Using ALL the Aids

This first week back to work after TC's abscess has been really great. I think the time off really allowed a lot of processing in his brain because while we still are experiencing some weaknesses, TC is really coming into his own with the dressage work. 

I know it's gotten old, but I remain pleasantly surprised and happy that the change in paddock has made such a difference for us. Even after a week off, we went back to work without a hitch- no longeing or nutty days. That plus the bombproofing clinic giving me a good incite into TC's bored little brain, and even the increase of spooking that came with moving to a slightly smaller paddock hasn't got me too worried. He doesn't spook when we're working, after all. 

They got a new manure thing, TC was NOT okay with that

The work itself has been quite good, though I'm really feeling my lack of dressage lessons in the last nine months that he's been home. I've only had two of them, and two in nine months isn't quite enough, especially when one was focused on preventing a behavior rather than giving me tools and fixing my position. 

It's not like I need lesson after lesson anymore, certainly not at this level, but I can't catch things as quickly as an instructor can, and when I do catch things, I tend to be a bit more dramatic about fixing it. One of my mottos on Rico was "never pay for the same lesson twice," meaning that I didn't want to take two lessons that were very similar because I didn't work hard enough to make the changes in between lessons. And that sometimes meant big drastic changes in how I was riding. 

I had to dump that idea with TC, because all of the dressage lessons I've had on him (all, what, four of them total) have been repeats. Stop moving that hand, Megan. The right side of your body also exists, Megan. But the mentality remains that if I discover a hole or a problem, I leap right into it and fix it, and poor TC has to deal with a bit of a drastic change. Obviously Rico had to deal with that too, but Rico was the sort of horse you could do cartwheels off of and he'd ignore you. 

My coworkers are almost convinced that we
should move our office outside... 

Tuesday night I rode in the indoor and we were working on the quality of the gaits, playing with collection in the canter while maintaining the jump. One of the issues we've had to the left is that he wants to drift out to the right with his whole body and leave his nose on the circle I want him on. One of the issues I've historically had to the left is not using my right side and just pulling on the inside rein like my life depends on it. 

I noticed that I couldn't get him onto a smaller circle, despite the canter being on a small enough step, and then it hit me. USE YOUR FUCKING RIGHT SIDE. And I immediately sat down on my right seat bone, took my right shoulder down and back, connected the outside rein, released the inside rein and drove him over with my right leg. TC, thinking he was doing just fine and then having a huge change in how I was riding, pushed back against me a bit. That's a bit unusual for him, but I realized I've probably been riding him like this for a while and he was like "nah, we do it this way" so I had to go to the whip. 

He REALLY didn't appreciate being thwapped on the butt to get over, and offered me a couple of bucks! I can count on one hand the number of times he's said no to me, and that was a no! But one more swat with the whip and he then gave me haunches in on a circle, got a lot rounder, and maintained it for the rest of the week (as long as I used my outside aids properly, gah). He felt so much more rideable! You know, like horses do when you use more than half your aids. 

I left that ride on Tuesday feeling kind of down. I had to hit him, he thought it was unfair... and then I realized that getting through an entire ride and having to hit the horse once is not a bad ride. Rico and I had a lot more fights, every day. TC and I just don't fight, so one small disagreement makes me feel like we had a knock down drag out fight. 

His ears are getting so gray

The rest of the week has been going well, and if all goes well, we might have another fun adventure this weekend! The quest to get TC off the property as many times as possible this spring continues. And hopefully this weekend I can catch up on prepping for this blog so that I can actually get back on a schedule.