07/01/2025
I have a lot to say about today's session with Cady!
To start with, Cady does require a rather long walking warm-up. After being in such a small pen for over a year, and a lack of timely foot care, she is not yet fit to go right to work and needs to be reminded to reach and stretch! She doesn't hit her AMAZING walk until 1:37 into the video (it's not 1 min 37 seconds into our ride obviously). Watch her walk at the beginning of the video and then watch her walk at the 1:37 mark! It's a HUGE difference! In the beginning she is disorganized and unsure of how to symmetrically follow my seat...I also feel that she is not confident with her bare feet yet, but the boots are changing that. When she finally gets it together, it's just about the prettiest walk around!
Cady's "whoas" were not spectacular today. She took a step, to a step and a half, beyond where I asked her to stop. When this happens, don't punish! Instead, just ask her to go back to where the whoa was supposed to happen. I don't back-up a horse in the stop to school the whoa, I back up a horse to the spot where I ASKED for the whoa. Big difference...and my method removes any "incentive" for a horse to push past your seat, voice, and hand boundary. This also sets a horse up to be physically prepared (collected) for whatever happens after the whoa! I want a square stop, NOW, when I ask; not a few steps after I ask.
After the whoa, I actually had the first semblance of collection! It was a great opportunity to do the longest stretch of sitting trot we've done so far. I know I don't look great, but there is some self-sacrifice on my part as a rider in order to make her comfortable with the sitting trot. But I was pleased that I felt her engage her back for the first time AND with that, she slowed down a little and used her strength of position (potential energy) rather than relying on the energy of motion (kinetic energy) to go forward. Check out the trot at the 2:11 mark!
While I'm on the subject of kinetic versus potential energy....when a finished horse trots off, the collected position doesn't change much from the previous gait. But when a green horse like Cady trots off, you often see a rise, or "pop" of the head. That is Cady using kinetic energy to "throw" herself into a trot because she doesn't have the strength of position (collection or potential energy) to trot off properly. Some riders will hold a horse's head in position to force a "frame" and stop the head pop....which might be fair if a horse is fit and learning how to properly carry himself. But with Cady, she is doing her best and I just want obedient forward motion at this point. As she becomes more fit, I will give her less rein in that transition and guide her to an effective frame for her body and activity. If Cady had been here as a young, un-started, fit horse she would have learned on the ground to do these transitions correctly and we wouldn't even see this issue.
Finally, Cady looks forward to hugs at the end of every session now. I thank her for the effort and allowing me to be part of her journey!
