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"Only way that horses will win is to sit there and spend time with them. Show 'em that you're trying to help 'em. Love 'em. Talk to 'em. Get to know 'em. Now that's what you gotta do. You love 'em and they'll love you, too. People might call me crazy, but that's the way it is." -Eddie Sweat, groom for Riva Ridge and Secretariat
Training Log for Tilt Rapp
1/16/08 Tilt is having a wardrobe malfunction with his cribbing strap. The keeper fell off the front strap and the buckle keeps coming undone. Today when I came out somebody had kindly reattached it with both straps behind his ears. I now place the excess strap in the other keeper too, and it seems to work, but it may be time to consider investing in a new cribbing strap. Oh, I know, this one is so new that you are surprised. ;-) I brought him in and tacked up and he was relaxed from the start. We had a lovely ride all around and I can see why you like this horse so much. He's got a great attitude and work ethic. A couple things that would help him tremendously is to become a bit desensitized to movements in the tack. He tends to drop his back and run (even at a walk!) when his rider moves for any reason, even if it has nothing to do with him. If I rode this horse for a month I would be doing all sorts of wacky stuff on him until he figured out that it doesn't mean he needs to do something in response to it. Rain slickers crackling, do yoga stretches on him, goofy natural horsemanship flat stuff (I own one you can borrow), learn to crack a hunt whip from his back (slowly, tactfully building up to it by starting with dragging the lash). He has to learn that it isn't all about him, poor dear. All that said, he was a gem today, and I think asking him to keep his neck low even when working him on the ground, and then starting out with long and low walk and trot work is the ticket for him. 1/14/08 Focused on relaxing in his neck on the walk in from the paddock and while tacking. Then warmed up with much stretching down and discouraging locking the poll. Walk was very nice, through in his back. Trot work was quite good, canter work was a bit tight at first, but came around nicely. Good day. 1/11/08 Spent quite a bit of time leading him in, asking him to step up and follow the leadrope rather than sort of going and tugging against it when asked to go forward. Tacked up (I didn't trust your tack locker as the bridle looked totally unfamiliar and I didn't find your saddle, which I assumed was on the saddle racks near it. Totally confused since I thought that lovely bunch of items in the other tack room was yours. Hmmmmm...) At any rate, I used one of my bridles with a french link and my tb width dressage saddle and we were in business. Spent a lot of time in walk warmup. He likes to lift his head and pull with his shoulders rather than stretch through and forward and push from behind, so spent a lot of time asking him to let go in his poll. When he did, he let go in his back, swung his shoulder and started to chew nicely. Easier to left, of course, but we did get it right. Then on to the same exercise in trot on a 20 m circle. He had one effervescent moment where he suggested that he would rear or bolt or something, rather than stretch and I sat chilly a la Marcia Kulak and the moment passed. Canter transitions were fugly (but I blame myself for that because I was focusing on having him stretch through them rather than lift his neck into them) and the first 3 strides of canter were tight. He really reacts well to releasing the inside rein, though and came around nicely in both directions. You are right, he has come a long way since I rode him last. He is lighter to the seat, leg and rein aids. His walk definitely has "more for free" too. Good job. (PS. Spell check does not recognize "fugly". Imagine!) |
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