I should rephrase that; it's trail ride number two in the Fix This series. If you'll remember, it took an hour to get Sydney around the neighborhood on Wednesday. On Saturday, it took 20 minutes. It wasn't trouble free of course, but his behavior was certainly improved. Not one to take a positive and quit, I realized that I had another 40 minutes of work left in him so instead of turning into the driveway, we head over to the dirt road loop. 

To access the dirt road, I have to continue along a paved, single lane road that passes along a tall brick wall beneath a heavy canopy of trees. This is a lovely route in the summer as it is deeply shaded, but on a horse who wants to spook and run, it feels like a funnel. The neighbor also has two large labs that love to bark and play when I pass through. It takes every ounce of self control not to choke up on the reins.

I rode Speedy through there a few weeks ago, and for the first time I trusted both of us not to spook at the dogs. Speedy walked through with a loose rein, although he gave the dogs a bit of the one-eyed ogle. Building on that successful ride, I rode Sydney through with the same "relaxed" body posture. Damn, trust is a hard thing to do. The dogs were kind to us that day as they chose to just watch us through the fence without vocalizing. 

Once we made it to the dirt road, I decided to test whether Sydney was listening enough to trot down the road. It's maybe 200 yards long, so it wasn't going to be much of a test. It didn't matter though as he earned a big, fat FAIL. The good thing about this stretch of road is that it borders a massive grass field that used to be part of the property owner's small golf course (never seen it used).

Up until recently, the field has been a perfectly manicured fairway so I've avoided even stepping a hoof onto that grass. The owner has let the grass die as he is preparing to plant an orchard there. The grass has been mowed short so it is quite the inviting riding area. Up until Saturday, I've not trusted Sydney enough to even think about working in such a large, open space.

When my request for a decent trot was ignored, I flexed Sydney's neck and put my spur on. We worked along the edge dirt road in the grass doing a variety of 10 - 15 meter circles always remembering to NOT PULL BACK. I can not tell you how hard it is to resist doing that. Instead, I made sure the inside rein was loopy, but my spurs were making sure that inside hind leg was taking great big sideways steps.

At one point, I actually got a nice, relaxed trot out of him, but then he remembered that he didn't want to be listening, and he tried to squirt out from under me. No biggie as the circle was there to catch him. By the time we circled our way to the end of the road, he was dripping wet, but listening. As we entered our driveway, the neighbor fired up a chainsaw and Sydney spooked hard. Again, no big deal. We circled again until he decided that was much harder than just standing quietly.

As we stood in front of the barn, I asked for a halt but got a jigging, head tossing thing so we worked on halting for a bit. I made him stand in a "frame" until he quit rooting against the reins. As I unsaddled, his face had a slight Holy Hell expression, but he was quiet and compliant.

I'll continue the discussion as many times as possible this week, but I suspect it's going to be a case of too little, too late. I imagine I'll be able to get through next Sunday's show warm-up just like we've been doing, but I don't think he'll be ready to actually ride through a test while listening to my aids. It's okay though, as we are still definitely making progress and addressing the issue.

And if nothing else, my own confidence is increasing!

If I added up how much I've spent on crap bridles over the last four years, it would easily amount to the nicest, fanciest bridle available.

The problem is that I can't justify spending even a hundred bucks on a schooling bridle so I continue to buy cheap dressage bridles in the hope that one of them will finally work well.

The problem is that Speedy has a "small" head. It's not disproportionately small of course, but compared to the heads of most dressage horses, his is tiny. Finding something that fits well has been a challenge. Had I known that I would end up spending a small fortune, I would have just done a custom order eight bridles ago.

Sprinkler Bandits, please do not think that I am trying to de-throne you as ruler of the Tack Whores. I am not, but seriously, if you knew how many bridles I have purchased for Speedy G in the past three years, you would certainly grant me the title of Tack Whore Princess.

Which means, of course, that I have just purchased yet another frickin' bridle. And yes, it was another cheap one. But this time, I might have actually found one that I will keep and use.

I bought SmartPak's Plymouth Dressage Bridle ($64.95). Here's what SmartPak says about the bridle:  Plymouth bridles are crafted in imported leather with fine details and stainless steel hardware at an unbeatable value. Traditional styling and unprecedented quality in this price range. Available exclusively at SmartPak. Beautifully crafted with a raised and soft padded 1" flash noseband and 3/4" browband.  A perfect schooling bridle designed for daily use. Updated hook stud closures on 5/8” cheeks. Complete with 5/8" web reins with leather stops. 

The bridle has a five star rating and 141 reviews. I figured it was a safe bet. When I took it out of the box, all of the pieces were wrapped individually which means they were all flat, including the brow band. It wasn't quite as soft as I was expecting so I quickly conditioned it and left it in a warm place for a few hours. Several days later, I re-checked it and was quite pleased with how soft it now feels.

