Eole - march 04, 2010

Eole had been off work for three weeks. He had gone lame after having been jumped by an unexperienced rider of the club. This is so upsetting to see a lovely and capable horse being treated carelessly by incompetent junior teachers..
We went directly into the large outdoor area despite the bitterly cold wind and the freezing temperature. He was clearly hot and happy to enjoy the fresh air. We were alone except for S. who was giving a lesson to a young lady riding Coquin. We did very light work. I was pleased to see that he did not show any sign of lameness. We exercised at the three gaits, on large circles , first in horizontal placer and then with a somewhat higher neck. He had given cession de machoire very quickly, and showed the bright white foam that suits his lovely head so well. Except a short and small 'bond de gaieté', he behaved himself very well despite the combiend effect of cold wind and previous inactivity. Strangely enough, I could see that Coquin, which is as cold a horse as Eole is a hot one, was causing problems to his rider, who tried to control him with too much aids, which pushed them both in a vicious circle. Fillis wrote pertinent words about the differences beween a hot and a cold horse:
'A cold horse does not take us into his confidence, because when riding him we are obliged to vigorously use the aids, which are a punishment to him. A hot horse which gives himself up wholly to his rider, gets only pats on the neck, and appreciates all the slight differences in the indications of the aids. There is neither fear nor distrust between the two'
I realize that this statment should probably be nuanced, which was not Fillis' preferred way of saying things. But, in Eole's case, it applies quite beautifully.I discussed this with S. afterwards in the stable yard. He agrees with Fillis, and added that the reason why so many people do not like hot horses is due to seat issues and lack of calmness, which are strongly interdependant when on horseback.