There is Life in Karina's Back! - October 10th

I thought that there was a crisis approaching, but it appears that I was wrong :) The progress may now be a little less visible, but nonetheless each time I work with Karina, we're making a step forward :)

This time Karina came to the pasture gate on her own. My husband took her on a lead rope and groomed her in the stableyard. I played with Karina's tail a little; she was not particularly happy about that, but her tail was loose and I could make little circles with it. Karina protested slightly when I dressed her up in cavesson. We went for a walk just as usual; during the walk I worked a little on backing up, stelling and bending. Then we went to the roundpen (this time she didn't rush there, as she was doing for the last couple of times) and worked for some eight minutes on LFS on the circle. Karina tried to lean on me a little, on both sides, for some cause she was searching for support from me. But towards the end of this session she was more on her own legs, especially to the right. She tilts her head a little, but this is caused not by tension in the neck, but by problems with stretching the whole side of her body, especially in the hip area. Improvement will come in time, of that I'm fairly sure.

I have still to pay attention to her stepping under with hind legs, because when I'm not reminding Karina to step under, she tends to place her inner hind leg beside her body (not so much as she used to in the beginning of ST, but still that is not what I want). Her LFS to the left is still very imperfect, but it is improving. I'm afraid that I'm putting too much pression on Karina and that I'm not enthusiastic enough when she is progressing. I should praise and reward her more intensively, just as I did in the beginning, and she was much more motivated to work. Now she becomes a little impatient sometimes, and perhaps... disappointed? I don't want to fail her. Just as I've said in some previous posts, it is much more working with yourself, on your reactions, than actually working with your horse. If you improve – your horse improves.

In the end of the session Karina could focus no longer. There was something going on in the nearby bushes, and there was wind, so she kept on stopping and looking there. I therefore asked her to make one last effort, and I stopped ST session right there. Then we went to the riding arena to work on some TTEAM exercises – Star and Labyrinth. I started with Labirynth, and it went pretty well, though we were both rushing through it. Next time I must pay more attention to the precision of every step and turn. I should stop Karina much more often, so we could both have time to think on our next move instead of rushing blindly through the exercise.

The Star, too, could have been better, though I confess I have not much to complain about. We worked on the poles flat on the ground, and then every second of them was raised at one end. Karina fell out on her outside hind leg, no matter what the direction. Maybe that was too hard for her and too soon I went closer to the centre of the star.

A couple of times I went with Karina to the wall and worked a little on shoulder-fore. Karina overbent to the inside and the shoulder-fore became something like a shoulder-in. She rebelled a little, I think not because I asked too much of her, but because she had problems with understanding what I wanted. I stopped her, bent her neck and asked her to step under. She made a step forward and then lowered her head. Her shoulders became visibly more free and her range of motion increased. After three steps or so I stopped her, because that was AWESOME! I rewarded Karina and took her to the stableyard to dress her up in her stable halter, so that we could go to look for some apples under the apple trees :)

When I watched training videos, I've noticed that when I led Karina from one place in the riding arena to the other, she started to let the movement through her back; it gently swayed, and her forelegs moved more softly and with grace. Her steps are becoming lighter and her motion range increases. She likes now to move with her head down, at least on straight lines, less so on curves. I no longer need to remind Karina to lower her head all the time.

Conclusions: I should have worked a little more on backing up. In fact I planned to, but since Karina gave me that wonderful shoulder-in, I decided not to force her to do any more that day.

Repairing Mistakes - October 6th

Fortunately, nothing serious. I went to Karina to the pasture and took her to the stableyard. She came with me eagerly, on a loose lead rope (must try one day to take her without rope). I groomed her, inspected the thrush hoof and treated it with hoof spray. The ground has dried now, and I hope that it won't be raining for a next couple of days, so Karina's hooves will improve.

Anyway, I dressed her up in a cavesson and we went for a walk. I stopped her a couple of times and worked on stelling in a standstill. Karina tried to bend her neck in an 'S'-shape, and I didn't know why (at the moment, because now I know). Fortunately, I managed to correct it. I did some backing up, which is still improving (baby steps, but nevertheless some progress), and I'm thinking on starting backing up over a pole (front legs first), and backing up in a labyrinth (TTEAM methods).

