Champagne went on a spree last night.
I was working with Cath, my instructor, on getting him more forward and energetic. I am transitioning to spurs, which Champagne really does not like. Of course I never jab him in the sides with them, but sometimes I do poke him in an oblique way. It does wonders for his responsiveness. I get really good leg yields and turns on the forehand, and his basic walking and trotting cadence is much improved.
Cantering is still kind of an issue, especially cantering left. I had never cantered him wearing spurs, but last night I did. Cath had me get him to trot so fast that he might naturally have to fall into a canter, even if that meant he’d be on his forehand. I got him going right really fast, but he never did spontaneously canter, so she said to ask for a one.
I did, and suddenly things were completely out of control. He broke into a gallop and became unsteerable. I was riding with really long reins so be extra sure I didn’t pull on his mouth in the half halt, and his move into the gallop was explosive. Luckily I grabbed the grab strap strategically located at the front of the saddle, and held on with both hands. I also had the reins, but was afraid to shorten them because I needed my grip on the strap.
At first he was all over the arena, but I managed to do a bit of steering with the inside rein, trying to spiral him in, working toward such a small circle that he wouldn’t be able to sustain the gallop, but that only caused him to slip a bit on the sand, not to slow.
Okay, I’m on a speeding horse and completely out of control. My main thing was not to fall off (shades of ryanlion!), and my second thing was to try to regain control.
Slowly I got my outside rein shortened a little, and that improved steerability somewhat, although at times we were charging straight for the fence, only to veer off at the last minute (thank goodness he isn’t a jumper!). Then I got the inside rein shorter too, and began pulling, which had little effect. I was still too off balance to let go of the grab strap, so that limited the effectiveness of pulling.
After more than two minutes of wild ride, he did slow to a trot, but as I tried to steer him he took off again. This time I had a better grip on the reins, and after about another minute he slowed to a fast trot again. Cath said to slow to a walk immediately (usually after a canter we slow to a working trot before walking), and as I got the speed down she grabbed the reins and we stopped. Yikes.
So I had close to four minutes of major speed, and Champagne was snorting and blowing and acting like he would just as soon take off again. Cath said later that because of my off-balance position I was goading him on with my spurs at every stride. Oh my. Not like he has never bolted before (without spurs) but this one was major.
Cath hopped on and rode him the other way in canter, and made sure he was listening and responsive before Ken had his lesson . . . and Ken had a part longe lesson to be safe.
Today I have mild soreness in my shoulders and back, although I went to the gym yesterday and that’s probably a contributing factor. I’ll probably ride today, but no spurs. No getting hurt, especially right before vacation!
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