Down Time

I’m enjoying a month’s break between horse shows—my students are competing left, right and center, the youth show of two weekends ago, the Adult Team Championships this weekend. But my horses are off until at least the end of August, and I’m finding the “vacation” VERY refreshing.

For Ella and Midge, the time off means I can play with some of the more advanced work, with time to put them back together mentally if the step up stresses them out. This is mostly the case for Midgey—the development of the piaffe is really improving his trot and, to my pleasant surprise, his canter, but it wreaks havoc on the walk at the moment. I know he’ll settle as he gets more confident in the aid, but I need him bouncy and spicy before the transition to make the best piaffe, so every time I gather the walk, he starts half-steps. Show-off! I backed off the piaffe about two weeks before the last show, so that’s the time-frame I’m working on now.

He’s also getting a little more relaxed about the tempi changes. I’m not sticking to any count; I just head across the diagonal or down the quarterline and ask for changes when he feels ready for them. I did get a couple of fours, but he was a little feral by the end, so that was the end of that conversation! He’s enjoying the harder work—he’s definitely a little smug when I fuss and coo over his particularly good efforts—so I know his brain isn’t on fire, just percolating.

Ella is chugging right along; she gives me goosebumps almost every day. Her piaffe and passage are much more developed—they feel almost ready to show the I2, though clearly I’m not going there until all the movements are REALLY ready, and we’re a while from that yet—and I’m schooling transitions in and out of piaffe, trying to keep a really clear rhythm. Whereas Cleo and Midge are the more talented for piaffe, the passage is more her thing, much like my Billy, so making the piaffe happen took some time. Preserving those active hindlegs in the passage is becoming more and more possible, and I’m getting some pretty unbelievably work…right before it all falls apart. Par for the course for the developing horse, and I’m in no hurry. We make super work, we stop. She’s had some very short rides this week!

Her nemesis is the canter—it’s her weakest gait physically, and because she’s a tweaky, sensitive girl, when she hits something that’s hard for her, her brain shuts down a little. So keeping her confidence in the work is crucial. The full pirouettes are still pretty enormous, but I try and make them playful—two or three really good steps, then out to a few steps of haunches-in-on-a-volte, then back into the pirouette. She’s getting stronger and more comfortable. And the tempis are coming along. I watched a video of Steffen Peters and noted how his hands are often a little low and a little wide, almost like a side rein. That technique is really helpful to help her keep her balance in the changes. Even got six one-tempis on Sunday!