What happened next

Well I knew there were two possibilities when we got back... either Rosie was going to have worked through the patterns enough that we might get some new stuff thrown at us - but basically it would be a whole new ball game... Or she could attempt to revert to the patterns she had set up in our arena.

Week +1: on the Saturday after the clinic we just did some work in the arena. She wasn't perfect and did try some objections. She gave in relatively quickly with me and really only objected a couple of times. But with mum she still seemed to figure she could outwait her. I put some poles out in a "X" shape so that they could be ridden in many directions and got mum to do that exercise with her. On the Sunday I needed to practice the dressage test for a competition the following weekend. Rosie was not bad for me (just a few grumps early on) but was a real pain for mum. (I had been going to ride Dudley at the same time but kept him outside so he couldn't be used as an excuse/distraction). She (mum) finally saw it through and even ended up with a canter down the long side. This may not sound a big deal but Rosie had only been cantering 3 or 4 strides in the school with mum before falling back to trot, so this was actually a step forward. (I pointed out to mum that I was now 3 days ahead of her in the process so she would get a "worse" reaction than me for a while til she caught up).

Week +2: the dressage competition. It was forecast to snow so it was hit and miss whether we would make it or not. In the end it was cold but clear so off we went. Rosie was a bit miffed at being asked to load - not sure she was wondering if she was off for another 3 days of work !! She managed a few grumps in the warm up area - I had hoped to try a shorter whip but ended up swapping back to the 110cm one I normally use. There were horses out in the field, and some of the horses had a hooley at one stage - galloping towards the arena :o

When we went in to the arena for the test, it was about time for some of the horses to come in and this proved quite distracting. Rosie put the brakes on 3 times in total (twice in the same place) and we were seventh out of seven :( but the judge just commented "trot not maintained" and in the overall marks said "well tried" so my efforts with the whip can't have been too awful...

On Sunday it DID snow, so no exercise for the horses other than finding some grass to eat !

Week +3: freezing weather - literally. I just did some walk and trot work with Fi and then with Rosie. Rosie tried some pretty big objections with me (a couple of bucks) but then subsided. And she really didn't try it on much with mum, even though mum still tends to use the whip and then waaaaiiit for a reaction.

It seems Rosie is getting the idea that we BOTH mean it (fingers crossed). Sunday and Monday (St Andrews day holiday) were equally frozen...

Kathleen Lindley clinic #2

Day One:

key words:consistency. applying the aid until you get the response you
need. sticky spots - move off the corner. patterns - need to break the ones we don't want.

The first session was about gathering information and trying some things out. Rosie was more forward going than she can be at home, but still displayed the "can't/shan't/won't" that I'd wanted to work on at the clinic. I had explained Rosie's background to Kathleen - that she had been with us for 3 years, that we had been improving the issue but slowly. That it was better lunging or long reining but still an issue under saddle.

When I first asked Rosie to move off, Kathleen asked me if that was the response I wanted. At that stage I was just happy to get anything vaguely forward - but in reality it was quite a sluggish response. Kathleen reminded me that I need to always get the response I asked for and not accept anything less.

When Rosie did decide not to go, Kathleen commented that when you apply an aid you need to keep applying it until you get the response you wanted. If not you are teaching the horse that the response they gave (not what you asked for) is acceptable. i.e. if I apply a "go forward" cue, she has to go forward. Until she does I need to keep applying the aid.

At one point Rosie was getting "stuck" in the corner of the school near the audience.K encouraged me to cut across the school above there so as not to give her the chance to get stuck.

We also did some work on reinback. Rosie was quite bracey so it took a while to get some softer steps.

She (Rosie) also started offering canter (as an evasion) at one point and K just told me to ask her forward at that stage. The result was probably some of the longest canters we've had in an arena for some time !

K commented today was about gathering info. One thing we could try if she really gets stuck is moving the front feet via turns. (In the end we didn't use this).

We worked in reinback a bit. There was a bigger brace on left side - which also showed up in turns. (This also shows up on change of rein - there is more objection when we change from right to left rein).

When working on the reinback, K also did some turning - the hind legs were not crossing over, lots of movement at the front, not really connecting through the body.

The initial reinback was more like a walk backwards (i.e. four-time) rather than diagonal pairs. The later work started to get a more coherent two-time reinback.

Rosie had worked hard by the end of the lesson.

As a cool-down we did some slower work with Amanda. Amanda talked to me about my centre. She asked me to describe what it felt/looked like, and where it was. I felt my energy was lifting upwards rather than staying lower where it should be. Amanda commented on how that changes the feel in the reins (and hence for Rosie).

