January 5, 2007: Basics Succeed Again

I have had two of the best rides I’ve ever had on Tequila over the last two days, despite having had very few lessons in the last two months due to Jürgen’s travels in Europe. (He was gone most of November and December, and Quila was laid up with an arthritis flare a good part of while he was home in November, and I was laid up with the “bug from hell,” a souvenir from Kansas City, while he was home in December).

Jürgen has taught me well, however, regarding The Training Scale, so in his absence, I focussed on the scale and on the areas where Quila tends to block: locking in the poll, so that her contact isn’t correct and she’s leaning on the bit, and avoiding taking weight as evenly as she should by assuming the correct bend on circles or traveling straight on a straight line. Her impulsion is generally good (she LIKES forward), so all I really worked on was that she stay loose in the poll with the correct contact, and that she accept weight evenly in the hindquarters IN ALL GAITS, and not evade by popping a shoulder or leaning against my leg. We did lots and lots of transitions, changes of bend, and changes of rein. We did spiralling in and spiralling out. We did endless circles, first one way and then the other. We did figure eights, sometimes in one gait for half, and another gait for the other half. We would intersperse extended gaits. All I truly cared about was that she was a) maintaining appropriate contact with the bit, b) listening to my aids, and c) straight.

The end result has been that it is now quite easy to get her through, and the quality of her canter has improved to a degree we never thought possible for her. She is sitting beautifully and now possesses a lovely jump and collection. Simple changes are effortless for her, even though I didn’t school a single one the entire time Jürgen was gone! And the quality of her trot has improved dramatically, too. It has some swing to it now, particularly BEFORE we canter, and I have the feeling that she is actually lengthening her stride rather than running when I ask for her to extend, which is a change... After I canter, she still wants to run, and it is difficult to get her to return to the same degree of roundness and collection, but she is getting better. I thought it was because she was excited, but Jürgen says no. He says that after sitting for the canter, it is difficult for her to sit in the trot to that degree, and that she is still building up muscle. He is right, I think, because I cantered for shorter periods today, with breaks, and she was able to return to the “good” trot for brief periods of time without a struggle. We just need to build her up for that, too. She is trying SO hard, and I can tell that she is feeling quite pleased with herself. Pleased is hardly the word for how I’m feeling about her!

I just wish that we’d come to this point several years ago, and not as we’re embarking on what I expect to be my last competition season with her. I wish I hadn’t promised myself (and her) that I would retire her after this year. I’m having more fun with her now than every before, but I don’t think it would be fair to try to stretch her career out any longer. She’s a trooper, and she gives herself heart and soul to the work, but I know there are days when it can’t be easy for her.

P.S. I do also owe a debt of gratitude to Facet, Birthe and Susan, who taught me a lot about my body position and the effective use of my legs. Without their lessons, I would neither have realized that I wasn’t doing all that I could to insist that Tequila was travelling correctly nor have had the tools to accomplish my goals.