Then we went to the riding arena to work on poles and cavalettis and of course that cross-rail obstacle. Since that was a problem for Karina, I broke the exercise up in three parts. But first I did some warming-up on poles. There were four of them this time, all on the ground at first. Then my husband lifted fourth pole just a little (some 10-15 cm), then the second one, and then all of them. After that we put a cavaletti at the end of the poles and finally we got to the cross-rail. At first, there were only the standards and one pole, hanged asymmetrically between them. That Karina accepted easily. Then we hanged the pole asymmetrically in the different direction, and when that was accepted, we added a second pole. This time there was no problem with the obstacle. Karina trotted over it easily and I stopped training at that. I know that there is still much more to work on – we crossed the obstacle only once, and towards the stable, so I used a little trick here; I made horse's natural motivation work for me. I don't know how would it work if I asked Karina to go over the obstacle the other way. But that may come in time. Now it is important not to loose Karina's interest and motivation. She is pretty eager to work in that way.

Then we went to the roundpen to work on our LFS. This time, just as I've said before, I focused on the L of LFS, that is the lateral bending. First I started with stelling in a standstill. I've noticed that Karina's hip on the inner side of the bending (when she bends to the right) is much lower than on the outside, which is great. That means that she's stretching her side muscles, which is the goal of this exercise. I failed, however, to notice if on the left side it works as well. Then we moved to work in walk, and I've noticed that Karina's self-carriage has visibly improved – but on the right side. She is no longer leaning on her right front leg, and she manages to keep herself on a circle instead of falling inside. I'm not sure, however, if that is because the size of the circle we're working on corresponds the degree of her crookedness to the right, or is it due to our ST progress. Because according to Marijke, I may expect severe changes in the horse's asymmetry – even that the horse will display symptoms of precisely the opposite asymmetry. If I only knew which case this was...

Anyway, circles to the left are much worse. Karina doesn't seem to support herself with her left hind leg. I know that this leg is weaker, I know that she avoids putting much of her weight on it. On the longe, in the canter, she was always falling outside with her left hip. People often think that this is caused by insufficient engagement of the inner hind leg, but it is exactly the opposite. It is because the inner hind leg is so strong and pushing, that it pushes the hip outside over the weaker outside hind leg. Karin Blignault in her Equine biomechanics for Rider. The Key to the Balanced Riding confirms that it is so.

It occured to me also that Karina may be avoiding the stretch of her short, stiff right side muscles. Well, that tells me only that I need to work on that. And if I caused Karina's asymmetry to change, it only means that we're getting somewhere.

And about that S-shape neck bending: it may not necessarily be that I caused it by some unconscious directions that I gave Karina (as I feared at first), but it may be that she is just trying, just as all animals do, to get release in an easier way, by putting in less effort. It is pretty common in horse training.

Forcing Relaxation - October 5th

That was all strange. Again, there was a lot going on in the stable. There was the equine massage course again, and there were workers repairing the paddock fences, so there was a lot of noise and excitement. The herd seemed to be grazing in peace, but that wasn't exactly true. The herd leader was furious and I have never seen him like that. He wouldn't let any horse come near him – he jumped on them with his teeth and hooves. He disciplined Karina also for coming too close. Usually he allows her to be very close to him, they drink together and chase away each other's flies. But this time he was really bossy. Maybe to him the workers, using those noisy tools, seemed to be a threat. He never shows his feelings, he keeps them much to himself, but I think he must have been very anxious and that busy day in the stable must have sorely tried his patience.