As far as fit, it's not quite right. But of course. The brow band and throat latch fit, which is a common problem for Speedy. The cheek pieces are exactly right, which is a bonus. The problem is the caveson; it's on the last hole. I am hoping that it will get a nice bend with some use as well as stretch out a bit. The flash is also a bit short, but it works.

SmartPak was offering 20% off all SmartPak products so I got the bridle for closer to $50 with the web reins included. For the price, I think it's a great bridle. I am thinking of ordering one for Sydney, too.

Life is getting a lot busier (school is starting), which means my posts will probably get a lot shorter. I can hear you all breathing a sigh of relief as you mumble thank goodness under your breath. I know I can get long winded, but I've just had so much to write about this summer!

Since I know that highs are frequently followed by lows, I am taking advantage of Speedy's good mood while it lasts! This whole last two weeks have been filled with FUN rides. I don't know if his willing attitude is due to the new exercises we've been doing or the cooler weather we've had. It doesn't matter; I'm enjoying all that he is offering.

We had a ride a week or so ago that started out on the rough side. A neighbor and his wife walked by with a kid on a Big Wheel, another kid with a remote control car, and a loose dog. They spent forever getting out of sight. The whole time they were creeping by (with weird noises), Speedy had a spectacular giraffe neck attached to a wet spaghetti noodle of a body. No matter what I did, I could not get his attention back on me.

Once they finally made it out of sight, I was able to get Speedy refocused and bending. Just as we were getting some relaxation through his back, the family reappeared (I am NOT kidding) and turned up the street. Speedy lost it. I simply got off and let him stare and blow as they slowly ambled up the street. And when I say up the street, I mean it literally. The road has a gentle uphill grade which meant the little girl on the big wheel went even more slowly than before, scritching and scratching her plastic tires. The remote control car found the climb arduous as well and ultimately crashed and spilled its batteries all over the road, which sent the "driver" scampering around to collect them.

Even though they were out of sight again, Speedy kept a rigid focus on where they had been. He was certain they would reappear since that is what they had been doing for the past 20 minutes. Now, I understand that distractions are common and that it is my job as a rider to school my horse to listen to me when unexpected things make an appearance. Normally, we would have been able to do that. This time, for whatever reason, the stimulus was just too much for the gray pony. Sometimes you gotta just wait it out.

Once I convinced Speedy that yes, they were gone and were probably not coming back, he was happy to get back to the program. I wasn't sure he was going to be able to focus, but he surprised me by being quite the good student. 

We did some trot loops, some 20 meter circles, some trot "lengthenings" and then he rolled into the lightest, softest canter imaginable. I hadn't asked for it, but I decided to use what he offered. I did a couple of canter loops down both long sides and then transitioned back to a working trot. We finished up with some pretty decent leg yields (left is definitely easier than right). 

I was laughing like a hyena the whole time. It's obvious that Speedy likes variety. Schooling the First Level movements has been a good call; we're ready.

I know that the work I did with Lois Quinn on Tuesday was spot on. It was just what I needed to rebuild some confidence and get my horse working well for the rest of the world to see. I also know that working in the arena isn't going to give me an opportunity to practice what I need for our upcoming show.

I've been saying that I need to hit the trail more frequently, but I haven't done it. I'll admit it; I just didn't want to deal with the drama. The days of maybe next week are over. Working outside of my arena is the only way I am going to replicate show exuberance.

So on Wednesday, I saddled Speedy first and gave him a quick work out, more on that in a day or so, but it's all good. Sydney was next. There is no doubt in my mind that the Divine was watching me on Wednesday because as soon as I put Speedy back in his stall, a long line of pick up trucks pulled up parked alongside our fence line. Hmm .. Interesting, I thought. Shortly after they settled in, a very large, very orange tree trimming truck with a crane took its spot in the line. That vehicle's presence took me past interesting to the land of Oh Crap.

Well, of course I couldn't possibly hit the trail now. That would just be asking too much of my frightened ... oh, wait. He's not scared, I am. (said with a deep sigh accompanied by a sense of resignation and even some foreboding.) I saddled, but all the while I kept trying to justify staying in the arena. 

I should explain what my "trail" looks like. It's a neighborhood of mostly horse properties with a private, single paved road and a small dirt shoulder. There are two rectangular streets that form a figure eight. I can turn up the first street and circle home, or ride to the next turn and circle home. I can also head the other direction where I can access the river and some dirt road. The neighborhood loop is maybe a mile or so, while the dirt road loop is another mile. I ride the whole thing on Speedy in about 45 minutes.

