I had a dressage lesson Sunday night, after the infamous Saturday night ride full of the previously described capriole-crowhop combination. I was steeling myself for the mare to pull out her bag of tricks for the lesson, since when we ended the ride on Saturday (on a good note), she still had plenty of energy left to offer, despite the 97 degree heat at 7pm! Being the show-off that she is sometimes however, she put her dressage panties on and we had a great lesson, given that this was only my third ride since her three week vacay to get over the beginnings of ulcers (that we originally thought was back/hip pain) and her allergy season. Since this is only my second spring with her, I have now learned my lesson the hard way that she is very sensitive to the weather changes between winter and spring- hindsight is 20/20, but next year I will be watching her like a hawk for the first sign of any discomfort! It's hard to explain how she can be stoic and dramatic all at once- but now I know what to look for with her body language and attitude so that we never have to have a May like this again!
Sometimes it's really hard to explain to people that don't ride, or that don't ride your horse, how good it feels to feel them moving freely and swinging underneath you. The way YOU know they move when they are feeling good and working correctly. Mare has a fabo walk, big and swinging, we even got an 8 on it in our very first dressage test ever, so I am not messing with that gait at all, besides to make her slightly more adjustable in it. Her trot has gone from "track trot" to much more correct, with the steps being larger and more rythmic, but the last time I rode her before her weeks off, I could feel it was NQR! I could feel a shortness in her hind end and she was trying, but didn't want to accept consistent contact, she was just defensive to my aids. It scared me that she was hurting somewhere, and I almost dreaded getting back on her this week and finding that all the work we had done in the trot was going to be gone. But Voila, Jazz had not forgotten how to use her body, even though she lost a ton of weight so quickly and her topline disappeared faster than a plate of bacon left unattended with Doodle! There was a week or so where she looked absolutely ghastly to me- like a rescue horse. It's amazing how these elegant, athletic and seemingly strong animals are at the same time so incredibly sensitive physically. For about three days, I would pull her out of her stall or the pasture and groom her and she would just hang her head and stand there with a leg propped, accentuating her thinness with a hip bone sticking out. This was NOT my horse, she didn't even take the chance to make mean faces at me while I brushed her, or try nudge me off balance with her nose while I picked her feet, or turn around and stare at me waiting expectantly for a cookie, and she just stood there- still- not something she has ever been guilty of doing. After a year and a half of trying to teach her the command "stand", I wanted my dancing in the crossties, lip-pursing, face making horse back. I spent about three days that week just leaking tears and little prayers for her to feel better and start gaining weight back.
After talking to a friend about my ride on Saturday, she laughed and said, well it sounds like she far more well behaved WITH ulcers than without. That may be true, but for some well-behaved = boring and there's nothing less fun to me than a boring horse! I love that mare for her personality, even her uncanny ability to find new ways to launch herself into the air. So Sunday's short lesson was such a relief, it felt like the first time I had breathed out in a few weeks. She felt great and I know the fitness and her topline will come back with regular work. As we cooled out, I whispered a "thank you" prayer in the wind and gave her a quick grooming. I painted on her hoof dressing and she knocked me in the back of the head with her nose; I just smiled. She's back.
5 years ago