Anyway, I went to the pasture to see Karina and she welcomed me warmly. There was a piece of dry bread for her, and a little scratching, and I went away. The massage course was still in progress, so I decided to wait until it finished. I spent some time watching the herd, and eventually I went to get Karina. She went with me quite eagerly, I groomed her as usual, though this time she didn't want me to do anything around her hindquarters. She was uneasy having me around there and she didn't like brushing her with her plastic brush. I have known that happen before – Karina is changing her coat, and at this time she likes her metal brush better. The plastic one seems to tickle her. I must try that the next time I'm in the stable. And I think that, despite no visual signs of that state, Karina is in heat. It is at least a time that she should be. But since she spends a lot of time outside, and she eats less caloric food, her organism cannot allow itself to spend energy on heat fireworks :) Well, we'll see about that. But I think that's it. Always when Karina is in heat, she becomes a little pushy and either over-reactive to touch or totally immune. When I want her to move, I must show her that I really mean it, whereas normally I can wave her away with my fingers. And that is what it looked like yesterday.

The thrush hoof looks better and hurts less, but the treatment isn't over yet. All Karina's frogs look bad and I have ordered her a hoof spray, but it has not come yet.

Anyway, I took her for a walk (in cavesson, of course), and we worked on some forward-down, and a little shoulder-fore (which is a little LFS on straight lines). Then I took Karina to the roundpen to work on LFS on the circle. I tried to make her move more on her own, and it sometimes worked, I think. But she continues still to lean on her inner frontleg (more on the right side, just as usual). However, I think that it is improving, but still when I leave Karina more to herself, she continues to place her hind leg beside her body, and not underneath it. After analysing the training video, which my long-suffering husband made for me again, I've noticed that I really should work more on the lateral bend, and not so much on forward-down. I have compared that with Marijke's Prince Elmelund videos, and I see that his forward-down is a result of lateral bending and stepping under. I have confused the cause with effect, and hence my new problems arose. I really need to control my forward-down obsession :) I may not have mentioned it before, but in the past I have tried everything to make Karina move in that position. Nothing I did would make her stretch her back muscles and lower her head. That was mighty frustrating. And now when Karina offered me that forward-down movement when we have started with ST, I was just overjoyed. And unconsciously I'm trying to maintain this as long as I can (by pulling on cavesson... God, I'm stupid! You cannot force realxation!), whereas I really should be satisfied with a few steps every now and then. Well, in case you didn't know, I'm telling you now, that working with horses is actually working with yourself. A horse is a horse, and he knows and can do all that you ask him, and if he doesn't, then apparently you asked a wrong question. If horse fails, that is always your fault. Mind that.

Well, after ST session, I worked a little on backing up, which is becoming better and better. I backed Karina up three times, after each backing up asking her to come forward to me. She moves now easier and lighter, and I don't need to push her back, but I just put the end of my riding whip to her chest and tap her with it. At the end of our session I no longer needed to use whip, I just waved her away with my fingers. Then she got her treat and we went to the riding arena to work on the poles and cavalettis. This time they were placed closer and Karina had to bend her joints more. Then we went to walk over a cross-rail obstacle. Why? I have noticed that Karina, despite she has no objections to jumping over paddock fences, tree logs, ditches and so on, is afraid of common show jumping obstacles. I have figured out that the standards are the problem (which is mighty odd, because she is not afraid of squeezing through the tiny door, or of horse trailers and things like that, so that can't be just a typical horse claustrophobia) and I'm starting to work on that a little. Since I've decided to work in hand and in walk only, until Karina achieves a satisfying level of relaxation, I'm doing what I can to make our training sessions as interesting as possible. And it seems to be working, because Karina is eager to come out with me and she is always curious about what are we going to do this time.

We walked over the obstacle to one side (not entirely successfully – Karina hit one of the poles with her hind leg and upset it) and then we changed direction. Karina protested. So we ended up standing on both sides of the obstacle, I one side and Karina on the other, asking me if she could go round it. I answered that she couldn't and I insisted that she came to me over the rails. I took out a treat from my pocket and beckoned her with it. Finally, with a sigh of resignation, Karina walked over the rails towards me and we stopped training at that. I took her immediately to the pasture to her mates. I hope that she will remember how she earned that release.

