August in Review; September in the Crosshairs

All in all, I am so pleased by the results gained by setting some clear goals for the month of August. Regardless of what progress was made or not made, it was definitely motivating and clarifying for me to have something concrete to focus on, and that's such a great feeling! So, let's get to it and break down how things went:

1. Prioritize a consistently positive, patient, and kind attitude, always. This was no doubt my most enormous victory of the month... almost like saying I wanted it was all it took to make it so. While there has been some minor fluctuation, I have had great successes with this goal, even under pressure, and it made a HUGE difference in how my sessions with Finn went!
2. On the ground, "master" backing circles and a correct turn on the HQ. I'd easily say we have the HQ down, all that took was a little focus! The backing circles are still a bit tougher, likely because it is more of a physical challenge for Finn to reach evenly. But, we've been practicing a lot and I'm pleased with our efforts.
3. In the saddle, focus on feeling the feet through the HQ/FQ turn and improving the accuracy of the movement, and start teaching backing circles. Ironically, from the saddle I think we've made HUGE progress on backing circles and not so much on the HQ/FQ turn. I am confidently backing Finn half-circles already, and was quite surprised by how readily he picked that up. On the other hand, the HQ/FQ turn is still flummoxing me... We get some nice ones sometimes, but consistency is definitely not there. I think I need to re-watch Buck's Snaffle Bit DVD to get some new insights on that one.
4. Improve Finn's walk by increasing the energy of his default walk while encouraging him to offer more while I do less. You know from a previous post that this was proving a bit of a struggle, but also that there was a significant change on our last trail ride. I rode again yesterday and felt like he'd regressed a bit, but that could well be because he was tired and a bit sore from all the climbing the day before. I'd say we still have work to do here, but we have definitely made headway.
5. Experiment with clarity of transitions between and within the gaits. We have definitely made progress hear, especially with distinguishing a request for a bigger walk from a request for a trot. The clarity of our canter transition has improved as well, but it still takes a few tries before we really get together on it. So again, I'd say we still have work to do, but are definitely on our way.

Having thought all this through, it actually seems more discouraging to me now than it did... but I know that is in part because it is easier to focus on the negative. On the whole, we have definitely made headway. Finn was SUPERB on the trail on Friday. We had an EXCELLENT hill work hack in which he felt notably more relaxed. And we had an AWESOME ride in the ring the other day in which he felt super willing. Add that to the fact that we enjoyed the vast majority of our time together, and there's definitely plenty to be pleased about!

So, the question of the moment is: what's next? Well, you know about the thought I've been mulling over about a six-month commitment to focused study of the book Dressage, Naturally. What you don't know is I'll be out of town for a large chunk of September, thanks to a short family trip and then two weeks of braiding down in Sonoma. So there's that to keep in mind as I think about goals for the month.

I could put off starting my six-month commitment to the D,N book until October, but it doesn't really seem necessary. I may not have much time to ride in the next month, but I will have time to READ... and whatever time I do have can certainly be devoted to putting in some good practice with Finn.

Now, a question that lingers for me to some degree is what place do the exercises I learned from Buck have in my program if I am going to commit to the D,N program? I have been wondering about that, and have decided I definitely want to continue developing my feel for this stuff, especially at the walk. So I will continue to work on the HQ/FQ turn, the backing circles, the short and long serpentines, etc... all in an effort to continually improve my connection to Finn's feet.

Of course I will also want to keep developing Finn's skills over poles, and soon cavalletti as I intend to build myself a set before the end of the month. And, of course, I will continue incorporating my hill/road work into my weekly schedule, and my regular trail riding adventures. Haha! Can you see why I get overwhelmed sometimes? It just feels like there is SO MUCH to do.

So, with so much to do and so little time in the month of September, what will we focus on?

1. Enjoying whatever time I can squeeze in with Finn between my trips! I'll have two nights at home between each of my periods being away, and what's most important to me is that Finn and I enjoy each other in whatever time we end up getting to share.
2. Reading the exercise section of Dressage, Naturally to refresh my memory of the big picture and progression of the exercises.
3. Continue to practice the D,N exercises about energy and relaxation.
4. Riding Finn's feet through the basic exercises Buck showed us at the walk... serpentines, HQ/FQ, backing circles, half-circles... remembering to RIDE THE FEET!
5. Giving Finn a positive experience at the 4-H Trail Trial at the end of September.

I hadn't mentioned that last one yet, but there is indeed a 4-H Trail Trial at Washoe Lake on September 27th. I will have had about a week home to get back in sync with Finn before the trail trial, which I think is plenty of time. There is a schooling option, which I am tempted to take. Basically it would take the pressure off me to do all the obstacles, but still allow me to do whatever obstacles I think we will succeed at.

It will be an interesting challenge, that's for certain! Washoe has often been surprisingly challenging for Finn and I, although he was super relaxed there after spending the night at the end of July. Add onto that an unknown number of other horses and riders, and disco-themed obstacles set up by the 4-Hers, and I wouldn't be surprised if it gives Finn cause for concern.

