Pacha - july 30, 2010

This week as been another good one. We have worked every day, either lungeing or riding. The physical effect of this regular training programme is showing now on Pacha appearance. He gets stockier, his chest is widening, his neck muscles are bulging and even more importantly, his back muscles are building up quite visibly. I was quite pleased in this respect when the vet who was visiting the stables noticed these changes in Pacha's body spontaneously.
Quite logically, these physical improvements translate in Pacha's dressage. As mentionned earlier, the quality of his canter has stepped up, and has gained a good foundation towards improvement. Steady head carriage and pace, smooth variations in speed both ascending and descending, light contact. We now can start studying collection, very cautiously of course in order to avoid ruining the good work so far by asking him too much too quickly. We do this on 10m diameter circles at both hands, rising again slightly on the stirrups to reduce weight on his loins and spiralling down to 6m diameters. Then, as these circles are obtained without upsetting his position and pace, I sit deeper in the saddle and carry on like this for only one or two 6m diameter circles. The fact that Pacha accepts this without disorder is a proof of the positive changes achieved.
In dressage, progression is not linear with time. There may be long time spans during which it seems that things do not evolve much. These plateau periods may be due to either time necessary to the horse for gaining physical fitness, or to the rider for resolving training roadblocks. Generally, both are involved. As Beudant wrote, one should not believe that patience alone is the key to get through.Wait and see is not a good precept in horsemanship. On the contrary, the rider must think, try and plan all the time. Once these issues are over, a step change will generally occur as described and progression seems to change gear with renewed impetus. This is the reward of applying both Faverot de Kerbrech's wise statement: 'Pour arriver promptement, aller très lentement'and L'Hotte's famous quote 'Reflechissez'!