Czech is going well in a figure 8, we won't be able to show in it, but I think we've done enough training that I'll be okay on a cavesson for the day of the show. I went back to my roots a bit with him, riding in total silence and focusing only on my other aids. Tom Dorrance has an often used phrase, "ride the horse from straight out of the inside of you, ride all 4 feet".
Lots of halt/walk transition (since any issue you have at other transitions can usually be seen there) and the days we jump, we are walking approaches. Once he took off with me as we landed a small jump and faced trot poles, his anxiety palpable it took awhile to do it with control where he wasn't bothered. The trip over that worked perfectly I had closed my eyes and just felt his footfalls to time cues.
There's a hooking on that's been missing with Czech and I. We've gotten along fine since he came off the trailer, still there's just that "thing" between us that wasn't quite there. It is now. He follows me everywhere loose, stands to be blanketed/booted/tacked loose, and gets grouchy when I don't work with him.
The reason horses are used so much in therapy and retreats for people that are recovering from everything from abuse to tragedy is that you have to be 100% right on the inside to see it come through the horse too or they will be bothered. Trust was already mutual but Czech and I needed to each agree that the other wasn't leaving.
Bandon took a few days off to get used to his barefoot status and came back with a working brain. He is so much fun to ride, tossing his head all crazy when he feels frisky on the 50 degree mornings. He reminds me of a best friend growing up, we're just two friends out looking for an adventure.
In August I had trouble leading Bandon on the ground into my front yard with multiple blow-ups. Today I rode him out there at a trot, down the street, through a neighbor property, and around a pond he's never seen before. Solo. He's going to mature into something special, I just hope his bowed tendons don't hold us back from anything. He's popping over schooling jumps with growing consistency that makes me daydream.
I'm still trying to find a good pony saddle for Spotlight and the kids, meanwhile he's served his small charges for birthday party glittering and pony rides. I hope finding a tree that fits him will let Sage start looking at schooling shows next year.
"Take the time it takes, feel what the horse is feeling and operate from where the horse is. The slower you do it, the quicker you'll find it." T Dorrance
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