Sometimes you have to make decisions that you never thought you would have to make. I’ve evaluated my goals with Angus and I think at this time I must succumb to the fact that he was not bred to be a dressage horse.  He has thousands of years of endurance breeding in his pedigree and a strong will and he is clearly not happy in the dressage ring.  Today he appeared almost panicked on the lunge. Under saddle his trot was rushed and agitated and his canter was reluctant and high headed. Six months of training has resulted in the exact same horse I began with.  We have made very little progress. So, Angus is being retired back to what he was before.  He’s in much better shape though.

Now my focus is on Cadence and all that this wonderful second level horse can teach me.  I’ve moved him to a new barn that has an indoor arena.  I now also have access to multiple trainers with impressive dressage backgrounds, and an entire support network of adult amateur riders who share and sympathize with my own trials and tribulations with dressage.  I had one of the best Mother’s Days ever; the morning spent with my family and the afternoon spent in a clinic taught by Grand Prix rider Kristen Aggers.  Within two minutes Kristen had picked up on all that was lacking in my riding and set me straight on my position, along with homework to practice on until my next lesson.  For the last two days I have been so sore I couldn’t ride, and I’m eager to get back out on Cadence tomorrow in order to practice more of what I learned from her.  These lessons will occur once a month and both my daughter and I will be taking them.  We are both excited about riding with her.

Today was one of those days that you remember forever.  I’ve realized I can not ask Angus to collect and I suspect it is because his back isn’t strong enough yet.  As long as I give him a loose (but still in contact) rein he will, for the most part, do what I ask.  I’ve been working on halts, as we haven’t been in tune with each other on that command yet.  Yesterday I worked with him to stop, using my hips only.  I plant my hips, my hands stay still and, towards the end of the session, he was stopping.  It was an exhilarating feeling to be so in tune with my horse.

Today we started where we left off.  At the walk I planted my hips and he stopped. On a dime.  It was fantastic.  Such a small move but an exhilarating feeling.  At the trot we still need some work. It still takes half the arena to stop at the trot and the head goes way up along the way.  Once we were stopped I suppled the rein and asked him to put his head down.  He mistook the suppleing of the rein to mean back-up.  I would apply leg to stop him from backing and he mistook that to mean moving forward.  However it was an amazing progressive step because a month ago I could not get him to back up.  Today, at the slighted twitch of my hand he was backing.  But he began getting frustrated because he couldn’t figure out what I wanted and he began pawing the ground.  At that point we moved on to something else.  We ended with a nice hack up the hill.  He actually trotted on his own up there.  Another positive step, as I was expecting nothing more than a walk.

Tomorrow I am going to see if he can make it through the training level test one.

I watched a video yesterday entitled “The Taming of Totilas.”  http://youtu.be/sK3TzBuGN0w

It was a comparison of the horse’s performance under the two riders, Gal and Rath. It is an unfortunate situation; Rath’s family paid $11 million or so for the best dressage horse in the world.  And now Rath is being scrutinized and ridiculed for the horse’s performance under his ridership and he’s turned an entire country against him.  Has Totilas become a $11 million dollar headache?  Is Totilas a “Total Loss?”

Under Gal, the horse was amazing; a world champion.  His performance is not the same under Rath.  What I have learned by watching this video:

1)  Ride with your seat, not with your hands or legs.  Videos showed air between the horse and the leg with Gal.  Rath rides with his legs firmly locked against the side of the horse.  Gal’s hips are moving front to back, side to side. His hands and legs are, for the most part, still.  Rath relies on reins and leg, keeping the horse firmly in a frame, with no where to go.

2)  Sit on the inside of the bend.  Rath sits on the outside.

3)  Keep your upper body still.  Gal is a statute from the waist up.  Rath rides more animated.

4)  Reward often.  During many of the clips you see Gal reaching down and petting Tortilas after a difficult move.  I did not see Rath doing this.

5)  Ride with the horse, through it all.  During spooks Gal rides with the horse and proceeds with the next move as if nothing had happened.  One video showed Gal with his hat in his hand, riding around the ring after a performance.  Totilas spooked and the only visible sign from Gal was the tightening of the arm around his hat.  Other videos show Totilas spooking under Rath, and Rath tightens up trying to contain the horse in a box.  This makes the horse more stressed.

