Today was a long day at the barn. I left the house on the bike at 8am to get 'chores' done before Peggy arrived.
I gave rems and groomed Sully before turning the horses out. He's missed out on proper grooming most of the past week as I've been taking him from the long grass paddock to the short grass to work, without bringing him up to the tack room. I picked up one load of manure into the cart (the paddocks are looking great) before bringing Fonteyn in for grooming, finishing just as Peggy arrived.
The focus today was working out which of the four legs was stuck, then targeting the groundwork exercises to that. Peggy started Fon with out/in/trot to get her moving. After that, backwards Ss done one step at a time. The aim is for the handler to get, from their rotation and suggestion with the wand, the (current) outside fore to cross in front of the inside fore (with a weight shift from the outside to inside leg). Ideally the horse should do this lightly and easily, taking just the one step that is being asked for.
This type of exercise is very difficult for 'beginner' horses, or those who are stuck, but it can help free them up, even if they do take two or more steps each time - as long as the handler's requests stay small and soft, and the horse gets breaks, they usually improve with each attempt.
After the front legs cross, the handler's rotation changes and the current inside hind leg should cross in front of the outside hind.
As the horse progresses, it should begin to take considered, easy steps. You end up with the horse moving out and sideways. Their base comes up, the hind legs are engaged and their neck softens, allowing their head to come down. Transitions to trot are like butter when these things all come together.
Alternatively, and especially if they have not let go with their neck, the handler asks the horse to back (with oscillation in their body to encourage oscillation in the horse) several steps. Once the neck has let go, the handler can face forwards and ask for trot with a tap of the wand, under the belly or over the croup. At the same time, the front hand must lift and go towards the cheek press position, allowing the horse to take as much rein/line as they need.
Sully is very much at the beginning of his connected journey. He requires short bursts of work. He often needs to move his feet during the 'static' groundwork exercises. I warmed him up in-hand walking in connection, with various presses on his cheek, upper neck, and an oscillation over the midline of his neck just behind his poll. Peggy then put him out on one line for a simplified version of what we're asking from the other horses. At this stage, he needs to learn a clear out, a clear in, and a clear forwards, with his head lowered and neck soft.
Karen worked with Bracken while we worked with Sully and rode when I bought Chico down. Bracken had some awesome moments of gorgeous trot.
Chico came out walking and trotting like he was in sludge. I felt I had a "lazy" horse (in terms of his movement and responsiveness), who, when I asked for forwards, rushed and fell on his forehand. He was very stuck through his shoulders. Some quick one-step-out, one-step-in helped loosen him up a little, but Peggy had to work quite hard at the same exercise as Fon to get him to engage his hind end and start to move his weight from his front legs. Consequently, his rhythm improved, he had more push from behind, his head lowered and his neck softened. I rode him briefly to feel how the groundwork had affected him. I am starting to get the hang of his movement, learning which buttons I need to activate and when. He produced some lovely balanced trot for me, as soon as I hooked his hind legs and asked him for FORWARDS, WITHOUT RUSHING. To achieve this, I have to rotate out (hey, outside hind!), in (hey, inside hind!), then usually rotate out a little more to really gather the outside hind, before giving a wobble/come on to ask him to come up into my hand.
To finish our day, Peggy showed some of the groundwork exercises to the barn owner's daughter, Samantha. Her barrel-racing horse Candybar had an accident on the weekend: she flipped out and went up and over, tearing her hamstring muscles and inflicting plenty of cuts and bruises. She is out for the next two months or more while she heals. Meanwhile, she is one VERY sore horse, holding a LOT of tension in her body. It is important to get a horse in this position to learn to stand on four feet, soften their muscles (especially the neck) and start the process of relieving tension. Otherwise the horse is pretty much a train wreck by the time it comes off stall rest, requiring significant rehab.
Tomorrow will be my last dull day at the barn this week. I may drop by on Thursday morning for a short time but need to leave for the ferry 2 to 3 hours before my train departs. I have lots of things to do there and at Lana's before Thursday!
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