My plan for Sydney was to ride the first "circle" of the paved figure eight, which would bring us back by my trainer's place as we finished up. In a last ditch effort to find a reason why I shouldn't still continue on, I approached the guys in the big orange truck and asked what was going on. They had been hired to trim the trees of the property two doors down, along the dirt road loop. I hadn't planned on riding the dirt loop as we've done that a handful of times with little hoopla. I took a deep breath, and maybe even said a little prayer, and decided to go for it.

I popped up into the tack with no issue. I walked around the side of the barn with no issue. I passed by the house on my way out the drive, and all Hell broke loose. Sydney's head shot straight into the air and his body flat out said, no way José, ain't gonna leave. I put him into a circle. His geometry must be a bit weak as that circle was nowhere near 10 meters. It was 3-meters at best. 

What followed was at least 10 minutes of a world class temper tantrum. Even I could tell there was no fear in his calculated bolts and sideway crab sprints. Both my car and truck were parked along the dirt driveway. I had a few Oh Shit! moments as he careened toward one or the other, but I got the sense right off the bat that he knew exactly where he was heading.

I changed the bend, I kept a loop on the inside rein, and I used my inside spur for all it was worth. You should have heard his bawling and screaming. I almost laughed at the theatrics. Lois was right; that wasn't a fearful horse. He just didn't want to leave the barn, and he was convinced he had my number.

All of this was happening right next to the row of parked trucks, and even though we were separated by our fence and trees, I am certain those workers got a great show. Once Sydney settled back into a walk, I left the property and made it to the road. 

Now we were on (coarse) black top without the safety of the dirt shoulder. The fight started again. Please do not think that I took an un-calculated risk as I would never encourage anyone to school their horse over blacktop. But I knew that I had to win this fight. After the first few turns, I realized that Sydney was being very careful as he threw his tantrum. He never once lost his footing or even slipped in the slightest. Throughout the next hour, he never bumped us into anything, or even came close.

And yeah, it took about an hour to make that half mile loop. Every single time his ears were anywhere but flicking to me, we circled. And even when he was relatively relaxed but I saw dirt, we circled. At one point we walked right down the middle of the road as LARGE dogs lunged at the fence from both sides of the road at the same time. He hustled through that section, but it was the most awesome, marching walk you've ever seen.

Within the first 20 minutes he was completely soaked in sweat, but I felt no pity for him. I kept working him. He would relax for a few minutes, and then his head would shoot up and he'd threaten to jig and prance. Without holding the rein, I would flex that neck into a small circle and boot him over with my spur. Eventually, I would just remind him what was coming with a small eh-eh with the rein.

We made it to my trainer's house, but he was still thinking I would give up. We used her dirt drive way to circle for quite a few more minutes. By that time, I could put him in a counter bend circle and switch back to a regular bend and then change directions. He finally gave up. We walked back out to the road and I let him grab a few bites of grass from our regular spot since a lowered head creates a more relaxed horse. 

From my trainer's driveway, we walked straight down the middle of the road doing small flexions to the left and right which he did willingly and happily. By the time we walked through our own driveway, he was relaxed, calm, and very supple. He was soaking wet, but he wasn't at all resentful, and even snuggled me as I untacked him.

We've worked the arena to death. I am not sure that we can improve on our work there in the next week. Instead, the best thing I can do for the next week is to practice riding him through his I don't wanna tantrums around the neighborhood. And to tell you the truth, while I was a wee bit apprehensive as he flung himself violently around our yard at the barn, I quickly realized that I wasn't going to come off him, and he wasn't going to hurt himself. It gave me a big shot of confidence.

I'll let you know how our next few rides go. Have a great weekend!

Before I tell you how the lesson with Lois Quinn went, I would like to do a small public service message. If you are a rider struggling with something, anything, search out a reputable trainer or coach to give you a hand. Ultimately, it will save you a lot of time, and you'll make a lot faster progress.

I showed up at 10:50 and was saddled and walking toward the dressage court by 11:15. Knowing that I didn't have to ride through Sydney's whatever alone, took a huge burden off my shoulders. I had never ridden with Lois, but I knew that I could trust her to talk me through whatever shenanigans he offered.

I walked Sydney up to the mounting block with Lois standing close by; she looked ready to grab my rodeo horse if needed. Instead, I stepped on the edge of the mounting block causing it to topple over and land under Sydney's feet. I landed on my feet, none the worse for wear, while Sydney stood in the sunlight blinking and swatting at flies.

At that instant, I think Lois was able to get an accurate read of the situation before I even tried to remount. She helped me right the mounting block as she gave an interesting, hmm. I walked off to enter at A on my brown and black giraffe.

