Supple Canters- Counter and Medium

To maintain suppleness during counter canter, prepare first by doing a true canter circle, during which do flexions left and flexions right, being sure to back up the flexions with leg. As you go into your counter canter, continue the subtle left and right flexions to keep the horse's shoulder from popping out and to keep the horse from leaning in-- in other words, keep the horse "straight" and softly seeking the contact.
You can continue the supple-ing flexions in medium canter. Stay soft, relaxed, and BREATHE, and allow the horse a few good forward strides of medium, then collect for a good transition. For schooling purposes, at the end of the medium canter immediately ride a ten meter canter circle. This will accustom the horse to "coming back" immediately for a good transition from medium to collected canter.

Articulating Joints

Using cavalletti is great way to jazz up your training regime and (safely) put to good use pent-up energy if your horse has had to be indoors due to weather. Because ground pole work demands extra effort, we kept it to a brief 30 minute lesson. After first walking a series of five poles spaced four human paces apart, we trotted in away from the gate to get Delphi using her hind end to thrust herself into the air and move in cadence and rhythm. In rising trot, I first gave Delphi a little extra freedom with the rein so she could stretch down and round her back. Her back sprang up beneath me at each stride as the poles made her step higher and push off the ground with extra energy. Karen then increased the distance between the poles to five human paces; that's when it got really fun! Because Delphi is slightly more advanced, her back is strong enough to carry me in sitting trot. With the energy that was created, I was able to ride super mediums, shoulder ins, ten meter turns and circles, and even one very good step of passage! Way cool!

Inspiration

This video inspires me. Not so much about the horsemanship, flying changes, rein backs and other maneuvers, though those are all impressive in themselves. To me the greater miracle is that, in a huge crowd in an unfamiliar arena, the horse is constantly licking submissively and gives the appearance of complete relaxation and trust.

A Picture's Worth

Behold the change in Delphi over the last six months.

"Before" trot in April '09:

"After" trot in September '09:

Note in the "after" photo her conformation seems to have changed; by becoming more round she actually looks like she has a shorter back. She is also more "up" in her forehand and "under" in her hindquarter, showing more relative elevation in the "after" photo.

Progress comes slowly, but nevertheless it comes!

Consistency

Within each gait, consistently ask for transitions from collected to extended, both straight and in lateral work. Remember to keep the contact consistent by flexions left and right, changing the bend, keeping the horse supple through a thousand transitions of shoulder in, renvers (choose wisely in canter- ride renvers in canter infrequently only when asking for inward spirals and canter to walk transitions, always remember to straighten the canter), travers, leg yield, half pass in every gait (full pass in walk). After our initial stretching warm up, it's time to expect both Delphi and me to consistently perform: me by leading with my pelvis in front of my shoulders, keeping my legs back for collection, keeping the frontal plane parallel to the direction I want to move, and requiring a supple contact through all gaits and transitions; Delphi by learning through repetition that she is now required to be through and supple in all work.
An exercise that encourages all of the above:
In canter, ride a square where you make a deliberate quarter pirouette at each corner. In the turn maintain the slight inside bend with your inside leg and rein, and put your outside leg back and think "haunches in" and allow the turn to make the beginning of a canter pirouette. Then ride absolutely straight to the next corner and repeat. Use counter flexions as needed to maintain straightness, suppleness, and throughness.

To improve the photo: the shoulder plumb line should be behind the hip joint, every down beat the hips are sent forward in the direction of the horse's travel, so you can afford to "lean back," maintain tone/elasticity by springing on a trampoline rather than just flopping down onto the horse's back:
To improve the photo: for canter the two points of stability are: 1)the thorax (no rotation) and 2)the foot in the stirrup. Everything else must move. When your seat reaches back your knees also must reach back. Move your arms back and forth with the movement of the horse; the elbows and hands give and take upwards rather than down. Give forward in every stride of canter toward the ears; up and away and then back, in the rhythm:
Photos courtesy of Karen Brown.

Compare and Contrast

Use the following video to compare and contrast the amateur rider (me) with the open pro (Delphi's trainer Karen Brown). Notice how much more consistent and uphill Delphi becomes under Karen. Videography can be a great learning device! Nice work on Delphi's part, under both riders.

