Neepity!

Yes! I had a lesson! And I need to post about it before it flits away out of my brain.

I was sick through most of November--CFS and then a bad cold--so barely rode at all. When I did, I rode Capria, because she wouldn't care (or would care less) if I was noodly or inclined to start coughing at inopportune moments.

Monday when we had the cold snap and the overnight freeze, Pooka was such a stinker I had to free-longe him before I could get him in for dinner. So that was a start on a return to work. Yesterday he got an actually longe on a line, short but to the point, and since it had warmed up quite dramatically, he was perfectly happy and very cooperative.

So today it's 80 freaking degrees, and he spent the morning sweet-talking mares. The morning turnout group is up to Gabriella, Carrma, Capria, and now Ephiny, who was flying around letting the world (and her mother) know what a hot tamale she is. Which included much schmoozing with the stallion in the very well-battened stall at ringside.

Come lunchtime, the mares went in and he came out for a little hay and a grooming and !!!his saddle!!! <3 <3 <3
Yes, that's how he greeted it. Boy's missed his rides.

Well, so have I.

So S. arrives while I'm still taming the Slinky, and Gabriella marches right up to her in the run and says, "Hello! Worship Me! Scratch My Butt!"

Clearly she knows who this is. And what she, as Queen, deserves.

(We are remedying the snuggle deficit. She's slowly starting to believe she is really, truly home.)

I get the saddle on the Divine Pretzel, eventually, and we pause for a drink from the big tank. He's coming round to the concept of, you know, work. Which he loves, but, well. You know. Schlorp.

We start off with groundwork, of course. Getting both our heads back in the game. Walking and halting. "Get your sacrum connected with his," said S. "Rock back and then ask for the step forward." So we did that, halt to walk to halt. He was cheating a bit--wanted to push with his right shoulder. I discovered, after having been told this many times, that he has to have his neck and spine straight and his neck can't be kinked in or out if I want to connect with his back end.

"Try going laterally now," said S. He was fussy with that, and I got a cramp from doing it wrong, so S took over and got him all bendy and flex-y.

Then it was ride-the-pony time. Since I hadn't ridden in weeks, we got reintroduced to each other though my seat. "Let's get you plugged back in," said S. Very subtle work; no hands or leg. Just breathe a seatbone upward (inflate the beach ball--which is very apt with this very round, compact horse). One side, then the other. See how he adapts his body to it: balances under himself, brings his back up. It's not an active lift on my part. More of a flexion of the muscles and an engagement of the psoas. (Damn, that yoga stuff is coming in handy.)

We played around this, upping the ante: really open up, really lift, then ask him to lift his back. S got in there, as his masseuse, to really get the lift, but he had the idea pretty well to start with.

Then we added some forward component, rotate the seatbones, and when we had that, some backward ditto (which was, basically, a very subtle half-halt). Getting him really, really up under me, connected and, in the sense of shift of weight to the hind end, collected. All in the halt. The little curly ears were quite bemused.

"Now get him shifted back and then forward," said S. Halt into walk, eventually, after we got our signals sorted out. There was breathing involved. I forget. So does he. We get stuck. (There was breathing through all of this. Much of the seatbone work was about breathing.)

Walk was interesting. Formerly stiff left was all connected and comfortable. Formerly hollow right was like a board. (Shift of stiff sides is good. Means the horse is developing in increments, rather than sticking to one set of problems.) Left bends were smooth. Right bends were fussy. I had to keep raising the barrel and engaging through the seatbones (= collecting and bending).

We did many wiggly bits. More right than left, to work on the stiff side. Left for a break after a good right. Then back to the right.

And from there we did just a little trot, because this highly collected work takes stamina and we're both potatoes after so little work for so long. Four strides out of a collected walk, keeping the collection, going clearly forward, and using those seatbones.

Felt as if he was filled with helium. Two right, one left, and so to the end, because we wanted him to end on a good note. Amazing trot: very very elevated but smooth, no problem at all to stay with. (S was pleased with that. I was plugged in. Still got the seat, baby.)

And that was a good lesson. We have another in two weeks, the day before the next White Horse yoga session. Which should be a very nice combination.