Pacha et Eole - may 29, 2009

Outdoor arena, warm weather, several riders exercising including on some fences. Pacha was tense and hot. I walked him for longer than usual, with descente d'encolure, halts, circles and speed variations. Anytime he tried to rush in, I yielded on the reins and put him on a small circle. Almost no legs. At trot, I thought that it was appropriate to start with sitting trot right away, in order to calm him with the seat and get cadence. It was a bit jerky at the beginning, but I persisted on small circles with very light hands and legs. When he settled down into a regular tempo, I asked for some extensions on the large side, in horizontal placer and 'nose far away in front'. He engaged his hind limbs well, and I continued in variations of speed down to slow trot, as well with transitions to and from walk. I felt him getting more and more relaxed, and offering jaws yield without going behind the bit. I used this opportunity to ask him a Shoulder-In at walk first. He gave a beautiful one, with high placer, slow cadence and no resistance. He looked really handsome and 'noble' I was told. It was the same on both hands. I ended by asking him a few strides SI at trot, which again were quite nice.
We ended there and went back to stables, dry and happy. It was a good example of 'seizing an opportunity', which to me is key in dressage. By this I mean that the rider must detect and feel when his mount is willing and prepared to give him a movement, and pick it like a flower, just as in passing. As opposed to stubbornly try to request the movement from the horse without regard to those instants of perfect harmony between horse and man which are the joy of horsemanship. As Baucher said 'Preparer et laisser faire', everything is in getting prepared - and that implies state of mind as well as physical disposition.
After this pleasurable session, I watched Eole being ridden by a young lady, who usually rides him well. But this was not quite the case that day. She was alone with her coach in the indoor arena, and was working SI at trot. She is light in weight, and experienced. But she has a tendency to have the small of her back too arched (hollow), which brings stiffness to her seat and reverberates into her hands. This must have been the case, because Eole was unsettled, with unstable placer and at times showed genuine defences (nose high, fighting the hand, attempt to buck from the hind quarters). I had never seen my dear Eole like this before! The coach finally asked her to give the curb away completely, and calm came back somewhat. Just a little story to reinforce my point about 'seizing opportunity' which clearly was not appropriate for describing this situation were Eole was - there are days where the rider has to recognise that he/she is not in proper shape, and in that case should only perform 'minimum service' while stoically awaiting better days later...