Counter Canter Serpentines, Mediums, and Travers

When schooling the second level initiate for counter canter loops, it is important to ride every stride of the canter, being sure to keep just enough (guard against too much) bend in the "true" canter direction. Do this by supporting the horse with the outside rein and leg, while maintaining jump and impulsion with the inside leg. The bend should be around the rider's inside leg; guard against too much inside rein.
Concerning the medium gaits, Delphi's medium canter is nice in that she shows a clear lengthening of stride and a clear shortening when asked to come back. Reinforce this by insisting on an immediate response to the "go" aids and when asking to come back to collected, promptly go into a lateral movement such as shoulder in keep the "come back" response crisp.
Delphi's medium trot is "wow" worthy, but she is still prone to want to canter when coming across the diagonal. I must remember to stabilize the medium trot by half halting up and keeping the hindquarters engaged and the forehand light.
We also schooled the haunches in, or travers (tra-VAIR) where Delphi's shoulders remain on the track while the haunches move to the inside. Step into your inside stirrup and use your inside leg to maintain a lively tempo and bend while using your outside leg just enough to prevent the hindquarters from going back to the rail. Delphi was able to do haunches in at trot nicely in both directions today.

The Big Horse

Today I got to ride Karen Brown's Trakehner filly Lola for the first time. After Karen lunged and rode her, she allowed me to get on and do some walk and trot. We did some straight lines, large circles, and one ten meter turn. Lola uses her hindquarters so well, and her engine is always on forward. She was very lady-like too with a stranger aboard. What a nice horse.

The Thoughtful Warmup

When it's 100 degrees outside, the idea of "warming up" sounds laughable. During our lesson today however, I made sure to use my warm up time deliberately and intentionally. Some exercises Karen gave us follow.
At the walk:

• Ride into the corner, then do haunches in along the wall.
• Keeping the same angle and bend, turn the haunches in into a shoulder in along the wall.
• Intersperse periods of collected, medium, and extended walk in with the breaks of free walk.
• To extend the walk, allow with your hands by giving and taking with the rhythm of the horse's head and neck. To collect the walk, half halt, stop following as much with your hands, and engage the hindquarter, causing the haunch to lower and the head and neck to raise in relative elevation.
• From haunches in, go into half pass across a diagonal, being sure that the shoulder leads the half pass.
• Do haunches in around a ten meter circle.
  

At the trot:

• Collect the trot (after the above walk work our trot was VERY nice), then allow periods of stretch down into a longer contact allowing with the inside rein first, then half halt and collect again.
• Intersperse periods of collected, medium, and extended with periods of stretch described above.
• Along with shoulder in, intersperse periods of straight and transitions to halt.

At the canter:

• From collected canter, deliberately move into medium canter for four or five strides, then come back to collected canter (by riding a ten meter circle if necessary). Insist on immediate forward response into medium and immediate come back response into collected.
  
• Intersperse walk to canter, medium, collected, straight lines, small circles (in random order). Always ride the canter to walk or canter to halt transition from "canter in place" collected canter.

Yes, we were warm all right when we had done all of the above. Nice work today on Delphi's part!

Boy Oh Boy

We've gone and done it. This weekend we adopted Rosco, a ruby red 12 to 14 month old Cocker spaniel boy, from Cocker Spaniel Rescue. Weighing in at under 16 pounds, he'll always be a small guy but is working on gaining a little weight.
Abandoned as a puppy to the streets of Lufkin, Texas, Rosco was picked up by the city pound. When the folks at Cocker Spaniel Rescue discovered him in May 2009, he was suffering from malnutrition and was almost completely bald from sarcoptic mange. During and after treatment, he had to be isolated from other dogs so the CSR kept him at a boarding facility in Missouri City while he was successfully cured of mange. When he was able to come back out into society, CSR brought him to their standing monthly adoption at our local Petsmart. That's where our paths crossed and he now lives with us, his forever family.
Though he officially begins obedience school (at My Dog and Me) later this month, Rosco has already learned to sit and settle, and his recall is pretty darn good. He has had absolutely ZERO house mistakes, and is quickly becoming addicted to chewing his stuffed kongs and other toys. Prissy is tolerating him well and even initiated play with him last night. He is absolutely the sweetest Cocker you could ever hope to know.
Welcome home Rosco!

"Can't we just take him back? I'm sure they miss him over at CSR!"*intelligent Border collie eyes roll skyward* "I call him 'hammers' as in 'dumber than a bag of...'"

"We can't all be GT students. I'll settle for C plus."
Super intelligent Border collie + silly goober Cocker = seems oil and water do mix, afterall.