Dexter - You're a Genious.

Or our new trainer is anyways.   I’ve talked about the importance or a good trainer in a previous blog and am glad that I’ve found one out here in Colorado.  I would ride with Carol forever but seeing as she is in Florida, that just doesn’t seem practical.

My new trainer is smart, fun and always super positive, she makes learning so much fun.  I was working with Dexter by myself for a while and was starting to get frustrated as I had exhausted all my horse knowledge and he still avoided the bit.

So we broke down and started taking lessons (I always enjoyed lessons and had planned on doing so anyways).  And in a few short months he is not only not avoiding the bit, he is seeking the contact.  We learn something new every lesson.  I say we because sometimes we are teaching Dexter and sometimes we are teaching me, and its so fun to see that when I move my seat just a little his whole frame changes.  The connection between horse and rider is so amazing.  It sometimes hard to remember that even with the saddle between you two, they can still feel every weight shift, every pause, every breath.  And they are constantly listening and tuned in.

So I say Dexter is a genius because we’ve had so many special moments where everything clicks and you can tell he gets it… “Oh that’s what you want me to do.”  As I smile and pat him and say “Good boy, you did that perfectly!”  But I know my trainer deserves a lot of the credit, we can’t have “Ah-ha” moments without someone telling us how to get there.  And she’s so great in that she doesn’t get discouraged or upset when it takes us a bit longer.  Theres not “asking harder” just “keep asking” and when he gets it, praise him and reward him.  “Dexter you’re a genius… have cookie!”

So with my super intelligent horse and super confident trainer we have taken Dexter from a horse heavy on the forehand, that avoids the bit and drags himself around at the canter, to a horse reaching for the bit, pushing up in the canter, and for a moment last week, has cadence at the trot.  And the most satisfying part is my trainer has let me do all the work.  She has not ridden or lunged Dexter once, just taught and explained to me what I need to do to get it done, so I know what the aides are and I know how it feels.

It feels Great!  This is why I ride, to feel that connection with the animal and work together to achieve a goal.  I love dressage because it focuses on the harmony and the relationship between horse and rider.  There is no making a horse do anything, you can only ask.  And every time Dexter lets me get on and work with him, I thank him.  And when I see how hard he tries and how satisfied he looks when he knows he got it right, I feel so grateful to have such a willing partner.  And when we have those moments where I figure out how to ask and he figures out the answer, those moments are where I’m awestruck at how amazing the horse and rider partnership really is.  To be able to communicate on that level with an animal of such power…. I have no words.

Another Spook?

Not us, but close to what we looked like.

He did it again!!  Me and Dexter were out riding yesterday evening and he was lazy the entire ride.  I don’t mind, he still gets his work done, just needs more convincing on some days.  And in fact he had a really good ride.  His canter work was more up than out and you could tell he was starting to get the whole collection thing and realizing the canter is nothing to stress about (something I have been trying to convince him of for months.)

 

So at the end of the ride, it was that time just before sunset where the wind stops blowing and everything is super quiet… remember that.. quiet.  I was walking him around the pasture with a loose rein allowing him to cool off and relax, and allowing myself, admittedly to start spacing out a little.  The next thing I know we’ve turned 90 degrees towards the barn and are 10 feet from where we were.  Dexter had spooked, again, at apparently nothing, again and was trying to take off.  As I scrambled to gather my reins and balance I was glad to see the standing martingale I had decided to ride in was doing its job.  It had distracted Dexter just enough to keep him for taking off completely and kept him just out of reach of locking his neck up so when I did find my reins I was able to turn him around and get him back in control. 

 

In general I am a minimalist when it comes to tack.  Not because I’m against artificial aids, just because its less to worry about and I am admittedly cheap.  But ever since Dexter has tried to make a habit of bolting, I’ve started riding in a standing martingale,  its set pretty loose so he can still stretch and move his head as he needs to.  I have it set just short enough so he can’t snap his head up and lock those massive neck muscles.  The several times he has bolted I’ve found I don’t have the leverage or strength to pull his head around and regain control.  When he’s not running from the devil Dexter has a relatively sensitive mouth and has done well on the french link bit we are working in, so I hate to change to a harsher bit when he does so well in this 99% of the time.  So the martingale seems to be a good compromise.  This was the first time he’s spooked since we started to use it, so I’m glad it worked, otherwise it was a long way back to the barn, in probably a very short time.

 

As to what he is spooking at?  I still have no idea.  Like I said, he was good the entire ride so I’m ruling out the tack.  It was beyond quiet, no birds, cars, wind… nothing.  Maybe a wasp?? Who knows.   I was just getting ready to hop off when he spooked, but since he had to act silly we trotted around the scary spot until he relaxed and then went in.  I had a theory that he did it knowing when he acted stupid I either fell off and he got to go in or I got scared and cut the ride short.  Since this new system has given me a little more confidence we will see if his issues start to decrease

How did you get there??

Ok, so I don’t make it a habit of falling off horses, but in the 20+ years I’ve been riding I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve ended up on the ground a few times.  Most recently with my newest horse, Dexter.  Dexter is a sweet, generally calm hard-working 17H Friesian cross.  99% of the time he just goes about his business, no worries.  But every once in a while he gets the idea that something behind him is going to kill him!

This is multiplied by the fact that he is a big guy and I’m learning my reaction time must get much quicker when the strides get much longer.  By the time I realize I can’t get him to turn and I need to move to plan B we are at the fence and I’m on the ground.  But I’m digressing, the point isn’t why he spooked, or how I ended up on the ground.  The question is, why is it, the instant I hit the ground the magical horse killing gremlin disappears??  And this isn’t something specific to Dexter.  It seems to be common with all my falls, whether they are bucking, refusing or taking off…. quarterhorse, arab, warmblood, all the same…

As soon as I hit the ground, they all stop, and look at me like I;m the idiot for “jumping off”.   They all stop and stare at me like “How did you get down there??” or “What did you do that for? We were just starting to have fun.”  No more snorting, no more breathing fire, some even take the time to start grazing. meanwhile, I’m still trying to figure out what happened, how I ended up there and whether or not I’m mad, scared or just humbled.

I do appreciate the fact that, on top of being battered and bruised, I don’t have to go running after a crazed horse.  But it makes me feel all the more stupid that the crisis is suddenly over once I’m out of the picture…. Am I the horse killing gremlin??  I’d like to think I’m not, at least not every time.  Lets just pretend that they were trying to save me from a horse and rider killing gremlin and they know they can’t go on with out me… yeah, that’s the ticket!