I just took nearly a week off to rest my back again. It rained pretty hard yesterday, so I figured the Mosquitos would be pretty bad, and boy was I right. Cello had welts the size of my face in a couple spots. Poor dude. Anyways, I warmed him up with walk leg yields on the wal again and he was a bit sticky on the left. I don't like to bug horses on one particular thing, so I just super him a bit with my left leg and rein and just left it like that. When I picked up the trot it was the first time he felt super swingy and soft from the start. He didn't wantto just rush off which both made me happy and a bit shocked at the same time. May e some time off is good for his mind.

I just did some super stretchy trot work, leg yields, osome forward and back transitions, and some calm, quiet canter work. He's still a bit tricky in the canter, especially going right. It feels more uphill and engaged, but I really have to ride him in shoulder fore and keep both legs on. It's a struggle, though I'm sure it looks fine if you're watching. It's coming.

I'm also cooling him down and incorporating the half steps and some collected trot work. He has extreme ability to collect, but he gets tight and tense if he thinks he's being shoved into it. So basically I keep my reins long and low, and just focus on keeping his neck mobile and supple and round. Then when I shift both legs back and cluck a bit, he sits his little butt down and really gets lift and cadence.I barely have to do anything. he has a good half step coming and quite a good passage, for the very few steps I ask him for. I praise him a lot and give him sugar after three or 4 steps. I just k ow that when it comes time for him to get serious about piaffe and passage, I would rather have him familiar with the aids and the rhythm. That way it's not a big deal or a big adjustment, and when he's string enough to do it for real it's not going to be an issue.

After the ride we went out on the trails and he enjoyed looking at all the grass and flowers in the fields.

My YouTube account is called JamieDeanne91...or click on this linky!  YouTube account

I have added some clips from yesterday - lateral work, counter canter work, and some lengthened stride trot work. It's hard work, this dressage crap...

So today was a really good, positive ride on Cello. It felt like all the hard work we have been doing 3-4 days a week is really starting to come together - in just 15 or 16 rides since we both started back he feels like a proper dressage horse, not a green 2 x 4 that needs a shot of tequila to relax.

I gave his owner a lesson on him yesterday, and prior to that he had 2 days off. Today he was awesome. We started up loose rein walk like always (until he breathes deeply and snorts) and then I did some half steps with nice flexion to get his  hind legs a little quicker. After 5 mins of that we did our walk head-to-the-wall LY both ways, schooling walk pirouettes, and some seat-only halt transitions.

But the majority of today was me working again on his suppleness (through leg yields across the long diagonal) so that he can be a little more adjustable longitudinally. He gets stiff through the topline when you change the length of his frame - it takes him a couple of strides to adjust - so I want to nip that in the bud now, and elasticize him that way. I want him to feel like a slinky - smooth adjustability every which way.

It was hotter than a forest fire today, I tell ya! almost 30 degrees and no wind. We only schooled for 35 mins or so after our warmup....but I set up my iPhone on the marker at 'C' and turned it on. Trouble is, I rotated it the wrong way so I have to figure out how to flip it right side up. In the meantime, I took a whole crap ton of stills from it.

and here. we. go....

first 5 mins of trot - active but tight in the throatlatch

canter getting much better. still too long behind the saddle here though

we hadn't ever tried counter canter before - he does auto hunter lead changes  so it was a surprise he stayed as balanced as he did!

the counter-canter helped to get his hindlegs under more and fill in the space behind the saddle

which in turn helped his trot become more uphill and again, shorter behind the saddle. He's a little tight in the neck here, and who knows WTF my right hand is doing way up there??

And when I tried to bring him back from the lengthening, he stiffened through his topline and lost his balance..

canter is coming. It's his worst gait, he doesn't bring his outside hind forward enough, or have enough oomph in it. his inside hind is great though. gotta work on the outside!

trot looks great here. lifting in the shoulders, coming through behind, filling out the dips both at the wither and behind the saddle.

I have to remember going right lead canter, to shorten that left rein and get  my hand a lot closer to his neck. His shoulders like to drift out to the rail.

our working trot is becoming much more stable!look at the muscle line at his wither. ..we still have a long ways to go but it's starting to develop. Unfortunately this is too high for his neck, it will cause his back to drop in the next stride or two if I don't lower it an inch or two.

then we worked on our lengthened stride in trot - his medium and extended trots are going to be fantastic!

