India had two weekends off, so there was a lot of round pen work to start, but no pictures of that. India got roped (the lasso part around her tummy, and of course it slides to the narrowest part, which is her flanks) and India is learning to deal with it. Jenny is never cruel with the rope, but she slides it all around India's legs and India doesn't like that at all. She may not like it, but she's learning to remain calm and to move forward. Of course, calm isn't her first reaction and she tends to tear wildly around the round pen, but after a bit she realizes that death to the POTU isn't happening like she first thought and settles. Anytime she does get the rope wrapped around a leg, Jenny always makes sure that the rope is slack and this keeps India from tripping. Another step and the situation never was. It's pretty darn cool and India is figuring out softness in her body, yielding to the rope, and generally getting Zen. Now, don't get me wrong: She's a far piece from inner peace, but she's getting there. Zen peeks over the horizon every now and again, then skittles out of sight, but the concept has certainly taken root.
After round pen work, time to work in the arena and under saddle. First Jenny worked on the ground with India reinforcing India being soft in her shoulder, turning when asked, and reaching underneath herself and crossing the inside hind in front of the outside hind when turning. In this first pic, very early on, India is not soft. Look at that head thrown high, resisting Jenny.
Now, a few passes later, look how much softer India is in this photo:
Jenny mounted and spent quite a while that way. At this early stage, she's working on forward movement from India, steering, and stopping, and all at their most basic levels. When asking India for a turn, her hands are wide, held out further than they would be if she were riding her mare, Wendy. Wendy is attuned to subtle movements and weight shifts. India is trying to figure out what the heck is going on and subtlety is beyond her now. Here are two pictures of learning to turn.
And we have a turn!
See Jenny's hands? They're exaggerating the turn for India, who has her head thrown up, trying to keep her balance as she careens around the turn.
Jenny doesn't mind if India trots or canters at this stage, as long as there is forward movement. India likes to canter. Jenny tells me it's a very smooth canter. I can't wait to find out for myself. Here Jenny is urging India to maintain the canter, her hand slowly rising and falling in time with India's rhythm.
Other times, Jenny will lean backwards slightly and reach behind her and rub India's croup while she's cantering, or lean forward and rub her neck. India is learning that the person up there can and will be doing lots of things and it's No.Big.Deal. NBD! That's our motto.
Starting with this lesson, Jenny began taking contact with India's mouth, asking her to yield (but not stop) to her hands, softening her neck and dropping her nose. As soon as she felt India try, she'd release contact. Yielding to the bit (or hands, you can really say either or about what Jenny is introducing to POTU) is work for India. An immediate release rewards India for doing what's asked. At the end of the lesson India was stopped in the center of the ring and standing quietly and Jenny asked India again to give her head, but she was also hoping that India would also interpret this pressure as a request to step backwards. Since she's not moving forward as before, moving backwards from a halt makes sense. India did. She backed several steps, with Jenny rewarding her between each step with a release. Backing is a big skill for a young horse. India is getting it.
And now, movie time! Grab your popcorn.
This is almost immediately after Jenny mounted and asked India to move forward. It was windy today and all the horses were in a weird sort of mood. India bucks a bit in the canter. Jenny never loses her cool, just executes a one-rein stop. India isn't ready to stop, but she does stop cantering. She keeps walking and walking, turning small circles because that one-rein stop turns her head back towards the saddle, forcing a tight turn. Jenny waits out India's impatience and when she finally does halt, Jenny strokes her as a reward and then asks her to walk forward again.
You want to see a one-rein stop up close and personal? This is your vid!! And then listen to what Jenny says about the state of horses today. ;0)
And this vid below? This is a long one. Watch it and you'll get to see what it's really like to be there.
Note the scary corner in this vid. If I'd not maxed out Blogger's ability to upload vids, the next one would show India trotting right into that (formerly) scary corner and then working on the concept of taking the diagonal across the arena. It's very much a concept for POTU now.
Warm today! Highs in the low 70's and I was comfortable in a long sleeve t-shirt (the very one you saw last December in this blog made for me by my Canadian niece), but inside the barn where it was shady, I wore my Sewanee sweatshirt and was happy to have it. I am ready for winter to be over and done, and I know those of you in Canada and Ohio shake your heads at my complaining about our comparatively mild winter, but kiddiewinks, I'm a swampflower. Enough with winter, let's move to spring! And now that this bit of fantasy is over, I leave you with a great poem by Billy Collins:
Introduction To Poetry
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
Billy Collins
1 comment:
Great news for POTU and loved the Billy Collins poem. She is really coming along.
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