Changing TC's Posture

Yesterday I had a lesson with a new to us trainer! And I realized it was the first time we'd hauled out to work since early March, which is good because we're showing in just a few days. I'm happy to report that the horse gave no fucks and even showed off his very fancy changes (which continue to get bigger, I can't understand how we'll ever string together tempis in a space as small as a dressage court).

Anne is my physical therapist (and very accomplished CDI rider and dressage judge) and I had mentioned to her back in February that I did want to take lessons from her at some point. But then the pandemic hit.

I reached out to her because I couldn't get my shit together with my remote lessons and I wanted another perspective on TC's weird topline issues and throughness/rideability. Anne has a lot of experience working with very different types and her mom actually trained several Ideal babies so she's familiar with this type. She's also so so so good with the biomechanics and I was certain that was part of it.

TC being amazing, me not sure what to do with my body in
this place

I warned her that we have a show this weekend and that I was fine to just have this be an introductory lesson where she can get to know us, then we could do more later. I then told her that I couldn't get my strings on him and couldn't get his withers up. She told me that some horses break strings and you need to be more like the terminator and think of it more of a machine with hydraulics attaching to the horse. I liked that visual. But the fact obviously remained that I just couldn't get him up under me.

We started with some warm up trot and canter, and TC was a bit strung out, but he was stepping nicely into the bridle and was quite forward off my leg. Anne's first impressions were that he wasn't engaging his pecs enough and that he was just a little out behind and on the forehand. Yep, that's my horse! She made sure to tell me that he was absolutely where he needed to be for Third level and I shouldn't worry, but that these tendencies will affect the feeling that I don't have any influence over him. She also very kindly reminded me that Third level is designed to introduce a lot of the upper level movements and that in her R judging program, they told the judges to not expect a lot of clean tests at that level with it being the first time horses are doing changes and half passes in the ring.

This is TC's natural way of standing, no wonder he is so tricky
to put together, my god horse, look more like you're going to fall
on your face. 

She had me do a little work in canter on a smaller circle, saying to let exercises collect him so I can add leg to get him to sit. That did work quite nicely and he showed off a beautiful change to swap directions. We then walked and I told her that canter was my strong gait and that the trot was rough for both of us, which is funny because he's built to trot. We discussed that TC loses the explosive power when he collects his gaits and then she asked whether I'd ever worked in "creep"

Tracey had me ride Rico in creeping gaits (basically extremely short strided, but very active gaits). This put Rico firmly behind the leg and so I've tended to only use it on very forward horses to great success. TC is not particularly forward in the collected gaits, therefore I have not used it on him.

I was a bit concerned but figured I'd come out on Wednesday and do an entire ride in a working gallop if I had to. We began in walk and she had me slow him down. My concern grew. But Anne made sure that he stayed in front of my leg, that is, after all, part of the purpose of the exercise. Something that had not been emphasized nearly enough when I was riding Rico (and one of the reasons why I went to Heidi momentarily to snag my Gold medal)

Working my damned hardest to stay in a flexion pattern and
I just fucking cannot, but also my horse has never made this
shape with his body so something is working I suppose

Our main goal was to get him to shift from his chest down posture to a more upright, pecs engaged posture with his hind legs stepping further under his body. To do this, he needed to be active behind but shifting his mass back, so we started with the mass and then activated the hind legs. Frequent transitions out helped him understand that he needed to be ready to go at any moment, but coming back could be difficult because I find it so easy to push horses, not to encourage them to carry.

I had to stay in a flexion pattern in my body, which I tend to lose. Anne pointed out that when I go to trot, I drop my knees down a bit (cannot wait to have decent blocks on my new saddle so I can actually notice this) and this causes me to let go of my flexion pattern the most. She wanted me to imagine wearing bike shorts and yanking them up toward the block at the seams in the middle of my thighs.

I was shocked at how difficult this was. My core burned as it always does (this horse's gaits, y'all) but this was in a very different way. More of a crunch than a stabilizing hold, so I fatigued quickly. My inner thigh is still burning today, and my hip flexors feel weird.

Working so hard and yet, still in extension in my upper body

But TC's posture fully changed. I could feel him shift his mass back, it always started out with a slight resistance in the bridle, then a falter in his gait, then I could finally feel his hind legs. Anne asked a lot of questions, can I feel him slipping left, can I feel his mass shift back, can I feel both long back muscles. I had to stop and tell her "what I'm most excited about in this moment is the fact that I can feel his hind legs for the first time EVER" because it was true. I knew exactly where they were because *shocker* they were under my seat.

When we got this posture right, Anne encouraged me to soften my hand and see if I could hold it. This was not new information, I literally use this lesson to deal with horses who lean on the rider's hands. I can rattle off a ton of people who have taken this exact lesson from me and probably assumed this was coming next. BUT I haven't ever done this with TC because he is the type of horse who needs to be much more INTO the bridle, right?

Well, Anne said yes but no. She said that he was approaching Fourth level and needed to be able to carry himself, obviously. The lightness in the bridle is just his conformation, I have to determine self carriage in other ways, such as when I give the reins, does he drop his back vs when I give the reins, does he lighten up. It was interesting. I gave the reins and he sought contact as he always does, but sometimes it was in the posture we had put him in and sometimes it was because he dropped his wither down. We schooled it a bunch and by the end, got a few steps here and there where I could get his neck out without losing that posture.

So hard to get him into this place and tell when he's there, now
we will begin working on my posture lol

I was SO pleased with the lesson. It was mostly walking (we only cantered for like 3 minutes because I told her I couldn't ride his trot), lots of talking, and just working on a circle. But it was exactly what TC and I needed! All the walk work translated into the best quality trot I've ever felt and a canter where I felt like I could ride a canter pirouette if I so felt like it. Transitions in and out were stellar too, sometimes I feel like I have to drop him into trot and just hope that he stays with me, this time I had complete influence over every limb, so I could decide when to put him into trot.

I'm super excited to ride with Anne again. I think she's my missing piece in TC and his training plan. I adore Tanya but I see Tanya as a trainer who pushes me along the levels. She's the one I'm going to ride TC's first canter pirouettes with and TC's first tempi changes with. Then I go to Anne and work on the basics, work on the details, figure out how to help TC stay under himself while doing the movements Tanya has us doing. They know each other well and both have a biomechanics background, so I'm certain that they won't work against each other (the biggest issue IMO in riding with multiple trainers and why I haven't ever done this in the past).

I think I'll see Anne again in early July. This Friday we have our show, then the SO and I found a cabin to rent at a campground nearby for a night next week so that takes away two riding days, then Tanya comes in and I go teach a clinic, then I'm hopefully getting a saddle (at least one on trial). I'm hoping to get Anne's opinion on the saddle (it will be too late for Tanya), so that'll be early July. I think depending on everyone's schedule and the show schedule, I'd love to ride with Tanya once a month (as I have been) and Anne twice a month, then for my fourth lesson a month, I'll either do a remote lesson with Tanya or add another Anne lesson, depending on what TC and I need.