Every Day Magic

Today I had one of the best days with the horses I ever had. Not because of some fancy exercises, but because of our normal, quiet daily routine and such a nice feeling between us. 

I started by sorting my feeds for the horses in the “feed room” (one of the unused stalls in the stable). I brought some herb mixtures and a new mineral feed from my brief stop at a large equestrian store in Germany and wanted to check what I still had and make a new feeding plan. Somehow I always find this activity very satisfying.

Then I went to the riding arena and sorted my equipment there, when Weto came to the arena gate, ready for training. I just love the fact that he leaves the grass and the other horses to spend some time with me! 

When I picked out his feet I noticed that they badly needed a trim, which surprised me, because I had done them three weeks ago. We had one of the driest summers I can remember and the horse’s feet were rock hard. I trim according to the hoof guided method (HGM) and I try to be very mindful of what material the hoof would like to hold on to and what it wants to shed. I generally don’t trim sole or bar material that’s hard and shiny and not ready to come off. I have observed that during dry spells, there will be a build up of sole and bar, and when it gets a little wetter, the hoof will shed some of that material again. There had been some rain last weekend and Weto’s hooves looked like they hadn’t been trimmed for months, so much stuff was ready to come off! He was clearly happy about the trim and had some long releases afterwards, which we enjoyed by just standing together. 

I started out our training session with side movements in walk on a very long rein. Weto can be quite stiff when I haven’t worked him in a while and I had been away for 10 days. Instead of trying to shape him with the reins, I always try to work his body and get better suppleness through that. I did shoulder-in, quarters-in, half-passes and pirouettes in walk and then also in trot, followed by some canter on a loose rein on a large circle. He started the wrong canter to the right a couple of times (which can happen after a training break), so I worked on that briefly.

After that he felt a lot more supple and I started to do some walk – trot – walk transitions to raise energy, and then some work in collection in trot. I tried to be very mindful of the relationship between my driving aids and the half-halts, and not changing my own point of weight more than he can follow. When I asked for some collection and felt him be a tiny bit more on the shoulder (feeling a slight drop in front of my seat), I immediately asked for engagement with the hind legs, and also asking for some trot – canter – trot transitions to keep the energy up. I had some nice insights there concerning my feeling about when is there enough forward in my collection and I’m looking forward to going into that a bit again tomorrow. When I got off, Weto looked at me with gentle, open eyes, which is really the best reward I can imagine.

Minor is a really smart little guy and always notices when I’m about to finish my training with Weto. He knows he is next and he will come over and wait by the gate. I also noticed his hooves needed trimming and went about doing that. I never tie my horses for trimming because I want them to express how they feel about it. When they walk away, I didn’t pay attention enough and didn’t make them feel safe enough to stay. I also try to pay attention to when they have to set down their food and to it before they have to ask for it, so they develop trust towards me and the trimming. Perhaps the biggest achievement, for me, is that today (and the last two times already), I was able to trim all four feet of Minor in a very quiet way, without him taking his foot out even once and without me feeling unsafe around his hind quarters. 

My plan had been to saddle him and do a short riding session, but then it started to rain and I decided to do a short longing session instead (I don’t have an indoor and don’t like my tack getting wet…). I started with some forward walk, just being in flow together, then staring to play with my aids and seeing what gives a better bend. Then I let him trot a little, which he always enjoys a lot, and he shows it by having a steady rhythm and taking deep breaths. Then I played a little with walk – school walk- walk transitions and Minor offered some piaffe steps, which I took up and asked for transitions between forward trot and collection. We ended with some terre a terre jumps on both hands, which is something he learned recently and enjoys a lot, and some transitions between terre a terre and school halt. Although it sounds like a lot, this session was very short because it started to rain more heavily and I decided to pack up and go home. 

I feel that my latest travels and clinics have refined my goals for the work with my horses and my wish for that mutual understanding and trust. One sentence in today’s Zoom class with Elsa Sinclair especially stuck with me: “The big goal is that your horse is feeling better in your company.” This class was a wonderful end to a wonderful, peaceful day.

If you are curious about my latest development with Minor: I have lots of training videos with him in my classroom already: www.classroom.academicartofriding.pl