#19 Project Relax Days 2-10

It’s been 11 days since Project Relax (or Project ‘Chill The F*ck Out as I really like to call it) began. Only 6 of those have been ‘school days’. The rest have been hacking days or (sadly) rest days, due to a little inconvenience known as ‘work’.

However, I am pleased to report (in fact, I’m over the bloody moon to report) that I am genuinely seeing some progress with Flora’s work in the school.

 

My last post described the first session we spent schooling alone, after a lot of tension and head throwing the day before, running through a dressage test with a friend. It was a pretty successful session, with a vast improvement seen on the video recorded by Alice.

The next night, we had a lesson.

Our instructor let me spend a long time working Flora in in walk, just like the night before, but with more leg yielding and some turn on the forehand at the corners of some squares to encourage her to step under from the beginning. Once she was warmer and looser, we moved into some trot work. I couldn’t believe the difference from a couple of days previous. She really did seem happier, more relaxed, ears pricked, and I thought, ‘By golly, we’ve got it!’

Alas, no.

You see, the problem with working in a school with no mirrors, and not always being able to FEEL what you should – apparently - be feeling (I told you I’m no schooling expert), is that you can seriously delude yourself into thinking everything’s rosy. But then a video session, or your instructor’s feedback, will bring the reality home to you like a folded flag.

We’re so sorry, Mrs Williams. But your horse’s outline was lost in battle.

Upon receiving this miserable news in a lesson, you are presented with a choice. To cry. To swear. Or to damn well keep fighting. So last week – and during this week’s lesson too – I chose the latter (with just a touch of the second option too).

In this case though, ‘fighting’ would ideally mean simply not giving up. Listening to instruction. Persevering. Releasing pressure and rewarding at the split second Flora does what I ask. And largely, that is what happens. With my instructor’s new focus on my inside hand, which likes to drop way lower than it should be constantly (it’s like I’m doing it on purpose and it’s infuriating), and on ensuring Flora is going forwards and not getting ‘stuck’, we eventually make a lot of progress in the sessions.

However, a ‘fight’ it sometimes really is.

Let’s face it. She’s a mare. She’s a Thoroughbred. She was trained to race. Schooling hasn’t been a consistent focus. She’s about to turn 15. She’s probably starting with a touch of arthritis in her hocks. The dressage gods aren’t really on our side.

But. All I want - my genuine goal - is for her to realise that letting herself relax and working more soft, round and through, will actually make her feel so much better. No prancing along looking pretty in a false outline. None of this ‘throwing her head down in a stroppy false outline’ either, then throwing it back up again when she’s had enough.

You can see by her face that, sometimes, she really objects to having to do it. Not always. But sometimes.

So here’s where we’re at:

-          Her teeth have been done recently

-          All of her tack has been changed

-          Her bit has been professionally fitted by the lovely Gail at Horsebithire.com

-          She’s been ridden by two or three of us and behaves largely the same way

-          She IS relaxing more

-          She IS improving

-          She IS concentrating more

-          She IS less concerned with noseying and nebbing at what’s going on outside the school

-          But she IS sometimes still pulling the most furious face you’ve ever seen when she’s working.

Based on these facts, it would be nice to know that she’s just an opinionated little fucker whose pants get bored off doing flatwork and dressage. And not, for instance, that she’s tense and scowling at intervals because she CAN’T work properly and enjoy herself.

So, tomorrow, we are having a visit from Lee Clark-Physio for an overdue assessment and treatment.

I can’t wait to go full-on horse geek and learn tons of new stuff, hopefully including some techniques beyond carrot stretches for keeping Flozzy loose and comfortable in between her work sessions. I suppose I’m also a little bit nervous, as one would be with any health-related visit: human, horse or any other beloved animal.

But here’s hoping she will feel a real benefit, however major or minor.