can you hear me now??

While we haven't been able to stick to a weekly lesson schedule with dressage trainer C from TM, we've managed to make it out often enough to feel good about Charlie's progress.

the barn at TM is so pretty - it's shaped like an "H" with big doors at every end and juncture, each with yet another scenic vista (or view into the indoor haha)

It's so funny bc in some ways, Charlie is a little different every ride. He is often one-sided, but which side is which can change sometimes daily. I see that as a good thing, bc while the horse has some ingrained musculature issues and behavioral patterns, these frequent changes suggest that he's still able to adjust and adapt.

i love the shiny wood paneled walls too!

On the flip side, tho, it means that we might spend an entire lesson trying to keep Charlie from falling left. And in the next lesson, the whole time is spent addressing his issue with falling right. It's definitely keeping me on my toes!

i tried to capture the pretty views out the windows too but the lighting was too tricky for drive-by cellphone photography haha. so.... i guess just take my word for it? 

This lesson in particular reminded me very strongly of the lesson I took with Grant Schneidman last year. Specifically: my own unevenness from side to side, and my inability to really fix my outside rein such that I can actually push the horse into it.

Basically, trainer C wanted me to be really very serious about not letting Charlie's right shoulder pop out while tracking left (my own personally more difficult direction bc I don't sit down into my left leg and seat). She wanted me to think of slightly counter-bending him so that I could always see his outside eyelashes. This way he'd stop "burying" that shoulder.

say hi, charlie!!!

And I had to be really very disciplined with my outside (right) hand. Because the moment I stop thinking about it, I push it forward and throw away the contact. This reminded me of how Grant had me actually grab the front of my saddle - tho C's idea was to tie some baling twine to the D-ring instead, saying that would allow my hand to stay in a more natural place while still giving me a way to keep it anchored.

It's kinda annoying to me to still be dealing with these same issues that have been identified and explained to me over and over again... but oh well. At least all my trainers can rest assured that I'll keep 'em in work! lol...

so freakin handsome, even if his clip is growing a little shaggy and moth-eaten with random rub marks

Anyway, while some aspects of riding Charlie are very changeable, others are a little more consistent. Like I've been writing about lately, Charlie's resistance to being driven forward is a common theme. Since we've been tackling the issue more directly lately, it's been cropping up earlier and more often in rides - but in less extreme ways.

It seems to happen most often right now when Charlie anticipates that I'm going to ask for canter - even when in reality I just want more trot. Trainer C encouraged me to be very clear in putting my legs on to get that 'spurt' of forward from Charlie, then leaving him alone to kinda putter out on his own. Then asking again for that 'spurt' forward. (Rather than, say, constantly nudging and carrying him forward).

dem some SPURS, son! long and with a smooth rowel at the end. also - check out that fun footing!

It got particularly messy tho when we returned to that same figure-8 exercise for the canter depart that we practiced in our last lesson with C. Charlie was super nappy and falling every which way with his shoulders as we figure-8'ed around (well, actually, our figures looked nothing at all like a figure 8 in all honesty).

the side eye was strong with charlie after this ride haha

Trainer C decided I was working way too hard and not getting the right response despite it all, and strapped her spurs on over my boots. Her fairly long spurs with a rowel at the end. Ha. Hahaha. Oh Charlie.

tools of the trade: requisite dressage whip and baling twine for anchoring my wayward right hand

The horse was.... surprised by this new addition. If he could use words, they'd probably have been something along the lines of:

DEAR GOD HOLY SHIT I'M GOING I'M GOING OH MY FUCKING GOD WHERE DID THAT COME FROM HOW IS THIS HAPPENING AHHHHHHH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD I'M CANTERING

despite having extra hooks added to the trailer, there's just never enough hooks. hopefully this other baling twine contraption lasts too!

 Lol. Ahem.

And suddenly we had ourselves a great trot followed by a forward-thinking left lead canter depart. Funny how that works!! Tho trainer C, who typically sits at the end of the ring, kindly asked that I turn around her end a little early in case Charlie decided to let fly with a hind leg in response to the spurs....

nap attack for the baby horses!!!!

So that was perhaps a useful wake up call for poor long-suffering Chuckles. These aren't the right spurs for him at this point in his training (I'll use my trusty itsy bitsy nubs moving forward) but they did the trick in effectively changing the conversation from counterproductive bickering to, ya know, actually doing the thing.

Basically Charlie has to learn to move forward off the aids without thinking particularly deeply about it. Preferably off subtle and quiet aids. As Jane Savoie wrote in a well-timed blog post of her own, the "goal is to “whisper” with your aids and have your horse “shout” his response—Not the other way around!"

whoa guys - my horse is standing almost square up front while grazing!!!

To help instill the point in Charlie (lol puns), we finished the ride with a couple walk-trot transitions in each direction. The point being: ask for trot, and as soon as he gives me that nice forward trot that I want, allow him to come back down to walk. Repeat two or three times, then change directions and do it all over again.

the trailer parking area slopes ever so slightly at the end where mine goes, and i'm always 18 kinds of paranoid about it. there's something so unsettling to see the whole trailer shift and roll slightly as soon as i lift the hitch off the receiver... even with wheel chocks. hopefully this giant wood beam behind both rear tires will put my mind at ease about the trailer rolling off one day!!

Charlie was right on the money for this exercise haha, homeboy was woke up and ready to do as he was asked without hesitation, good boy!

He really is a very sensitive horse and has demonstrated a willingness to strike into canter from the most modest re-positioning of my seat and legs. As a self-described nagger, I really REALLY don't want to buy into Charlie's baiting resistance tactics and ultimately deaden him to my cues.

As always tho, the answer is being more consistent in my riding and more responsible for my aids. Le sigh. Maybe if I write that enough times, it'll become reality too?? lol... We'll figure it out eventually. And schooling rides since this lesson have been quite good!

Does your horse go in spurs? For similar reasons, or very different? Or maybe your horse would go through the roof at the merest hint of steel on his sides? How do you choose which spur is right for your purposes? Blunt or rounded vs something with an edge? Length? I'm always so curious how people choose their training aids haha.