Another Day, More Observations
It's so interesting, just how vastly different a horse can be on the ground versus under saddle.
In our groundwork, Rue has become soft, elegant and pliable.
Under saddle, she tenses and becomes disinterested. (And yes... she's had her saddle fitted and all of her tack fits to the best of my knowledge).
One of the main (and most frustrating) patterns that she has, is to fall out and onto her right shoulder, which often runs us in to the wall of the indoor as we are tracking left. To me, this pattern reveals that she is tight on the left side of her body and longer on the right side. In an effort to remedy this tendency, I ask for counter bend, leg yield a couple of steps to the left and then ask for transitions. This exercise alone (softly yielding equally on both sides of her body with true bend) took about 2.5 months to develop on the ground. Under saddle, we really need to go back to square one.
In my old way of riding, I would have ignored the crookedness and pushed her up in to trot, and then ironed it out there. But the new me wants to try and re-program the pattern so that it eventually becomes extinct. I'm trying to work smarter, not harder.
Yesterday, I rode, and played with this under saddle, but I wasn't entirely pleased with our progress. I think I need to go back to the halt and re-teach her the cues for yielding her shoulders softly. It is discouraging because, in my heart, I know this will probably take another 2.5 months. But... good work has no timeline and I should understand that by now.
Along with experiencing this in our sessions, I keep reading that it is beneficial to teach the horse to de-activate the brachiocephalicus prior to walking, trotting, etc. Which means, if the horse begins to walk and has that muscle activated, the best thing we can do is come back to halt and find a place posturally where they can release that activation, and then move forward again.
This train of thinking is one that I have questioned time again over many years of riding. Is it more beneficial for the horse to be in movement and then learn to release their tension patterns, or is it more beneficial for the horse to release tension patterns prior to taking it in to movement? It's like the old adage - "What comes first, the chicken or the egg?"
As time goes by, I'm beginning to think it's more important for the horse to release negative tensions prior to movement. Increased awareness seems to make the movement more beneficial to the body and more purposeful.
I've shared that for months now, I have been riding Rue in a bitless bridle/sidepull. While she is about 70% out of my seat when I am riding, she still has a propensity towards heaviness in her head and neck. I can mostly leave my hands alone, but there are random occasions where she will lock her jaw/upper neck and try to drift towards specific points in the arena. On one hand, I'm hopeful the presence of the bit will allow me to be softer, yet more clear, with my aids in these moments. On the other hand, I'm tempted to go back a step to a neck rope and solidify the seat cues at the walk and lines of trot. Once that feels well understood, then I would come back up to the side pull and then move on to the bit.
My second ride of the day was also very insightful.
With Mattie, I've been playing with this idea of only asking for movements and gaits that allow me to stay in control of my breath. The minute the tempo becomes too quick and I lose control of my breathing, my body seems to fill with tension and it seems to disrupt the harmony we have created together. Breath seems to unify the two of us.
We typically spend 10-15 minutes at free walk around the arena, to establish free forward energy and relaxation. Once that is established, it is really easy to pick up the contact and begin work. Although Mattie used to have a propensity towards locking his jaw (and can go there if I am not mindful with my contact), he has largely done away with that behavior, which makes the connection really lovely and satisfying.
For a little over a month now, we have been utilizing Anna Marciniak's Residual Tensions Release Therapy via the bit on the ground and under saddle. He is very quickly to respond at the halt and will give good releases, but in the walk, he is much slower to soften and release. For this reason, this has been our primary mission over the last few weeks.
I usually start in a collected sitting trot, and lately, he has become much more springy. Once we feel connected through our breath, I lengthen the reins and allow him to take a full stretch in the trot, as long as he maintains the same tempo as my seat. He loves this exercise and really begins to melt like butter. Once he feels more open (lengthened) and even, I begin to gather him up and we go back to sitting collected trot to play with a variety of movements.
Today, I decided to play with passage like steps, and then move back in to collected trot, and he was remarkable. I really wish I had a video camera so I could have seen the quality of his movement. It felt really great.
My short term goal for him is be able to do School Halt under saddle to passage or piaffe to collected trot and back and forth. The test of collection! ◡̈
All in all, these two were really great, and as always, continue to help me learn and mold my learning process. Excited for our next sessions together...
