Spring Training

As spring (and show season) approaches; as the snow melts away and footing improves; as the days get longer and we can train, school and ride later into the afternoons and evenings (especially exciting for those of us that work days and wait all winter for those evening riding opportunities), we must once again evaluate our horses and ourselves, where we are and where we want to be.

I've spent most of this winter riding and taking lessons on my horse, and occasionally riding two of my trainer's horses, all of whom I work with and ride well. I've also taken on the responsibility of retraining a horse who has been out of work for some time. And with him I've been having ... to put it mildly ... trouble. I couldn't understand why my work with him just wasn't, well... working. I was lunging and riding him regularly, consistently taking him out, walking him around the arena, expecting him to perform like the other well trained horses I've been riding, progressing him from one step to the next without making anything 100% perfect before moving on. In a nutshell, I was fixating on (A) where I wanted the horse to be, and (B) what I wanted to do, rather than concerning myself with what was most important: where this particular horse was at, and what step by step building blocks I needed to take to develop him to where I eventually want him to be. I wanted to have fun (which, fighting with him, I wasn't having), forgetting that if I didn't do my job (giving him what he needed in his training), not only would he not be fun now; he would never become fun.

My trainer/instructor, Mark Matyszyk, saw what was happening with me and this horse. He started asking me what my plan was each time he saw me tacking up my "project". Fact was, I didn't have a plan and he (Mark) knew it. Which was exactly why he started asking. A few days of this routine, and one day, after I finished with another unsuccessful "training session" that went nowhere good, Mark asked me how I intended to bring this creature to a point where he could be a useful lesson horse. I started to answer that I needed to start riding him more consistently. Mark jumped in and said "you have been consistent; consistently wrong". Ouch! that hurt. But I knew he was right. After all, I was making no progress doing the same thing day after day, week after week.

I didn't come up with another answer right away; I waited - and I thought. I thought through my afternoon barn chores; I thought while we later brought in the horses and fed. And finally, at the end of the day, after we closed up the barn and began walking back to the house, I told Mark that I believed I needed to take a lesson here and there with this little guy to help put me (and him) on the right track.

Asking for help was the first smart move I'd made with this horse in months. With Mark's guidance, I was finally able to see that my biggest (perhaps only) problem with this horse was me and what I wanted. See, I wanted... and wanted... and wanted (more and more) from this poor four-legged creature, and he only stopped giving because he realized he wasn't getting anything positive back from me: no rewards; no "coffee breaks"; no scratches on the withers; for correct behavior. I forgot to try to catch him doing something right so I could praise him for it, and was only focusing on pushing him harder every time he did something wrong. And since he still got the demands placed on him for being good, or for being bad, not only didn't he have any reason to try to do right; most of the time he probably had no idea what "right" was, since I wasn't bothering to tell him.

In that lesson, Mark brought us back to bending exercises on the 20m circle. This horse needed to learn and develop balance, and concession to the hand first and foremost (what dressage horse doesn't?). And that's where I saw how relentlessly demanding I was being of this horse. Looking back, I should be kissing this little guy and buying him a lifetime supply of carrots for not killing me.

Like I said, my lesson began on the 20m circle, inscribing the circle so the horse would understand what we were going to do and have a figthting chance of being successful at it. Mark had me ask the horse to begin to bring his head to the inside, slowly, using an inside, outside, finger, until he conceded (not just yanking his head to the inside). And once he conceded a little bit, keeping that, and not asking for (or demanding) any more, for a few steps, and then rewarding him with a loose rein and a scratch on the withers. Once I had let the horse know that, yes, this is right - this is what I want, Mark had me take up the rein and ask again - slowly, and softly - for a little more concession and a little longer (an extra step or two) keeping of the concession.

Wow, was this an eye-opener. Had it been up to me, I'd have asked, and then demanded, that he first bring his head down (something he hadn't really learned to do yet), put him on the 20m circle, and immediately started bending him to the inside, demanding more and more until he had no choice but to either spin his haunches out, fall in, or pop his head up so that he wouldn't fall over for lack of ability to balance anymore. At which point I would've been beating him up for doing what he had to, to save himself (and me) from falling over. Because I wanted the horse to bend, and counterbend, and stay on the circle with total disregard for his needs and capabilities.

So you're probably asking what this has to do with you and your noble steed.

Last fall, perhaps you were jumping 3' stadium courses in the outdoor arena, up until snow and ice began to limit what you could safely do, to flat work only. So let's say your horse hasn't jumped since November. And now here we are at the begining of April, five months later, with good footing (finally), a fly or two beginning to buzz around the barn (I suppose the trade-off of bad weather for bug season is worth it), and an itch the size of a horsefly bite (ouch! maybe it's not always worth it - would somebody out there please invent a fly spray that works!) to set up some 3' oxers and verticals and have at it! Never mind that you may need to check in on your half seat and make sure that it's still solid; how about your horse - remember the shedding-all-over-the-place beast who hasn't seen so much as a trot pole since last fall? No matter how badly you may want it, now is the time to stop, rub som calamine lotion on that itch, think about what your horse needs, and set up some trot poles, cavaletti, or low crossrails until your horse's mind and body are back in shape to tackle that 3' course. Set him (and yourself) up to succeed, and let him know when he's successful, and you may find that even bending exercises, with the littlest bit of concession, can be fun and rewarding. I did!

Have fun, be safe, don't forget it's OK to ask for help, and have a great show season!

Sandi Prosnitz

Sunrise Farm

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