Jun 5'11

So today I rode Uccello for the 2nd time - and I knew what to expect. His previous rider (last year) was a really young hunter rider who didn't really know how to ride him very through or connected. As a result, he started flipping his head, hopping up and down, and being tense and agitated. 

Fasst forward to now: It was my 2nd ride in 2 years, Cello's 2nd ride since October '10 and it went pretty well. He is right back where he was before - with the tension and the head flipping, but I'm not too concerned about it. It doesn't feel like he wants to evade and back off, or anything unsafe, so I should be able to sort it out within a week or so. 

Basically what my plan is is to ride him 4-5 days a week just walk-trot-canter, and treat him kind of like a baby. He's only had a grand total of 3 years under saddle - one when he was a baby, and two as a hunter/dressage low-level horse. So really he hasn't had any formal dressage training, or much consistent progression. He has an amazingly kind, playful temperament, and physically he fits me really well. He's the perfect size. 

Today's ride went pretty well - he's not really sure what to expect from me, so he gets a bit nervous at first when I get in the saddle. I just let him walk on a completely loose rein until he snorts and starts breathing well. When I go to collect my reins I have to keep him supple on both sides of the bit, and remind him to stay forward off my leg, or he gets tense and wants to flip his head. 

That's the whole deal with his head-flippy thing. It's not a contact problem, it's not an attitude problem. It's a body/suppleness problem. If he's not 100% in front of my leg, he kind of tenses up throughout his back and the base of his neck, and then he gets worried that I'm going to "fix" it by tooling around with his mouth. That's probably how it was dealt with in the past - so I've got to make sure that the minute I feel him suck back and get tense, I have to send him forward, supple his inside ribcage with my leg and keep a nice supporting (but forward) contact so that he can go over his back and not feel stuck. 

He feels much stiffer to the left - leans on my left (inside) leg and I don't know him well enough to use my spur or give him a good thump to get him OFF my leg - so I'm just pushing him over gently and taking a nice outside rein contact. Also, at this point my priority is to keep him happy and stress-free in the bridle, so if I were to kick him through on the left I think that would disrupt that. So for now, I'll allow a bit of left leaning, until I can be sure my outside (right) rein contact is not compromised when I go to adjust the left ribs. 

I worked on transitions with him too - he feels like he's used to being abandoned in the contact and just kicked forward in the upwards transitions, and just pulled back on in the downwards transitions. He doesn't really know how to stay connected and supple through the transition yet - bit he is learning very fast and within a few minutes he knew what I wanted.

Also with him, he's used to being ridden very overbent (deep?) and he reverts back to this when he gets tense, if I don't allow him to back off and flip his head. So, it's his safety spot - he feels like he wants to be way too round and low. I don't want him there - I want him as low as it takes to get his back and hindlegs going, but not so low that he's on the forehand and incorrect. It's a balancing act.

Some pics from today? Sure!

1) This is where I want his neck. I have his back (behind the saddle) and he's still lifting through the shoulders.

 2) Just a touch too long of reins here, but his hindlegs are still trucking through, so not a big problem

 3) Not round enough - see his back behind the saddle? hollow. And his throatlatch is closed, neck too short.

 4)Not too bad. Could have shorter reins and push him up more.

 5) Like this - better connection and he's moving forward well.

 6) He's going to have a beautiful second trot - very expressive in front and behind.

 7) I want him a touch higher than this - but this will do for Day 2!

 8) Oops! my correction sucked - he's too high here. See his underneck? bulging and this makes him drop his back.

 9) good bit foam!

 10) This trot is almost ideal. In the pics above I had him too low, too high, and now this is almost just right. Wish his neck were 2 inches longer though.

 11) His canter is pretty wild - He kind of bombs around like a hunter so I need to teach him to let me push on him and then halfhalt the energy back. His canter is big though, he's got an engine!

 12) He's got a funny shaped neck kind of - it's short and has no muscle tone. But I love the amount of contact he is giving me here - Not too much (see the bit rings are not pulling too much) but enough so I can access his hindlegs when I half halt.

 13) This is where I'm going to have to keep him in the canter for a few weeks - This neck length is perfect for  me right now, I just really need to sit back more and shorten the stride behind - he's too open behind the saddle. Good contact though.

 14)I'm just starting to let him stretch here for cool-down. I'm really happy how much he's shortened behind the saddle, while still stretching out and down in front, and lifting through the shoulders. rockstar!

 15) And he gets a big pat for stretching properly - look how round he is behind the saddle, how far under his hindlegs are reaching. I love this horse!

I know I've only ridden him twice, and we are both coming back from long layoffs, and we both have physical and emotional baggage, but I'm happy with today. I got shit done!

That's it for today. GO CANUCKS GO!