Waking up to 'balmy' 13F made me even more grateful to Detroit Energy for getting our power back on. Lots of people are still without it. It was so cold overnight that I had to take a spade to the ice on the water trough in the pasture this morning.
We didn't have a lot of wind, but nevertheless, Remy was quite 'up' and 'looky'. It's interesting how he picks up on the nervous energy of certain horses and riders. Especially one horse-rider pair had him quite worried. But we hunkered down and got on with it. I remembered what I learned in the cow-working clinic: To give Remy reassuring pats on the side where the perceived threat is. It works!
As the quality of our work is improving we can no longer get away with 'just OK', everything has to be done correctly and with quality. Case in point: Transitions. They have to be prompt, and correct. Forbidden (a word very valued by my French employer): Falling on the forehand, coming down too abrupt, hollow, taking too long... and the cardinal sin: Me falling forward! We did transitions within the gaits, i.e. medium to collected and back, and Judy explained that my down-transitions should be like up-transitions: Prompt, on the aids, with the rear wheel drive engaged to bring the shoulders up.
I'm getting the quality of the canter better, and after getting some verbal 'encouragement' in the form of "Don't let him do this!" (wavering, not forward/engaged enough, not straight) our canter was at the level where we were permitted to do changes. And yay, we nailed a good one each way on the first try.
The cool thing is that Remy is clearly proud of himself after every lesson. He strutted onto his 'school bus' (trailer) and sauntered casually into the pasture at home for his well deserved weekend off. This is because Remy is mentally challenged but not over-faced. It's part of Judy's training plan for us, and after some trial and error we figured out the correct balance.
I was going through the stacks of books in the bedroom (yes, yes, JP, there is a place for those, and I think it's next to the bed) and came across the "The Riding Horse Repair Manual" by Doug Payne. It's an excellent book. Doug basically put on paper what Judy is telling us. Here is an excerpt from the book:
"Every day your job is to instill a new and elevated level of confidence. If your horse could talk, he should be able to describe exactly what he learned that day. Since that's impossible, look for unspoken signs that you've been successful: Your horse should be calmer and more "in tune" with you when you finish than when you started. He should have an air of quiet confidence about him, as if he wished all of his friends could see him at work."
I picture Saumur watching and saying "All nice and dandy, but you couldn't pay me enough to do that level of work again. I prefer my life of leisure, thank you very much. I get the same pampering and treats and don't even have to work for it". (Saumur is pondering a membership at the AARH: American Association of Retired Horses).
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