During our ST session this time I've noticed that Karina was tilting her head a bit. It worried me a little (it would have horrified me had I not seen Marijke's videos on that) But it wasn't until I watched our training video that I realised why Karina did that. You see, I tried to make her move her shoulders more to the outside, to shift her weight more on the outside foreleg, so that she wouldn't lean so much on the inside foreleg. That was totally erroneus (because it is the hinquarter engagement which frees the shoulders) and it resulted in Karina tilting her head (well, I helped her to achieve that by pulling on the cavesson). I don't believe now that I could be so stupid. I just hope that I did't ruin much...

ST Session - October 2nd

This time Karina was quite happy to see me. As soon as she had noticed me coming through the pasture, she headed towards me. Without any protests she went with me to the stableyard to be groomed. She didn't like her left front leg to be cleaned, because her hind left hoof is sore due to the thrush, which is being cured. Wet pastures and sweet hay do not help us to heal it, but I hope we'll succeed.

I forgot to play with Karina's tail this time, which is maybe as well, because she seemed to be over excited, just as if she was going to be in heat soon. Anyway, I dressed her up in the cavesson and away we went for a walk in the fields. I worked a little on head lowering and stelling. Now it seems to me that I should have worked on stelling much more, and should have started in a standstill. We tried a little shoulder forward movement, which worked quite well on one side, but on the other was much worse. That is not surprising at all, considering that Karina has her right side muscles so short and stiff.

Then we went to the riding arena, which unfortunately is covered all in nice grass and Karina couldn't focus so well as in the sandy roundpen. Anyway, we started working on the poles, and again I've made some mistakes. I should have kept a better eye on Karina's LFS during those exercises. Instead I walked on her outside and I couldn't control the inner hind leg. But it seems to me, now that I have watched our training video, that she starts to control that herself. She didn't lean so much on her right foreleg and she nicely stepped under with her right hind leg. That is not yet good enough, but it seems to me that we're getting somewhere. I walked with her three times over four poles lying on the ground and four cavalettis that were lifted just a little (10 cm, not more). That exercise I've found in a book 101 Dressage Exercises for Horse and Rider by J. A. Ballou. In the book that is of course a riding exercise, but nevertheless it's easy to change that into work in hand exercise. As the author states, this exercise (no. 10 in the book) helps to relax the lumbar part of the spine and brings more life to the horse's back. And Karina needs that badly...

After three rounds over the poles and cavalettis we changed direction and went another three rounds. Three times seems to me just optimal, because on the first time horse makes some mistakes, as it has to learn where exactly the poles are placed. Second time, Karina always tends to rush on them (out of excitement perhaps), and on the third time everything is just fine and the horse is not bored with the exercise yet. Always stop on the top :)

Then we worked a little on backing up, which though it is not yet on the straight line, but starts to look much better. Karina lifts her feet instead of dragging them backwards and lifts them diagonally just as she is supposed to do. This we did three times on one side and three on the other. After each backing up I asked Karina to move forward and that she did eagerly, with impulse. I've noticed not maybe a huge change in her movement, but a visible one. Her halts are becoming much better – she stops with her weight more on her hind legs, and not so much on the front. I hope this will keep improving...

Then we went to dress her up in her stable halter again and we went to search for some apples that have fallen from the trees. That was the end of our training.

After watching the video, again some things have occured to me. I've noticed that Karina's hindquarter muscles were very tense – they were clearly visible. That told me what a hard work that short training session has been for her. That told me also how weak her hindleg muscles are and how slow and careful my work on that must be. And that explained to me why our sholder forward beginnings are so hard and why Karina, who is usually so eager to work on new things, rebelled against that exercise. I knew that there might be some trouble with that exercise, therefore I didn't dare to ask her to bend more and work on shoulder in yet. Maybe I should move to LFS on circle in trot, before I move on to shoulder in. But somehow I thought that way it would be easier.

Update: Now that I've watched more Marijke's videos and read more about the shoulder in exercise in dr Heuschmann's books and Marijke's ebooks, I know that I'm on the right track. But we need to work more on lateral bending, as it is the starting point of the LFS, and everything other will improve.

