Event vs Pattern

On Monday I took TC out and decided that how that ride went would determine whether I'm showing this weekend. Gotta love schooling shows where you can enter at the last minute! Either way, I was planning on going because Ali was going and I couldn't say no to at least getting to a new place.

I was reluctant to show just because I know the show grounds well and they can be VERY overwhelming for a baby just due to their size and how far you can see. Plus the show has two or three rings and can be chaotic. It's very unlike our little show in early April where there were maybe five horses in the warm up and a small jumping lesson in an arena next door. But, you know, he has two more months of training under his belt so that means something, right?

It's going to take him a while to become as
awesome as this guy

I warmed up in the home arena. Now, one thing to know about TC is that he's obsessed with the gate as you'd expect any baby horse to be. I always close the gate at home but actually haven't closed any gates anywhere else. It's like he only really knows what the home gate means. But Monday, the gate was open but there were two people standing in it. TC is very polite so he wouldn't go bowling for people, even if they were standing between him and freedom, so I decided to have a nice lesson in not barging out the gate during work.

He definitely had his eye on it for a long time. We warmed up at the walk and he stared at it. Then we did some trotting and he stared. Even at the canter he was staring. So much that he broke from canter to trot, which rarely happens. He was just fascinated that he could be WORKING while the gate was OPEN. It's just not possible. Work and open gate do not correlate. Baby horse brain implosion.

I'm starting to think he'll never grow into his ginormous face or
stop standing like he's about to fall onto it

After about five or ten minutes, I had my horse back. He wasn't as steady in the bridle as he was on Sunday, but I've been keeping in mind this one comment from Carl Hester who said that because he and Charlotte ride so many young horses, they don't tend to notice if one is having a bad day here and there, as young horses do. But when you're just riding one young horse, you REALLY notice the day-to-day changes.

Knowing this information, I'm trying to differentiate between an event and a pattern of behavior while training TC.

An event is just a one time (or two, three, four, etc) behavior that can easily be explained by something. He wasn't steady in the bridle because he was distracted by the gate. Or he wasn't steady because he was probably a little sore from his ride on Sunday because he insisted on cantering forever. Or the last week when he had lost confidence.

Event: Ali's horse goes around corner and TC
thinks he's been left so charges up the hill

A pattern of behavior happens when it's consistently shitty for a while. If TC was unsteady in the bridle consistently over the course of a month or two, I'd be making major changes in how we were doing things. Change the bit, change the exercises, change the schedule... but that's not what is happening.

This is definitely an event, even the whole loss of confidence due to the clinic last week is an event. I just know that TC is the sort of horse who loses steadiness in the bridle first (likely due to tension) when something goes wrong, be it a distraction, a loss in confidence, or soreness from a previous ride. Good information, I feel like I keep getting to know him better.

So well that on the trail today, he was on a loose
rein the whole time

We worked primarily on bending and transitions at home for a few minutes, but I wanted to go next door to see how quickly he'd settle. Unfortunately our regular arena with the good footing wasn't open. And the next best footing-ed arena had people chasing cows in it. So I went into the small covered arena.

TC had been in there once before. And it sucked. He was a complete basket case. AND he had a babysitter horse there. As we walked in, I was like this is it, if he is controllable in here, I'll enter that damn show. I wasn't expecting much.

And he was fucking perfect.

Well, he was as good as I could have hoped. Sure he was still a little tense, but he was on the bit and focused the entire time. When he saw something scary, he didn't bolt, he just stopped to snort at it, then was a little eager to get back into trot heading the other way. He whinnied once, which I think is a personal record for him since even on our good days, he screams his fucking head off.

We only worked for 5 minutes before we headed back to the barn. On the little trail ride, he only scooted twice. I had my reins loose the whole time except when I had to shorten them to prevent being taken back to the barn at an unreasonable speed. I'm impressed!

Not everyone can be this guy on the trail

So I entered the show. Intro test B. Again. Forever.

I can't even remember it (yet I have all Training, First, Second, and Third tests memorized, plus PSG and GP), something about transitions between letters confuses me and I can't remember where to do all the walk, trot, and twenty meter circles.

But I have a few days to memorize it again!

This face gets me every time, he's always so
concerned that maybe the last sugar cube he
got was his last one ever