Back to full training!

Summer holidays truly over and I finally find some time to do an update over here! :D 

After another two weeks of complete field holiday for our boy we are back in full action for past couple weeks. No unevenness at all left, hooray! His energy levels dropped a bit, but some more oats into diet and especially coming in for the nights are doing the trick. Fitness needs also addressing, but that comes eventually with the training.

But the main thing is, that he is now back to business and full training again.

We have done a bit of this and that during the past couple weeks. Including a couple videos which you can view with Will’scommentary over here. I am so happy with the comments! :D

I knew that lunging has gone really well lately and that he suddenly has started to really stretch from the base of his neck, but I truly did not expect anything very much positive commentary from the riding. 

He did feel really good to ride, expect that I just couldn't get him to stretch as beautifully under saddle as he did on the lunge… He steps nicely enough under with good rhythm and pace, and is mostly soft and supple, but tends to turtle his neck and not really fully release it to a proper stretch. Furthermore, he has gotten a bit stiff on his right side again (it has always been his stiffer side) and thus work on the left rein is then more difficult, because he is finding it difficult to stretch, then bend and work proper.

But I agree totally with Will’s comments. Also very happy of the comments that I didn't expect! Many times when you see your horse every day, you miss a lot of subtle and gradual changes in his going. It's therefore very good to have a trainer, who does not see your horse every day, or to take video regularly and compare them from time to time. So, I’m happy to have been told that he looks softer, belly is starting to really come into play, moves in general better and shows the first signs of getting some lift in his movement. Overall, he has improved despite the injury and lengthy rehab, and that makes me happy. 

During the rehab I've been thinking how much further we would have been, if only… And how much training time we have lost… Thinking that we have gone backwards in all and how long it will take to get back into fitness. But it’s been actually surprising how much fitness he has kept despite it all. I would attribute it to the fact that we kept on stretching him long and low albeit in walk mostly during the rehab. It kept his belly up and although he lost muscle inevitably, he did not loose it all. Now getting back to full speed is not so difficult. He does need extra encouragement to move forward since his fitness level is not yet there, but otherwise it seems that he just automatically has resumed his normal working mode.

So, it's onward and upwards! Literally! ;)

Plan now is to lunge most of the week and ride about twice a week. Will asked me to start pushing his hindquarters out on the left rein to straighten him and to get him stretching better. That then also enables him to start bending properly. So, my plan includes spiral work on the lunge on left. That is, when he pushes out with his shoulder and therefore brings in his hindquarters, I'll take him into a smaller circle and give him more pressure with the whip on his hind. Not whipping here, I hardly have to even touch him with the whip, usually my body language and pointing the whip to his hind is enough to make him move forward. So, I have a slightly sturdier contact on the bit and I’m driving him more onward with my cues. He usually lunges forward into faster pace at first, but still head low. After a while he starts to supple and when I see him softening through his whole body and moving his hindquarters visibly over (I keep an eye on the tracks he makes with his hind feet relative to the front), I let him gradually move onto a larger circle. If he lapses back into stiffer form with hindquarters moving inwards, I immediately take firmer contact and bring him back to a smaller circle and repeat the procedure. Consistency is the key here as with everything! And the amount of time I spend taking him to the spiral should get less and less. 

I tried this yesterday and it worked very well indeed!

Right rein, however, is looking suppler. And since he is still showing slight difficulty in smaller circles and the occasional tighter turn on right rein, I tend to keep him on as big a circle as possible, just as Will comments… on 20-30 m circles.  

Canter I thought at first has not really improved. But after editing the videos and watching them several times over, I started to realise that it does look a little bit better perhaps. And happily Will commented seeing the same. By no means it is anywhere near ready and requires a lot more work, but it is uplifting that it's also better than it was - we are definitely not back to square one.

I’m also trying to remember to give him an easier day at least once a week and of course some day or so off as well. Rest agrees with him, so it is important to remember not to push it on 100% all the time.

There we go! Lets see what the next weeks will bring!