6)  Ride what the horse needs, and that is not the same ride for every horse, every day.

7)  “Taming” does not make a partnership.  If I understood the video correctly, after a dismal performance, Rath changed coaches and within a week had a new horse; one that was more in control but one that had also lost a good portion of his suspension, animation and drive.  The commentators suggested that Rolkur training had been used on the horse during this time.

I might as well write off the entire month of March.  Between the back muscle strain and the bad weather I haven’t had a chance to ride much.  I also have an upcoming trip to Vegas for Spring Break which will knock out the last week of March. So I have seven more days to fit in some riding.  I was able to schedule a lesson today on my trainer’s Warmblood, Gaia.  She boards Gaia at a place with an indoor arena so the wet Idaho spring weather isn’t a factor.  I hadn’t ridden in over a week so I was a little rusty.

When I arrived at the barn there was another trainer and rider having a lesson.  I enjoyed watching it while my trainer warmed up Gaia for my lesson.  The student was far more advanced than me and was working in a double bridle on a massive horse.  They were working on shoulder in, half passes and then moved on to flying lead changes.  It was exciting to watch the lesson, and it reinforced how much work I have ahead of me.  The trainer is riding at Intermediare level and the student looked like she was schooling fourth level. It was a refreshing change to be watching adult amateurs at upper levels.  The barn at which I board Angus and Cadence is mostly kids. This new barn doesn’t allow kids to board horses, so the atmosphere is – different.

So, I hop on Gaia and I immediately realize how out of practice I am.  Nothing felt right.  But as the lesson progressed I started to feel better.  We tried sitting trot, but Gaia has a huge trot and both my trainer and I were a little worried about my back, so that didn’t last long.  We also revisited my old friend, shoulders in.  I managed that without collapsing this time.  Things are looking up.  We ended with leg yields at the canter; something I had not done before.  I had some trouble keeping Gaia at the canter when I moved my inside leg back for the leg yield.  I suspect I wasn’t keeping my outside leg on enough.  But it ended well.  I set up another lesson for Thursday.

It’s been seven hours since my lesson and I can feel my back.  It’s not painful, but tight.  I wonder where this is headed.

AFTER I did my back stretches and Tai Chi I went out to the barn, saddled up Angus and I-rode-my-horse!  After nine days off, it was a wonderful feeling.  I was planning on walking only, but I couldn’t help myself and Angus and I worked on long and low at the trot.  We also took a small hike up the hill.

I’ve been trading e-mails with Bill, Helm’s owner, about Akhal-teke training.  Bill is showing at a level, Intermediare-1 that I can only dream about at this point.  He reviewed my blog and told me I was pushing Angus too hard.  So today my plan was to work solely on long and low.  But I figured I could walk the training level test in long and low.  So, we get to the first point, X halt salute, and Angus won’t halt.  When he did finally halt, up went the head.  We are so not ready for our first show.

For the first fifteen minutes of my ride, we worked on walk halt transitions.  I quickly realized that Angus won’t halt if you pull on the reins until he stops.  He also won’t halt if you simply relax your seat and think about stopping.  It took me a while but I finally figured out that he will halt if you pull back slightly and then immediately ease up.  He stops rather quickly too when you ask him this way.  I felt like I made a huge accomplishment today.  We’re still working on raising the head on the downward transition.  But it’s improvement in the right direction.

Back at home and I have my icepack on my back. I’ve taken my Ibuprofen and I’m working on my muscle relaxing glass of red wine.  All in all, a good day.

I think I’ve figured out my problem.  I have been talking about dressage being a sport to everyone who shows any interest in horses.   I mention how it takes years to build up the horse’s strength and muscle-tone; how the lessons are a work-out for both horse and rider.  However I have not been treating myself like an athlete.

I just finished a book that I purchased to try to figure out how to avoid the back pain I’m currently experiencing.

