Starting Canter Bootcamp

Friday I sat on ice all day hoping my back would be okay to ride, it felt good enough, and actually has been getting better because *surprise* sitting at a desk doesn't reinjure backs as effectively as riding horses all day. TC had gotten Thursday off because of the rain so I was expecting some shit over the weekend.

It's turning into winter time!
Kinda, this is from winter 2012

I grabbed the longe line and draw reins. Yes, draw reins, go ahead and shame me for it, I don't care. I want him to go in them safely because the odds are that at some point in his future life, he'll be ridden in them, and I also wanted to give him a little extra help at the canter.

We walked up with a lady who was just wandering around the ranch, so TC had to leave that horse to go in the arena. He was sour about that. He was also sour when a horse came in the arena, and sour when the horse left, and when another horse came in later. I think this is something I want to work on with BRH Trainer when I go back down for Christmas. Get TC used to horses entering and leaving the arena without having a heart attack.

Inside the arena, people (on the ground) were roping a sawhorse type thing. So TC had to deal with that. Unfortunately this meant that he was a bit more distracted AND we were stuck at one end of the arena rather than being able to use the whole thing. Oh well. Such is life at the barn doing a pretty good job of bombproofing the hell out of my baby horse. I'm still somewhat desperate to get into ideal barn, but I'll take the good where I can.

Missing this barn, well, mostly the bay horse who lives there

He was surprisingly great at first, which was nice because one of my friends from when I worked at the event barn was in there and she hasn't seen him go before. Nothing like hanging out with an old friend who knew you as a decent dressage rider and having a baby horse forget how to horse. But he was good. We mostly just trotted around, working on the connection and staying a bit more forward.

I really need to work to ride him in different trots. With Rico, it was easier to play with the gaits because we had everything from piaffe to extended trot. TC just... trots. So we worked a bit more forward and it really helped the connection. I got to a trot where I felt all fluttery, where he was so powerful and forward that a tiny part of me felt like he was going to explode but he didn't. It was so fun! And a good reminder to sit in the back seat.

The canter wasn't great at first. Unfortunately for my back, he was a bit change happy and kept bucking to change. Fortunately for our future, all of his changes were clean, albeit a bit croup high (since he is bucking through them). I got on his case about it a few times and he quit, but I was definitely feeling it in my back later that day. Sciatica and just general pain. Boo. But by today, Monday, I'm pain free as long as I don't bend it in any direction.

Summer time was pretty nice too

The horse who had been riding with us left so I put him on a figure-8 and dealt with the shit he piled on me about that horse. Luckily for me, two teenagers came in to ride shortly after, so he quickly forgot about the first horse and attached himself to those horses. Ugh. But it allowed me to experiment with the draw reins. I put them on him, just attached to the sides of his girth by my feet. We rode with them loose at first, then I picked up contact to make sure that he wasn't going to do anything when he felt that sort of pressure. In true TC fashion, they barely registered on his radar.

We then cantered with the draw reins relatively loose and then I shortened them up over time. The change was amazing. He finally had the support he needed to really come round at the canter and I was able to focus completely on driving him forward into it and just keeping my hands still. The right lead was still a bit on the flat side for my liking, but the left (when he wasn't breaking) was absolutely incredible. He bounded uphill, finally giving me a place to sit and giving me the canter that I know was in there all along.

This is one of my favorite pictures ever

Overall I was SUPER stoked to find that canter in there! Even though he was a bit bronc-y and spooky for most of the ride. I'm really excited to see his canter transform this winter.

Jade is doing better with her eye, although she HATES to be picked up now because to her it means that she's getting her antibiotics. Poor kitty. She thinks that the minimal Christmas decorations I have out (just some lights) are really entertaining, so I'm glad I'm not getting her a tree to destroy this year, maybe next year.