deep (dressage) thoughts

Well. Not *my* deep thoughts lol... but Doozy's actually! My sweet little mare has had nothing less than a straight up breakthrough in her flatwork this week -- culminating in a dressage lesson that blew my socks off AND had *Trainer C* asking *me* if she could snap video!! Omg! 

i try to always snap a mirror selfie bc usually it's the only ridden pic from these lessons

In my experience, breakthrough rides don't just happen out of nowhere, ya know? It's sorta like what they say about plane crashes -- except obvi the exact opposite: "Plane crashes are rarely caused by a single factor; they are the result of a chain of events or a series of failures."

but omg, doozy was SO GOOD, trainer C insisted on capturing some video for us!!!

In this instance, the series of factors or chain of events is probably more closely related to the management stuff I wrote about in my last post, vs any significant changes in my effectiveness as a trainer. 

If you wanted me to pin down specifics, I'd probably tag:

- The introduction of sucralfate to our management protocol

- Doozy's bodywork appointment (chiro / acupuncture) midweek last week

- Ridden stretchy exercises we've worked on since, based on counsel from said body worker

- Increased focus on utilizing verbal cues in our schooling sessions

pictured: a thinking mare having a bit of a breakthrough re: her longitudinal balance

The body worker (who you might remember from like... basically the entire history of this blog lol) hasn't seen Doozy for quite a few months, but I was eager to bring her out esp right after the saddle reflock. Predictably, she spent a long time on Doozy's spine and back muscles. 

We talked a lot about Doozy's tension, and my approach to working with her. And she shared techniques for using one-rein stretching at halt, walk, trot, etc to demonstrate, prove, and reinforce to the horse that the stretch and relaxation is where the reward lives -- first and foremost. 

not every step looks like this -- in fact, most **do not** -- but the cadence in her rhythm was incredibly consistent almost the whole ride, omg!

I spent the next two rides working on that stretching technique, which is pretty similar in fundamentals to the 'single rein on a small circle' type exercise I wrote about all the way back in 2014, omg. And honestly, I'm not sure the exact technique totally matters so long as you're consistent and don't move the goal posts for the horse. 

The idea is basically to make a promise to Doozy: stretch down to the inside and release your tension, and I'll release pressure. In as black-and-white, obvious a way as possible. Big exaggerated cues, exaggerated responses from the horse, and exaggerated releases. So that the mare learns, "Oh when Emma does that, she wants me to soften and stretch down to the inside." And then refine from there! (Over time, of course.)

she's really experimenting with the balance too --- like this moment is too deep and on the forehand, but that's kinda a strength thing too

Asking the horse to travel in this posture has a number of interesting effects. First of all, it's a vulnerable posture for a tense flight animal like Doozy. So asking her to release and relax there is... a whole new experience for her. And installing an "on-demand" cue for that release? Potentially a game changer. 

Secondly, it's difficult - maybe even impossible - for the horse to zip and rush in that posture. But not bc *I'm* telling her to slow down -- but bc she legit can't be both fast AND hold the posture I've asked for. Which is a neat way to separate my cues so that, actually, *I* don't have to ask her to slow down -- I just ask her to do something (using a cue she knows) that is difficult to do fast. 

So the decision to slow down becomes... her own choice. And thus, bebe self-carriage is born!! Lightning bolts, guys, omg. 

my habit is to kinda go floppy when she gets soft, instead of continuing to keep the conversation active and support for more inside bend. we're both learning!

So anyway. We spent like two days doing essentially remedial walking, just showing her this cue and praising the ever-loving bejesus out of her when she got it. Just a verrrry little bit of trotting to reinforce the idea without unspooling. And then simply hacked out on the third day before this weekend's lesson.

we had some decent moments in the first canter, but honestly this gait still has a ways to go. the rhythm and balance (ie, not motorcycling around like a speed demon) is happening tho!

And holy shit, Doozy arrived at this lesson like a whole new mare. A mare ready and willing to experiment with her balance. A mare more responsible for her own tempo and rhythm. A mare completely unburdened by anticipation. Amazing!

lol ok so she did kinda zip across the diagonal here -- but this shot makes the changes in her posture in other pictures that much more apparent!

It obvi wasn't all unicorns and roses haha.... Like, I swear to god I was really thinking HARD about sitting up tall the whole ride. Clearly the video (and resulting screengrabs) tell a different story there. 

It's also clear how sorta 'sympathetic' I get with my upper body, trying to literally will the horse down and out with her neck. And then I get all floppy when she actually does soften, sorta like, "Omg holy shit now what!?!"

houston, we have neck length!

The coolest thing, tho, and the main reason for watching at least some of the video, is to see the difference in Doozy's trot cadence and tempo. Even when she's kinda all over the place with her neck carriage, there were very few moments in this ride where she truly zipped off. 

An interesting byproduct was that I found myself on a few different occasions realizing that I had not adequately prepared the mare for an up transition. Like, normally I can literally just like, think about transitioning to trot or canter, and simply not *block* the forward, and she goes. But in this new balance, it's clear I need to get better about preparing her more. 

she really tried her heart out this whole ride omg <3 <3

Trainer C and I spent the bulk of the lesson kinda trying to pick our jaws up off the floor, half waiting for the spell to break and normal Doozy to reappear. 

But when that just like... never happened, we mostly worked on simple figures and bebe leg yields and the weird broken center lines from the low level eventing tests. 

yea.... so still a few moving parts in need of adjustment. one thing at a time!

Then to finish the ride (and give Trainer C something to video since omg!), we worked through the canter patterns from the Starter A test for a few minutes. All of which is contained in the video below.

finally, a flat work video that does the mare some justice!

The craziest thing to me about this video is that... it's from the end of the ride. Like we'd already been going for some time, had taken a few breaks, picked the mare up a few times to restart. And she just stayed so relaxed. Didn't get jiggy or anticipatory or any more meaningfully tight than she'd been. Didn't even really seem to get more tired either. 

so pleased with this critter <3 <3

She was just so good, guys. Like, so good. Doozy is a complicated horse for me to ride, especially on the flat. And I've harbored what feels like a... not unrealistic degree of doubt about my ability to properly develop her to her potential. 

But I believe in the horse, she's a very cool horse -- and is proving to be very game too! I think she likes the partnership, and likes being good. Rides like this really give me a big boost in believing we might eventually put together a really nice test. Probably not at our next show lol, or even this season. But eventually lol, and that's enough!