I let him get up too high in his neck again. Good effort on his part to try to keep his hindlegs going though

he loves to lengthen - he lets his back really swing and it makes me laugh!

and then we transition back to a regular trot and everything goes to crap. gross neck, not using hindlegs properly, dip  both in front and behind the saddle. I am not strong enough in my core yet to ride this down transition very clearly - I should know to make it more gradual so I can keep him together.

starting LY from left to right - front legs cross nicely

as do the back legs! maybe too much left flexion though,

that's better with less left flexion

right to left LY is much harder for some reason. He has a tricky left shoulder - never wants to stay straight so he tilts his little face. It's a work in progress.

he's very flexible though. For a horse who had no idea what a leg yield was, or  even what a lateral leg aid was one month ago, he's come very far

and that lateral work really changes the angle of their pelvis - it rotates under much easier when they are supple.

little too round here

trot looking good, my half halt looks like it got stuck right in the middle of his neck though.  I half halted to bring his haunches under and to lift his shoulders more, but it only went as far as his throatlatch.

and so this is what happens right after - drops his back, gets too high in his neck and I take a bump to my lower back. ick!

But all in all he's coming along really nicely. It feels like sometimes when I half halt in the trot he offers a bit of a collected PUSH with his hind legs that tells me he's folding them really well and not just slowing down or plopping onto his front feet - it feels like he has a passage somewhere in there that might be easy to access in a few years.

Ok, sorry guys. I fixed both vids - the most recent post was the original footage from our 2nd ride (back in June) and the previous post has the most recent footage - from yesterday.

I'm happy with the progress! much happier horse, I must say. And MUCH more supple and adjustable.

Let me know what y'all think

Well the video from yesterday's ride won't load, but the original video from the second ride in (June 2) loaded. At least it's something! You'll see how unsteady and resistant he was back then, and how unbalanced the canter was. It's ugly! Meanwhile, I'll work on the new vid.

13 rides ago: (1 month)

and today: note the reach of the hindlegs, the lengthening (and muscling!) at the base of his neck and the freedom of his shoulders.. Also the lack of breaking @ the 3rd vertebra - I try to "even out" his neck. He has a dip in front of his withers and was taught to break at the 3rd, stick the middle of his neck at you, and brace underneath. It is getting much bette.! Check out the length of his back behind the saddle - he's finally coming through from behind better - no dip behind the saddle, and he's shortening his frame behind the saddle while lengthening it from the withers to the poll - success! 

Finally! A really crappy video! Just what you all wanted, right? Sorry it's so spectacularly crappy, The fencepost was my tripod and between you and me, he ain't as good as he thinks he is. So, here's what's shakin'...

Today was just a stretchy trot day, with a bit of canter thrown in. His hunter canter that came with him was very flat, on the forehand, and runny. Runny like a broken egg. So I've been just doing small amounts with lots of transitions, to get him stronger and able to have more jump and freedom of his shoulders. It's really coming along - today was the first time where I asked him to canter, he did without fuss, and he settled right down and gave me somewhere comfy to sit. I could half halt a bit, slow down, and go forward without losing the jump or the swing in his back. He is like a jackhammer when he locks you out of his back!

His lateral work is coming, we didn't do a whole ton today, like I said it was a stretchy day. I'll try to get some actual schooling footage this week sometime, where you can actually follow along and see what we're up to.

Any questions, feel free to ask!
(and I realize he gets quite low/too round sometimes - it's the price you pay for trying to make them toooo supple. I know I can always bring him up for schooling and I don't mind making him loosey goosey and risking him getting a bit BTV sometimes - it's not ideal but that's life. All the horses I see ridden up and in front of the vertical are stiffer than 2 x 6' planks and never through or supple.) As long as I am not intentionally riding him this round and this low on purpose, I am ok with it. Stretchy work can get a bit like this until they are strong enough to remain totally supple AND out/in front of the bit + long/low. But this is why I video myself - so I can be aware of this kind of thing. Now I know that I have to be a little more careful sometimes with his nose during a stretch.

Also, his funny blaze can make him look like he's a little more BTV than he actually is.