ST Session - September 29th

The weather finally was nice. But everywhere around the stable there is just horrible mud, the horses sink into it especially near the pasture gate, where the earth is trampled. I met Karina grazing on the bank of the ditch, together with a playful gelding. She refused to come to me in the direction where he stood, so I moved to the other side and there she came to me. She didn't like walking through the mud, but she seemed quite happy about going to work. I squeezed her through a tiny opening in the gate, because the gelding was waiting for the opportunity to bolt through the opening, so I had to be careful. Karina waited for me at the other side of the gate and together we went to the stableyard. I groomed her and I've noticed that, though now she is spending nights in the stable, she seems not to be laying herself for the sleep (or the straw in her stall is just exceptionally clean) and she started to eat the straw again. I don't know what it means, she has more than enough hay (there is always some left). Maybe the hay is just too sweet and she needs more fibre.

Anyway, I groomed her as usual, she pawed a little, but stopped at my request and started playing with the rope. I put a cavesson on and we went for a walk to do some warming up. I asked her to lower her head and take a little stelling while walking straight, so we tried a little shoulder forward exercise. Karina started chewing and licking, so it seemed to me that she actually liked it. After the walk I wanted to work a little on the poles and cavalettis, to engage her hind legs a little, but as nothing was prepared, we just walked over some poles (Karina rushed on them a little – was she scared or eager?) and went to the roundpen to work on our ST.

This time I paid more attention to the inside hind leg movement. The whole procedure, together with a little warm up in a standstill, took about four minutes. I think that was optimal, because Karina had no time to get bored or tired with my excess requests. I changed directions a lot and gave Karina carrots (of course, only when I was satisfied with the quality of her LFS) to keep her motivated. She accepted those little treats with cold dignity, which is so characteristic for her, now when she is not hungry anymore...

After I watched the video from the training, I've noticed all the mistakes I've made. I should have asked Karina to take more stelling, I've left her head without cavesson control. I should have worked on bigger circles to the right, as Karina tends to fall on her right front leg. But we're making progress, and a big one: after the ST session, Karina's back was lifted and slightly rounded in the loins. The difference was stunning, and yet I know that it is going to be better still. Also this time Karina didn't resist to the cavesson pressure and she didn't push back on it, as could be visible in our previous video (her upper neck muscles were hard and tense). This time her neck was pretty loose and relaxed. She didn't chew or lick during the ST, but this is still to come when she relaxes more. I just can't wait for our next training, I'm planning to do some exercises on poles to warm up and engage the hindquarters.

After we finished working in the roundpen, I worked a little on her obedience: I opened the roundpen gate and stood there for a moment. Usually Karina is very eager to leave it, but this time she just stood beside me relaxed and waiting for me to give her directions. Then we went back to the stableyard, but suddenly Karina stopped halfway there and didn't want to come. That was pretty strange. In fact, there was the new horse grazing beside the roundpen and maybe she just wanted to join him. I asked her to come with me to the stableyard anyway and there I dressed her up in her halter and we went back to the roundpen to graze. The other horse was gone now, but Karina was happy enough with the beautiful grass that was growing there. Afterwards we went back to stable. I decided not to massage her and I just led her to the pasture. She didn't want to go, because that awful mud was everywhere around the gate. I asked her to go anyway, and led her over a harder ground and then I left her with her mates in the pasture.

Cavesson for the First Time - September 22nd

It stopped raining, and all the horses were in the pasture again. The grass is becoming worse and worse, but they use it while they still can. They have started to change their coat. Autumn is coming...

I took Karina along with other horse from the pasture, so I cannot really say that she followed me, because she might have been following her mate. I groomed her as usual, and at that time she played with her lead rope, pulling at it with her teeth. This is her new habit and I can't tell for the moment what does it mean. Is she angry, bored, frustrated, impatient or just playful? Sometimes it seems to me that she is irritated or impatient, because she paws the ground with her front leg. That habit seemed to be gone, and recently it returned, I can't really tell why. Anyway, this time she quickly stopped doing that, because I introduced cavesson to her and she was curious what it was. I showed her how it worked, and at first she tried to force its pressure, but she quickly realised that I wanted her to lower her head. Karina knows that when I put my fingers to her poll I'm asking her to lower her head. I used that reaction to explain to her how cavesson works. And I must admit that it is a wonderful tool. It prevents the horse from tilting its head sideways, it keeps the head perfectly straight. While using the rope halter I had to be extremely careful with the head position. Cavesson saves me that trouble.

