mixed blessings

I ended last week not having been able to canter Fi, so not entirely sure if we were going to be able to do the dressage on Saturday or not.

I didn't fancy riding her fresh from the field, possible lame, in a test - so I booked Friday afternoon off work and dashed home to assess her soundness while it was still light.

The weather really could not have been better, cold but crisp, hardly any wind, and bright but not in-your-eyes sun. When I walked down with tack, the middle gate was shut as big sis was due down (half term). Fi saw me coming and wandered down to the gate - there is also a little extra grass that grows behind the gate when it is open... which they get to graze down when the gate is shut. I was a bit concerned that the walk had a hint of unlevelness about it. Then as I walked around to catch her, she made like I was a scary monster and bugged out, at a gallop, to the far end of the field....

I figured she was probably sound enough to ride. Sane enough, however, proved to be a different matter ! For quite a while, when we have been able to ride, I have stuck to 30-40 min sessions as she is not fit and I don't want to stress her joints more than they can cope. Normally within that session she will settle and work nicely.

But on Friday she was just not paying me *any* attention at all. A complete pea brain. Mark Rashid talks about the horse needing to "hand over the decision making to the rider". Well Fi was barely noticing there was a rider there at all. It was incredibly difficult to tell whether she was level of not as she had short strides from tension, uneven tempo and stride from the inattention, and was generally all over the place. Everything I tried, calmly asking, got nowhere. In the end I got sooo frustrated and raised my energy level further than I normally would.I don't like getting to that stage as it is so close to getting aggressive... But finally she started to focus and work. I was getting some fair trot work and run through the dressage test (prelim 12) in walk and trot (but without the free work on a long rein !) and trotting the canter sections. Then I went to try canter.

In the test the canter is between the quarter marker and C, then you canter large, 20m circle at the half marker, large again, across the diagonal and trot after X. I tried that first on the left rein and without the 20m circle. Not too bad though still not very focused.

Then on the right rein.... OMG... she's borrowed someone else's legs - and they are all from different horses ! It felt like a 4 wheel vehicle that had lost a wheel. Really horrid.

Sometimes she needs to warm up a little... so I tried twice more to see if there was any improvement... but each time was as bad.

Not good. By then we had been working for an hour, and she was sweaty but with a much happier look on her face. (She always looks calmer and happier after working).

But I left it til this morning to make a final decision. Fi can sometimes feel worse than she looks, and seems to need to get the kinks out when she's not worked for a while.

She is NOT hopping lame. But there is just something - especially in turns - that is not right. So I called the organiser, and we stayed at home.

I rode Fi in walk and trot. Her attitude (state of mind) was way better today. She worked nicely but I didn't regret my decision.

Then I rode Duds. He did some nice walk and trot work. Then I rode through prelim 12 and attempted the canter movements. I haven't worked on his canter for a while and it is his worst pace. He broke 2 or 3 times on each rein.

So I finished with some work on a 20m circle on trot-canter-trot transitions - looking only for 4 or 5 strides of canter before asking for a balanced transition down. Right rein is his better rein.

Finally I tacked up Rosie (mum has a terrible cold) and warmed her up on line before hopping on. I figured I would work on softness in walk and halt if nothing else. She had a couple of moments of "no shan't" but each time I asked her to soften and back. And there was less objection when I then asked her to go forward.

There were times last summer when mum would tell me she had ridden during the week and got on well - and then Rosie would be a complete cow at the weekend. I think maybe the complete lack of distraction means she can focus better on the rider and what they are asking.

I used a lot of voice - anyone who heard me would have been in stitches as I rode around the arena telling Rosie how "lully" she was (lovely). We did walk and trot, and even got as far as a 20m circle !! amazing !

So despite missing the dressage, I actually got quite a lot done. AND I graded the arena :D