg position?  One way to find out.

So, this morning I had a on the buckle ride at the walk, trot, and canter where I just concentrated on having my lower leg a bit more forward than usual.  Not as far as recommended in the video but definitely out of the strict ear/hip/heel.  And OMFG it was amazing!  Everything on a loose rein, and balanced, even the left canter.  I felt him hesitate when I asked him to canter left on a looped rein like, “Are you really sure you want me to do this?”  After a couple of smaller canter steps he felt my different balance point and smoothly went into a lovely on the buckle left canter.  AMAZING.

I’m not advocating as much of a safety seat as suggested in the video BUT after looking at videos of Warwick Schiller, Tristan Tucker, Lucinda Green, and a host of other riders I admire, every single one of them rides with a lower leg that is a bit more forward than the average adult amateur dressage rider.  It’s unreal to me how big of a difference this small, easy, change made in my balance.

Shout out to FB reels for making one of my lifetime goals with Cruise happening, walk/trot/canter on the buckle, in balance, and with ease.

First Level Test 2 Take 1

 

Slight change of plan.  I decided to try First Level Test 2 for my second online competition this year.  I figured since it adds leg yields and canter lengthens and he is good at leg yields we would go for it.

I was really pleased with this test.  It was much more forward in general, I sat up better in the canter so he was more forward and better balanced, and overall it felt and looked pretty good.

I thought the further remarks were on the money and adding them to the comments on Test 1 gives me a good working template for the next couple of weeks.  The championship show is in the beginning of August and I’ll be doing both tests.  I think I can definitely improve on Test 1 but I’m not so sure on Test 2.  The weakness in Test 2 is the canter and that is a matter of strength which is going to take some time to improve.  See Test 2 HERE if you’re interested.