General conversation: if it takes 10 units of energy to get the job done, and the horse/pony only brings 2 - the rider needs to bring 8. If less than that, the job doesn't get done. Or you can add energy from elsewhere - the audience, another horse etc

this idea/concept can also be applied e.g. to knowledge, confidence etc (if it takes 10 units....)

Day Two:

key words: patterns

Rosie came in prepared to work (turn on forehand, trot) and only after a few minutes started to object. The pattern had changed. K commented the pattern changing is a good thing - we've got it on the run.

I worked to keep my centre low (after the conversation with Amanda)

When she was resisting, she started to add backwards and sideways. (K had commented that if we "taught" new stuff, like turn on forehand, it would appear in the repetoire.. and it did !). She was also being more persistent (my arm got tired and I had to swap sides). Once we used energy from the audience to unstick her - her next stop was the far end of the school away from the audience ! She then also tried dictating direction. mainly on the left rein where she drifted inwards towards Kathleen. Kathleen used a whip to waggle and keep her away.

But after we had worked through all that, she did some good "business-like" work. The energy level felt lower (not sluggish, just lower) and I could start to feel some ability to place the feet.

I did 5-10 mins work with Amanda in the outdoor arena afterwards as a cool down. It was quite breezy and Rosie was doing turn on forehand then happily trotting away, so we stopped on a good note.

Day three: checking in on previous days work. Rosie was responding well with less sticking points. K put out some trot poles. A double pole on one diagonal and single on the other. Worked over them in figure 8. Rosie stopped worrying about the turn on to the left rein and worked well. Then I started varying it so that she didn't always go over the poles. Rather than objecting (as she has done before at home) she really started listening and responding and the turns started to get softer (less brace in them).

Kathleen made the double pole into a V - by chosing where I went over it I could ask Rosie to trot over it, to put a foot between the two poles, or to jump it.

We ended the session starting to work on asking for the transition to canter over the pole. There was one way and direction that Rosie found this a bit hard but otherwise she had a go at it.

Kathleen Lindley clinic

Half way between Glasgow and Edinburgh, take an obscure and easily missed turning to the left. A short way along turn left again; the road gets smaller and eventually runs out of tarmac. Along here a way take a right - and in the middle of somewhere, you find an indoor school ! And in the indoor school - Kathleen Lindley and a bunch of like-minded people.

It's November and its either raining or windy or cold, or all 3. You really do have to be committed to spend 3 days in an indoor school in the middle of somewhere. I had the choice - I made that choice for Rosie as well. Although Fi has been sound, she has also been going quite nicely and behaving well. Whereas Rosie - well Rosie is like the little girl with the curl. When she's good she is a dream. But when she is not good, it is a different question entirely. The things she does when she is not good are things we have been working on and improving since she came to us (3 years ago). But the improvement has been slow. My hope for the clinic was that we would either have some kind of breakthrough, or to speed up the rate of change (improvement).

Rosie had not been away from home since she came to us 3 years ago. So it would be an adventure from that point of view as well. A fellow attendee had kindly agreed to put both of us up. Rosie found it all slightly worrying. She was away from our host's horses and called to them when they went out of sight (e.g. to have their breakfast). She lost her appetite a bit, and didn't seem to be drinking much. I made up some water with molasses in at the clinic venue to try and tempt her (it helped to get her to drink).

I'd arranged day turn out so that she didn't just have to be in or tied to a trailer all day. She was in a 5 acre field - but on the first day did not venture further than the edge of the hardcore by the gate. A free-range shetland finally tempted her further afield on the second day - but she still stayed quite close to the gate.

The second morning the trailer was right next to the turn out yard for my host's horses and this was enough to distract Rosie from loading. Kathleen helped by backing me up but it took a good 15 mins to load. (It always seems like forever at the time ). I loaded her myself at the end of the day, and was just persistent and calm. The next morning I went out early to load, but needed a hand to load from my host (she led, I backed up behind Rosie). And coming home from the venue on the last day I also needed a helping hand from an innocent bystander, despite having hooked the partition back (as well as having the top door at the front open for extra light etc).

More details about the sessions themselves to follow. But we're both back at home now and I need to make sure that the progress we made stays with us.

I do wonder whether there should be a code of conduct for spectators at clinics tho. I had more than one wander up to me to offer well-intentioned "advice". (If someone says "just some constructive feedback" - run away, fast !). I did my best to respond in a calm seertive manner, but did feel I had not done anything to prevent them from doing the same to some other poor soul. I paid quite a lot of money for Kathleen's advice - and nothing at all for theirs !