As soon as I was back at C where Lois was waiting, she directed me to put Sydney in a 10 meter circle and to stay on that circle while we chat. For the first 10 minutes of the lesson, I was riding a giraffe painted to look like an OTTB, but as Lois and I talked, Sydney's neck returned to its normal shape and he set about getting to work. My original question was answered. Being in a new place was not the cause of his anxiety.

I won't bore you with a play by play of the lesson. It was a great lesson, but you've all had one of those: more inside bend, release the inside rein, more weight on your inside seat bone, don't grip your legs at the canter, and so on. By the way, at the end of the lesson, she rode him for a good 15 minutes which was was really fun to watch! Here is what Lois was able to observe:

1. Sydney is not a spooky, nervous horse. Lois was pleasantly surprised by how easily he let her just hop on and school him; he never told her no. There was a lot of construction noise happening at her house as she is remodeling, but he never acted bothered by the sawing or banging. Instead, he was very interested in what was happening all around him, which is very different from being afraid.

Lesson to Learn: Don't ride him as though he is afraid; he's not.

2. Sydney's tense behavior is coming from me. Aw, nuts. It always comes down to the rider, doesn't it? While I might think I've been relaxed at the show, I haven't been. After watching me ride and after riding him herself, she felt confident in telling me that even though I don't think I am anxious at the show, I am. She assured me that everyone has some anxiety at a show. I just need to develop some tools to work him even while I am feeling tense.

Lesson to Learn: Acknowledge that I am tense and nervous, but use my tools to work through it.

3. Sydney's ears are my barometer for measuring whether or not I have his attention. I've talked about his Eeyore ears before; those are listening ears. Ears pricked forward mean that I need to change something. This gave me a serious aha moment. Doing something might mean making a 10-meter circle, flexing his neck, changing direction, anything until I get an ear flick or ears that are soft.

Lesson to Learn: Watch Sydney's ears; they are my listening barometer.

4. You can't train a straight horse. If Sydney is ram rod straight, he isn't listening. He can only hear me when he has some bend. The 10-meter circle will now be my best friend at home, and especially in the warm-up. I am going to ride it like it is my favorite thing in the world to do. In fact, I am going to ride it until Sydney begs me to let him do something else. 

Lesson to Learn: the 10-meter circle creates a lot of bend and moves his inside hind leg underneath him, which means Sydney will be able to hear me.

5. I pull back on the rein too much and don't have a receiving hand when Sydney is resistant. We worked on this a lot. I also have trouble with releasing the inside rein. Since I feel like he is going to bolt in the warm-up, I keep a firm hold on the rein. Lois said this sends the message to Sydney that I don't trust him which tells him that he has reason to bolt. 

I need to release the inside rein and trust that he isn't going to bolt. I need to give him the feeling that he could run off into the next county if he wanted to. I can do this by riding a lot of 10-meter circles with a giving inside rein. It was hard to do, but with some practice, I saw exactly what she meant. Instead of constantly wagging his head, I need to show him where I want his head, and then I need to release the rein to let him keep it there. If he tips his nose back out, I repeat over and over.

Lesson to Learn: Don't pull back or hold the rein. Give him a release without throwing the rein away.

6. Flexing the poll and having the horse step deeply underneath himself releases some type of endorphins. Lois explained that the more I can get him to step underneath and sideways, the more relaxed he will become. The same is true of flexing his poll. While making 10-meter circles, I need to use a good amount of inside leg to really push him sideways. I also need to keep asking him to flex his neck and poll by riding with a counter bend to a regular bend and back to a counter bend. Moving his body in this way will relax him even at the walk.

Lesson to Learn: When he is not listening to my aids, I need to help him release endorphins by flexing and bending him nose to tail.

7. Sydney's neck is lovely. Lois was quite pleased with his muscling, and maybe even a little surprised. Even though I am not working with a dressage trainer, she was quite impressed with how his top line is developing and commented several times that we are doing a great job with him. She joked several times that I would be welcome to just leave him there with her. 

She said that once I get him listening and working in the show ring, the judges are going to really like him and give him great scores. She liked how smart he was, and even though he isn't really built specifically for dressage, he is a very cute horse. And finally, she let me know several times during the lesson that I was doing a great job.

Lesson to Learn: I am a solid rider doing exactly the right things. I am doing my homework, I am getting excellent instruction when and where I can, and I have a very nice horse.

There was more to the lesson, but those seven points were the most relevant take-aways for me. We are scheduling another lesson for Labor Day weekend. There is one more part to this tale, of course. I rode on Wednesday morning, but not in the arena. I was able to utilize every one of Lois's tips to great success. I'll write that up as soon as I can.

As for the second part of my question, is Sydney just tense at shows, the answer is that Sydney is tense because it's an exciting place to be, and I'm tense. Now that I have some new tools in my belt, I feel confident that we can work through this.