KL: what happened next

Well its been a couple of weeks now since the clinic. Fi has been ridden both weekends, and has been sound. Though she did look slightly sore on line last week. As usual she was better under saddle.

I experimented a bit with the trot, and found that going rising "unlocked" it a lot. This is interesting because there are times when she objects to me rising - often when she first trots (and may not be fully warmed up).

So although it makes sense that rising would allow her to move more freely, there were good reasons why I wasn't ! I wonder whether this is a "cue" she has learnt - that sitting is more likely to mean a slow western jog, and rising means "dressage" trot ?

Something that came up with one of the other riders in their sessions was about how you stop the horse. Her horse was bunching up in the downward transitions and her back end seemed to pop up. Kathleen suggested the rider think of the back feet doing the transition... and that improved it. It seems that the horse was having trouble directing the energy when the downward transition was front feet first - like running the back feet into a brick wall... at speed !

It is an interesting challenge for the rider - to breathe, have the footfall continually in mind, and direct the horse where to go. I have been listening to some CDs from Paul McKenna recently - and he uses a technique where he gets you to count down from 300, and then talks you through the session while you do so. I wonder whether that "split attention" practice is helping in the multitasking I now find myself facing.

I know it is partly because it is all still front of mind. So I have to try and time in thinking the hind feet to, for example, a halt, while also getting the timing of the exhale and hand aids spot on. It is a bit like rubbing your stomach while patting your head ;)

Anyway, I've also been using Kathleen's "0.5 on the leg and then back it up" (with the whip) with Rosie and my mother. Rosie seems a lot happier and has a better attitude that way (we had been heading that way before the clinic, but Kathleen's words gave me a better way to explain it). Rosie still feels she can negotiate everything, but is starting to listen to the rider for longer periods of time before then coming up with her own ideas again. Although quite a cheeky little pony she is, underneath, quite insecure. So being offered leadership is something she is beginning to feel is a comfort zone. The downside is that she is then more affected if her rider gets a bit wobbly and nervous !

We also had the chance to try them all in a treeless saddle the other day. It was a size that better suited mum than me, but was quite an interesting experience. My sister now has a different model that is one size up - and we all prefer. I can hopefully borrow it to try on Fi at some stage. When I tried Fi in the original treeless, she was fine but not entirely sure about rising trot. (went tense, flicked her tail etc). I felt I was going too far back as I sat. I adjusted the saddle slightly further forward (more where her western saddle would sit), and that helped a little - but then the girth was really too far forward. It will be interesting to see if the dressage treeless suits her any better.

I still have to sort out what to do with my Easisit. I have not taken Fi down to get it checked and refitted because of her unsoundness. It simply did not seem fair to put a sore horse in a trailer and expect her to balance ! But if she stays vaguely sound, I really ought to make my mind up if the Easisit is ever going to suit the pair of us. If not, perhaps a treeless dressage saddle is an option ? It is certainly a lot lighter !