werk that line, mare!

So remember that thing that has been on my to-do list for ages and ages - since December, actually? You win a cookie if you guessed long lining! 

(Wait, you mean nobody remembered that??)

Well it finally happened! Yay!! The weather was glorious and my horse isn't quiiite ready for working under saddle... but she *can* start light light light work - so. What more of a reason did I need? Plus, when I asked barn mate N (our resident long lining aficionado) if I could borrow her lines, she actually volunteered to show me the ropes (hee hee). I was actually quite impressed with Isabel too - she showed right up with her thinking cap firmly in place. It's not known if she's ever done this before, but no matter, she was very very good. I can't exactly say she wasn't braced or tense, bc she was. But it wasn't about resistance or the 'I don't wannas.' Rather, we were asking her to move in a new and different (and, coincidentally, more correct) manner and it was a little difficult for her. (Have I mentioned just how crooked this horse is? Bc she's pretty crooked...)

I let N kick things off with the lines since she actually knows what she's doing. Meanwhile I asked approximately 8 million questions (and took just as many pictures... do zillions of pics make walking on a circle for an hour look interesting?? bc... there's that many in this post and they all pretty much look exactly the same haha).

She started by walking alongside Isabel in big sweeping circles while Isabel sorted out what in the fresh hell it was we wanted her to do now. Once the 'go' button and steering worked, N drew it into a fairly small-ish circle, maybe 10m, and stayed stationary in the center. She said it's ok for the horse to go as slow as it needs to - and it CAN sputter to a stop, then you just ask it to start walking again. No racing here.

She explained the general mechanics of what she was doing. The inside line should always be straight and taut, with that hand anchored at your side. The outside line (which goes behind the horse's legs) can give or take and that hand is mobile. So when the inside line goes slack you increase tension on the outside. When the inside line is taut you give with the outside. 

And it's ok for the horse to be counterbent (Isabel was, actually, for most of it) as that's a sign that they have some unevenness in their pelvis that they need to level out. We're just supposed to focus on the lines.

It's actually very similar to holding the reins while riding, and when it was my turn I had the same exact issues I always have haha. Like floating my inside elbow forward when it was supposed to remain steadily in place. And not getting the timing quite right with giving the reins... Plus oddly enough I could feel myself collapsing through my core on one side or the other the same as I do while riding too... inneresting. 

N also told me a bit about what she looks for in the horses while they go - different muscle groups letting go of tension and relaxing.She learned all this from our bio-mechanics trainer, with whom she's been riding for many years - so it was actually a mini lesson for me. N couldn't quite describe how the muscles change when they're relaxed (tho she knows it when she sees it), but did say that 'jiggling is good.'But really, Isabel was quite good and settled into a slow but seriously engaged and over-tracking rhythmic walk. N didn't have any preference about starting on good side v. bad, and randomly chose to track left - the easier side. She spent a good while letting Isabel sort herself out before handing the lines to me. I didn't make too much of a muddle of it, and got pretty close to the 'objective' of having Isabel travel a couple laps with the inside line remaining evenly taut (we got about 3/4 of a lap. close enuff). So I passed the lines back to N so she could show me how to turn the horse around (not actually very complicated) and get started on Isabel's tougher direction.Going right was definitely more difficult for Princess and N pointed out that she really wants to fall in more (you don't say!). So I let them sort it out and when they achieved a better degree of relaxation over Isabel's back, we let it be done with that. Isabel was in an excellent mental state the whole time - really trying and processing and thinking. I didn't want to mess that up by giving her a rougher go in her tough direction relative to how N handled her. So N ended on a relaxed note, with Isabel coming to a soft, round, and shockingly-close-to-square halt all on her very own.So I think we'll try this again. All in all we spent about an hour doing it, and Isabel never threw a fit or got bored or too distracted (just once - the earlier pic w her head straight up when some deer ran by). Plus, by the end her whole body was nice and warm, but not hot or sweaty, and she wasn't breathing very heavily and hadn't coughed once. N recommended that we start tracking right next time tho - and that we should really focus on getting more relaxation through Isabel's back in that direction. By the end, Isabel had moments, but nothing consistent. The idea is that the more you do it, the better the horse understands what you're doing, and the easier it becomes to find that relaxation and looseness. Have you ever long lined your horse? Or do you use other ground work methods for similar results? Lunging, side reins, etc?