Which is, of course, why I want to do it. I choose just about everything I do because of the experience it will offer Finn. While he has been all over the place trail riding so far this year, this will be his first "show" experience, with lots of other horses and riders milling about. Getting this under our belt now will just put us that much more ahead when it comes time to head to the H/J shows next year, or the events the year after that. For my event-horse-in-training, this trail trial will be an excellent educational opportunity!

Back to the immediate future, I have three more days to get rides in before I leave for TX on Thursday. One of those days will likely go to a ride with S, one to a ride in the arena and one to a road work/hill work hack. Subject to change, of course, as it may vary depending on what day S and I decide to go out.

August Goals

Somewhat to my dismay, I did NOT follow through on posting my August goals on Thursday, but I had my reasons. To be honest, I had a temporary emotional crisis of sorts. Thursday morning I had a ride which was really not at all bad, but I was feeling so discouraged and over-whelmed I ended up on the verge of tears and just called it quits.

Why? Well, it’s complicated, but what it boils down to, I think, is simply my lack of clarity as to WHAT I want and HOW I want to go about getting it. Like I’ve said before, all the conflicting input gets to me sometimes… I get why people want gurus; it’s easier! What a relief it would be to assign rightness to the opinions of one other human being and follow without question.

When I started developing Finn, I had a desire to take a “more practical” approach, to spend more time in the saddle and less playing on the ground, and to ultimately make it back to eventing one day. I wanted to do enough on the ground to have a genuine partnership, not to do groundwork for it’s own sake. The course of our partnership has most certainly been shaped by that.

As you know, however, I have recently been exploring more Liberty. In some ways it feels like retrograde movement, because the development of Liberty doesn’t seem very practical. But, it speaks to the part of me which is still yearning for a connection that goes deeper. The idea (or ideal) that with conscious development we can communicate with horses with our thoughts alone taunts me. How much lighter can it get, I wonder.

It’s not like these things are necessarily mutually exclusive, but problems arise when I allow myself to be influenced so strongly by any random thing I hear, see or read without maintaining MY focus on the big picture and the end game. When this dynamic results in a incoherent series of rides that go so far as to contradict each other, of course I get frustrated! How could I not?

So I spent a couple of days asking myself, what do I want? Do I REALLY want Liberty? Do I really want to dive so deeply into a whole different paradigm of interacting with horses, perhaps at the price of delaying my progress towards my goals for Finn’s career? How do I really want to move forward? I spent a couple of days leaning towards the “practical” side… and then I bought a book.

The book is called “Building a Life Together; You and Your Horse” and it was written by Magali Delgado and Frederic Pignon, who are world-famous for an approach most people wouldn’t consider very “practical.” I questioned my logic, but intuition pushed me to make the purchase. The quotes I have already read from the book are so aligned with some things I’ve been thinking, and the title SO exactly synched with a critical underlying theme of my relationship with Finn, reading the rest seemed an absolute necessity.

So what does this mean for me? At first I took the easy way out and jokingly declared, “I want it all.” But I don’t want it all, I just want a true friendship with Finn, to enjoy our time together, and to gradually accomplish our goals. Before writing this post, I reviewed the post I wrote in June about my vision… that depiction of where we’re headed still rings true.

While I don’t necessarily feel like this blog post depicts any great shift towards clarity, I do actually feel somewhat clearer on where I’m headed. Perhaps simply for knowing that I’m pursuing the Liberty and some new thought processes as a means to an end (the end being to have a more genuine friendship and more refined communication with Finn), not so much as an end unto itself… if that makes sense.

In any case, expect some additional reflection when my book arrives. It should be here by Wednesday. And in the meantime, I HAVE spent some time thinking about where to direct my focus for the month of August and this is what I’ve come up with:

1. Prioritize a consistently positive, patient, and kind attitude, always. No matter what happens. Recognize lapses early and be committed to interrupting the pattern.
2. On the ground, "master" backing circles and a correct turn on the HQ, ala Buck... which means pivoting on the outside hind so Finn learns to bear weight on his HQ.
3. In the saddle, focus on feeling the feet through the HQ/FQ turn and improving the accuracy of the movement, and start teaching backing circles.
4. Improve Finn's walk by increasing the energy of his default walk while encouraging him to offer more while I do less. Chase the feeling of him being truly and consistently "in front of the leg" at the walk.
5. Experiment with clarity of transitions between and within the gaits so we can distinguish between faster walk vs trot, or faster trot vs canter.

Initially I was going to keep it even simpler and limit myself to three goals, but I think this is a reasonable amount to focus on for the next 29 days. I am really hoping that keeping this handful of things in the forefront of my mind will really help me feel progressive and productive! Of course there will be other things that come up, and hopefully opportunities to take some of this stuff out on the trail. I’ll still get the poles out a day or two a week, and continue to experiment with some Liberty. But the main focus will be on these five things throughout it all, and hopefully at the beginning of September I’ll have some nice improvements to report!