A new starting point

I was SO worried that the rain was going to ruin everything today...but it held off!!! Thank goodness. I really needed a lesson.

Pro's general attitude was clear when he swished his tail after I asked him to pick up his feet before I tacked him up. Gayle had pointed out awhile ago that it was a sign of disrespect, so I whacked him for it and he was mortified. However, Gayle fed him her apple core when she got there just before I got on, and I think that helped his mood.

As soon as I asked him to walk off, he threw up his head and it was like he was saying, "I'M GOING TO SPOOK AT THE POLES WAY DOWN THERE, JUST YOU WAIT, ONCE I GET DOWN THERE I'M GOING TO BE SCARED OF THEM." Gayle said absolutely not, of course, and I took my inside rein OUT and moved him in a small circle off my outside leg until he relaxed. Gayle made it clear that when I get on, every step belongs to me. There are no wasted steps in this arena. There will not be a single step looking like a giraffe. Once this was clear to him, we worked on unkinking his neck. Establishing/dictating rhythm with my seatbones, pointing my steatbones straight down, letting my shoulderblades melt down my back. So the purpose of my inside rein is threefold: (1) passive/giving, (2) opening to the inside to get him to unkink, and (3) STRONG pull to the inside to get him to HEY, PAY ATTENTION.

Today when I opened it, he remembered what he was supposed to do, and he started chewing and stretching. I know this is going to sound awful, but I admitted to Gayle that it was actually hard to say "good boy" when I was supposed to praise him because I am not much liking him these days. :( So I let Gayle say a lot of the "good boy" and I stuck to rubbing his neck with my inside hand when he released. He had a minor spook at a bird that flew by, and Gayle reminded me that I MUST give toward him and use my leg to get him out of the spook, rather than pull back. Well I'd been told this all my life, but she finally explained why. When a horse spooks, they suck/pull back. If we pull back, it's like we're validating the spook. By kicking them on, we're countering their pulling back and saying no, it's not okay to spook. Finally, an explanation!

We did some REALLY neat walk-halt-walk transitions that I didn't even know we were capable of. Just playing around, I closed my hip motion and he halted. Okay, I was only looking for a half halt but still good! From there, we talked about the halt as just an energy pause, not an energy stop. And Gayle said just to relax my hips. So I halted, waited, and relaxed my hips. Pro walked off!!!! No push from my hips, no give of my hands, NO leg. I just "breathed through my pelvis", my hips relaxed, and he walked off. I did it a few more times, and it was cooler each time. I told Gayle that I KNOW this horse has talent in him if he can be that responsive to the seat without any leg or hand - she agreed! She pointed out that he loses the bend when I go from halt to walk, and that I need to be attentive to that.

Finally, on to the trot! Posting up and over the saddle, landing lightly, closing my outside rein softly in a gentle half-halt every time I came down from the post. Using my inside rein to "follow my hand" with his nose, and getting him to unkink. Gayle then explained that with Pro, everything is slow. Slow, slow, slow. Chasing him forward is a BIG no-no, probably his biggest no-no, because he runs himself out of balance, panics, and then gets mad and blames us...evolving into a fight. It's counter-intuitive, but submission and proper balance MUST come before forward with Pro, she said. And as we worked on unkinking him at the trot, I was slowly able to add more impulsion in line with how balanced he was, and he was fine. But she said to never, never add the "go" before he was balanced.

When he was giving all he had, Gayle had me end it before he got too fatigued by carrying himself properly and fell into unbalance again. We stretched out at the walk and she showed me how to tell if his back is up - his belly tucks up, his butt tucks under, he stops rooting at the rein, he reaches on the end of the rein, etc. After I got off she showed me how to "bounce" the spot on his neck, plus she unkinked his trochanter joint - it was loose on the left and tight on his right. He liked it!!

So as for diet, in addition to adding more hay, Gayle told me to take him off the rice bran and the BOSS, and add in a better source of "cool" calories like Ultimate Finish or Envision. His weight is better, but still not perfect yet. She also told me to forget the past few months and think of today as our new starting point. The good news is that we started today's lesson like when she first met us...but we ended it MUCH farther along than the end of the first lesson we had with her. So he's going to re-gain progress quickly since it's a "no excuses, you KNOW what these rein aids mean!" type deal. He just needs to rebuild that strength and be strongly reminded of what the rein aids mean...but not fully re-taught.