What Goes Up

Now that we're back to schooling flying changes, or at least the moments before the flying change, Izzy is once again feeling a good deal of anxiety. On Saturday morning, as I put him into a regular working canter during the warm up, he blew through my outside rein because he thought I was going to set him up for a change. When I put him back in position and asked for a right lead canter, he jumped up and then reared. I am not going to lie; I had a definite oh, crap! moment because he felt very close to falling backwards.

Very old photo, but it was one of these.

He hasn't reared in a number of years, so I took this expression of frustration very seriously. I spent 45 minutes exaggerating the bend - the "take-away" from last Tuesday's lesson. We did lots of 10- and 15-meter circles. When I could feel that he was ready for it, I gently straightened him and rode him forward into both reins. This is the moment that worries him because straightness is the step before the flying change.

From this past spring.

Surprisingly, the rear and anxiety didn't bother me at all. In fact, I embraced the opportunity to work on our relationship. The whole time we worked, Izzy kept flicking his ears back at me asking me if everything was going to be okay. I reminded him that I got you, and that I was in control. He didn't need to worry about it. We finished the ride without further incident, but we still have work to do. 

Which is perfectly okay because I have nothing but time.