A Tom Dorrance quote popped up on Facebook this morning. I read the words before coffee, before getting out of bed, before my eyes were really open.
"It's when a person rushes a horse's progress that people are inclined to make comments about that horse being what they'd call, 'a problem'."
This quote really made me think.
EQUU8's little trial horse, Malibu, is not afraid of much, but she is very easily distracted and is quite opinionated —in a negative sort of way — about picking up a trot. She'd much rather walk on her own terms and be allowed to look at the scenery. Her big goals for becoming an EQUU8 horse are getting soft, straight, and willing to move through walk/trot transitions. She has already exhibited complete acceptance and curiosity of all kinds of therapeutic riding equipment.
In the two weeks she's been at EQUU8, she's been exposed to groundwork and leading. She's been ridden three times, with the first two walk-only rides emphasizing softness and moving off leg pressure...which involved lots of one rein-stops. She was more spritely in her third ride, so deep ribbon candy serpentines were utilized, giving me lots of time to practice lifting a foot with the reins. It was during that ride that she offered to trot with little resistance (after maybe three walking strides) and maintained a fairly good attitude about it.
Which brings us to today. After a good groundwork session with an elusive pony and a nice ride with Kathy and Sis, I returned home to a setting sun and Malibu.
When being ridden, she's heavy on the bit and resists left flexions and moving off a left leg. But to be completely honest with myself, I'm aware that she's also heavy from the ground, so today was a good day for groundwork rather than pushing her to progress from the saddle.
A few key points of focus for today were getting her to follow a feel through the change of directions by tipping her nose, moving her hindquarters and then her frontquarters with a drape in the leadrope. In order for this to get pretty reliable, my focus was placed on releasing when she moved her feet. After some progress in the halter, I released her to move freely around the arena ended up directing her with the flag. By the end of the groundwork session, there was a change in her attitude and attention. Looking forward to carrying it back into the saddle.
