Solene - august 22, 2014

I am back again in riding Solene today, after another year away from horses because of health hitches by me.
Anyway, what a joy to be able to ride again! Riding must be an addiction indeed, and the want of it is  definitely depressing.
Over these past months, Solene was ridden by a few young people, all reasonably experienced. I found him quite receptive, and less cold than before. We were alone in the large arena, and could enjoy a quiet environment. After such an absence, it is difficult to measure the changes in the horse training and behavior, because of the impact of the rider's lack of activity and hence erosion of skills. Under this cautionary point about my own current judgement, I found more stamina on the positive side, and a stiffness on the left side on the negative one. This stiffness showed in shoulder-in on the right, when he resisted with a little jerk from the forelegs. Series of circles and spirales with a very soft hand gave a good result. His mouth has also improved, being less mute and in fact beginning to talk now and then. Last but not least, his canter is now no longer four beats, and begins to show a nice cadence.
At the end, I could not resist asking him whether he would go for little passage - and he did it quite nicely, without leaning on the bit and with regularity. A wonderful way to reconnect with the joys of riding which I missed so much this past year!