I highly recommend this book!  It’s written by a neurosurgeon who has grown up riding horses.  The guy understands what it takes to ride.  And after reading the book I realize I’ve strained my back because of what I do all day, every day, whenever I am not riding:  sitting at a computer.  I don’t stretch before I ride.  I get up from the couch, put my riding clothes on and drive out to the barn.  I don’t do any back strengthening exercises before or after I ride.  I do however do kettle bell swings, 100 – 200 a day, three or four days a week.  This was my compromise on working out.  A fitness friend of mine told me that kettle bell swings address all of the core muscles and are all I need to do to keep in shape.  I know I need exercise, but I don’t like to physically do it just to do it.  If it’s concealed in some other activity, like riding horses or swimming, then that’s okay.  Kettle bell swings are easy. I can do them in front of the television. However evidently kettle bell swings are not targeting the muscles I need to ride.

So, I’m going to take Dr. Warson’s advice.  I am going to do his back stretching and strengthening exercises every day. I’m going to take Ibuprofen daily as an anti-inflammatory.  He also mentioned drinking a glass of red wine each night acts as a muscle relaxer.  Winning!

It is now day seven of no riding. Still no end in sight, as the back pain is still there. My chiropractor said perhaps this weekend. I’m crossing my fingers.

The good news is that I have done more research on Akhal-Tekes and dressage and I found out Angus is not the lone dressage horse out there. It turns out there are quite a few of them, and some of them are competing in the upper levels. I came across an interview with an Akhal-Teke owner, Bill Askins, who has shown his stallion, Helm, at Intermediare – 1, and is working towards Grand Prix.

Helm is an Akhal-Teke stallion showing at Intermediare - 1. There is hope for Angus!

This was fantastic news for me, and an interesting read.  I was able to relate to many of his statements.  For instance:

1. “I had some reservations since he did not fit the current template of the proper dressage horse! He was long backed, swan necked, slight as a deer, and rather
small. But I agreed since he had good gaits, a very good mind, and was very light to ride.” (Well, Angus is a bit overweight. No one would mistake him for a deer. But the rest applies.)

2.  “Helm is easily trained, docile and willing. However I have always ridden him with great care as he has a very delicate sensibility, and requires minimum aids. Any excessive aids, or undue driving or forcing of the issue, are counterproductive. I do carry a whip and do wear spurs, but they are rarely used, and then only to reinforce my seat aids. He is a pleasant horse to ride.”

3. “The daily training routine consists of (typically) two lessons by the trainer each week, consisting of 45-55 minutes, to master some particular dressage exercise. I will ride him another three times a week for about the same period of time.”

4.  “The routine varies. Generally there is no endless repetition of exercises. I lose my concentration and the horse his willingness if we do the same thing too often. I take a long warm-up at the walk; I bring him to collection through movement rather than forcing it. The principal preoccupation is getting the hindquarters under him before I really start anything serious. We then progress to a forward working trot to get the blood moving. From there into lateral work, trot extensions, and finally canter work.”

5.  “He gives me just what I ask for, nothing more, and nothing less.” (Yep, that sounds like Angus.)

6. “We have dealt with the conformational issues that limit Akhal Tekes in dressage by strengthening his long back and building a top line. The typical “swan neck” has been replaced by a noticeably better neck conformation through a lot of correct work. He is much stronger, more muscled up, than when we started, so it makes this advanced work easier.” (We are working now on doing just this with Angus.  It’s nice to have reinforcement that his neck and back will improve.)

7. “Helm is the easiest horse I have competed in dressage. He never misbehaves in the show ring, does not spook, and simply does his duty. Noise does not bother him, the show atmosphere is not a problem, and he is relaxed in his show ground stall.” (Angus doesn’t spook.  I never have any worries about riding him in strange places.)

8.   “Finesse is more successful with this horse rather than crass demanding. I am very careful not to stress the horse as he has a very long memory, and trust once lost is very hard to regain. However I do insist that he do what I want, but in a gentle, patient way, and he always yields. He is a very agreeable Akhal Teke, and I have been told, as you mention, that this is a dominant characteristic inherited from his father Melesur.” (Angus’s sire, Mangus Colorado, likewise was known for his docile temperament and great mind.)

9.  The judges give him mixed reviews, some like him a lot, calling him “elegant”, “pure gaits”, “great mind”, while others question him, with “looks weak”, “poor conformation”, and the like. He does not fit the warmblood mold that is the current standard of competitive dressage horseflesh and it is reflected from time to time in the judges’ comments.