Of Horses and Gazelles

The heat got to Toler a bit today. By the time I got out to the barn, he was already inside munching his hay, but he was soaked in sweat. And covered in huge clops of mud. I took one look at him--rather, he took one look at me, the kind that says, "Urrrrgjdhisd76rtf3nmbkjh"--and decided we'd work in reverse today.

Hose-off first. The cool water hit his shoulder and he sighed. Poor guy. We stood in front of the big barn fan, and I rubbed his face and braided him. I know what you're thinking: what a life. But as soon as he was dry(ish), I tacked him up and we hit the arena. Especially since he got Monday off.

Dressage saddle, today. We started off with some trotting figure-eights at 15m, then wound down to 10m, and Toler was la-a-. zy. The counterbend serpentine perked him up a bit, mostly because I was determined to make him carry himself through the counterbent middle loop. And to my surprise, he rose to the challenge very well. We had several solid serpentines, at which point I decided it was time to move on.

I warmed his canter up with some extensions down the long-sides, his right lead still stronger than his left, though once he gets going to the left it's nearly the same as his right. The trick is to get him to engage himself at the medium (and collected) canter on the left the way he engages himself at the extended canter. He really does fly, though, and I'm not even talking speed at this point.

His stride just sweeps the arena up, like the sand gets folded beneath him and a meter becomes an inch.

I don't know how I ever enjoyed the canters of the smaller horses I used to ride. It's like a cruel joke now. Somehow I wound up astride a gazelle in horsey clothing and shoes. Sometimes, at least.

We moved into Leslie Webb's first countercanter exercise, which he did wonderfully. He's starting to anticipate moving onto the diagonals, though, so I had to be a bit stronger about his outside aids than usual (he wants to drop his shoulder and just slink into the middle). I figured it was time to move into the second exercise, even if it called for a bit of struggling.


For the next step in working the countercanter, Leslie Webb instructs to start down the centerline at the canter (here, on the left lead), and pick up the diagonal to K from X. Like the first exercise, where the centerline becomes the diagonal is the only place the horse really countercanters. She cautions that most horses have a harder time with this exercise, not only because it moves off the centerline, but because it does so through the countercanter, and many horses will think of breaking, hollowing/tensing, or simply changing their lead.

Toler, however, didn't have a single problem with this exercise. Except for cantering onto the centerline. As soon as I looked at the centerline, he knew where we were going and wanted to just arrive there. So, now I know that we have to work on our 10m squared-out canter turns. Really, because his stifles have been a bit weak and he's still getting straight on the rail, I haven't done a whole lot of circling at the canter, especially circles smaller than 15m. Circles as well as down-transitions are hard on the stifle, particularly at the canter. Plus Toler's a big guy anyway--there's lots of horse to fit on such a small circle. Lots of stride to fit on such a small circle. So, once I feel comfortable with him working his stifles like that, I'll rev up the spiraling exercise.

Back to the exercise--while Toler didn't get onto the centerline very gracefully, once he was there he was an angel for me. He'd collect right up, probably wondering if I was going to ask for a halt at X, and supple right into my aids as we countercantered onto the diagonal. The first time our first way (right lead), he did try to break after the diagonal, but as soon as I tapped him with my heel to say, "No, we're not done yet," he went along just fine. Even his left lead was smooth through the exercise.

We'll work on it another session or two, just to make sure it wasn't a "YAY--SHINY" fluke, but otherwise I think he's ready for the third and (technically final) step of Webb's exercise.

We wrapped up the day with an introduction on turning on the forehand, something Toler knows on the ground because of his excellent showmanship skills (I always cleaned house in showmanship), but hasn't ever done under saddle. I'm not quite sure it's necessary, as the turn on the forehand is usually used as a precursor to the half-pass, and Toler already knows the half-pass. (He needs a lot of work on the half-pass, but he loves doing it.) I just thought that since he's doing so well with walking pirouettes, it would be a good additional skill.

The way I know to introduce it is to halt with the horse perpendicular to the wall. (Head first, like you're walking into it--though please don't...) You then ask for jaw flexion, say to the right, and ask for the horse to move their haunches over to the right by crossing in back. Hence it's being a precursor to the half-pass. Half-halts are handy, obviously.

Toler wasn't too thrilled with the notion. For one, he just didn't see the point, and if Toler doesn't see the point in something, then there's really no way I'm going to get him to do it. At first, being the dork he is, he tried to do a walking pirouette in reverse. When that failed (horribly, if I may say so), he pinned his ears at me and just moved sideways. I walked him away to the next rail and tried again, a bit slower. He thought about simply refusing, but ultimately gave it a go. I only got one or two steps of a real turn on the forehand, but it was a good start.

I'll start the next ride with a turn on the forehand from the ground, then ask for it as soon as I'm in the saddle and we'll see if he's more keen on the idea.

*Diagram from Practical Horseman, February 2006, p.60.