I had to remind Karina, that if I'm asking her to lower her head, she must remain thus until I ask her to lift the head. It works now worse than in the previous training, but I'm not worried about that, because Karina must get used to the cavesson and different work routine. Anyway, about the training: I overdid it. Karina offered me much and I failed to see when I passed her limits. I pushed her too far. I'm afraid that next time she won't be that eager to train. I failed to pay enough attention to every detail. However, this is our first real ST session and I could hardly have hoped to succeed at every point. Fortunately, this time I had camera with me, so I can watch the training video and analyze it thoroughly. I also compared this video with some of Marijke's – especially those with Prince Elmelund. They are mighty inspiring, because they show the complete beginnings of ST. Prince, however, was at that time an unbroken horse, while Karina has had a lot of bad training in the previous years. She has a lot of bad habits and it will take much time to repair it by slowly rebalancing her and making her carry herself with ease and grace. I know that she has it in her, and it is my task to make her realise it.

It was really hard for Karina to start moving in a totally different way. She stayed focused and paid a lot of attention to my directions. That was so sweet of her, she is such a willing and obedient horse. In the last two minutes of training she could focus no more and I have noticed that, but unfortunately not quick enough. Analyzing our video further, I have also noticed that I should really pay much more attention to the inside hind leg movement – Karina tends to place her leg just beside her body, not underneath her point of weight. I kept on touching her obliquus abdominis muscle with my riding whip, and it worked great – she started putting her leg more towards her weight point, but now it seems to me that I was not precise and persistent enough. Sometimes I touched her hind leg joints, to show Karina that I wanted her to close her joints more. Though we worked in a standstill and walk only, the training was indeed hard and Karina was tired in the end. And mentally she was just exhausted. I have to work more on my attention to such details, I have to notice such things immediately. I want Karina to be interested and focused on what we are doing, and under no circumstances I want to force her to do anything. I wish I could train more often, but at present I can't. That is the cause why I'm trying to squeeze out of every minute of training all I can. Five minutes up to three, four times a week is so little... But I really need to chill out a bit.

It seemed to me after the training, that I asked too much of Karina, when I asked stelling on a small circle. I worked much more on a big circle (and again I've made a mistake there – I shouldn't work so close to the fence, because the horse may be reluctant to bend) And when I watched Marijke's videos, I have noticed that it was all right. Karina now and then tries to avoid bending her body as asked, and sometimes she walks sideways, keeping her body perfectly straight (or at least as straight as her crookedness allows). She tends to fall on her inside shoulder (more on the right side), but now I think that I know how to prevent it...

After the training I took Karina for a walk through the fields. I worked a little on lowering her head, leading, stopping and backing up. Then we went to see the tent which recently was built up in the stableyard. Karina seemed to be really interested in it, she peeped curiously inside it. Then I gave her a massage of neck muscles, which she seemed not to like (I must stop doing massage for some time, as she seems not to be very happy with any kind of massage, even that with her plastic brush, which she always enjoyed). Then I washed her legs, and for the first time she was completely relaxed during that procedure.

At last I took her to a place where the grass is always greener than in the pasture ;) A couple of minutes grazing and away she went to join her herd.

Finally, as to the the photos: in the three of them you see Karina doing LFS on a circle for the first time. In the first picture, you see Karina trying to bend her body laterally. She is stepping under her point of mass with her inner hind leg, she is keeping her head pretty low and forward. She is leaning very much on me, and is not on her own legs yet. In the second photo Karina is resisting the cavesson pressure, as you may notice – her upper neck muscles are very tense. But soon she yielded to that pressure and she released the muscle tension and lowered her head, allowed it to just hang freely on the nuchal ligament. And in the third photo there is Karina dragging her feet behind her, just after a couple of minutes of ST. That showed me how hard work it is for a horse to change long years habits, to change her way of moving. And may I always keep that in mind, before I ask Karina to do more...