Sofie Learns Dressage

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Long Overdue Update

Almost two whole seasons have gone by and I haven’t updated the blog. It‘s sad that I haven‘t kept up on it, but priorities have to be made and some things don‘t quite make the cut. But Sofie is still very much alive and well, and things are going well for the two of us.

On the me front, I got my drivers license in May (after a year of practice, and many tears), and around the same time I got a job at the barn where I board Sofie, thus allowing me to work off my board, a very welcome financial boost. Aside from that, I love my job. I love the physicality of it, I love being around horses and feeling like I’m part of something. I also love that after a particularly grueling day I can walk around to the mare field and hug on Sofie for a while before I drive my hour commute back home to deal with my other responsibilities (and more hungry animals). Yes, it’s exhausting at times. But I’m so happy with how things have worked out. I’m really lucky.

As spring began we hit the trails as soon as possible. But while Sofie was very happy to get out and go down the trail, we overdid it on the first outing and she was hit with subsequent soreness. I feared the worst, but with a gradual introduction to the hills and harder footing she began to get stronger. Even though I rode her all winter, she was still in very “soft” condition and she was not fit for the demands of trail riding. Within a few weeks she strengthened, and her jiggly flab began to resemble actual muscle.

She experienced very little soreness over the summer, and we spent many afternoons trail riding, mainly solo outings, occasionally in company. I rediscovered a lovely trail I’d only ever been on once last fall, and I learned of a river trail that connects to Cathy’s land. Of course I had to try it, so on my birthday I went for it, bringing along a very intrepid re-rider on her young, green horse. The trail began with a very long, fairly steep descent (why I’d never explored it before) and once we got on the other property, the footing was fairly rocky but nothing that good rock crunchers couldn’t handle. Soon we came to the best river vista, and an unexpected challenge, a wooden bridge! I wanted to see if Sofie could do it, so I encouraged her and pushed her closer, but she got within a couple feet and wouldn’t go any further. I hopped off to see if I could lead her across, and she followed me immediately. She just didn’t want to be the one to test its sturdiness. I didn’t bother informing her that I weigh a fraction of her 900-some pounds, so the bridge failing to crack under my weight was hardly a guarantee, but it was touching nonetheless.

We returned to the river trail several times after that, and each time I was able to ride Sofie over the bridge with no problems. After the first few rides I started putting front boots on her, since she wasn’t totally comfortable on the rocks, and I had a pair of boots that I had never even used due to the lack of rocky trails. So I started using the boots on the river trail and on the road, and she loves them. All other times she is barefoot and her feet are looking better than ever. Even her tricky right hind, which used to slant wierdly, is looking like a normal foot.

We’ve enjoyed many trail rides over the summer. I can probably count the arena rides we’ve had since the snow melted on one hand. I do still enjoy dressage, but bits and pieces of training - usually on the way home from a trail ride - are enough for me. I like to stop in the valley after a trail outing, fitting in a ten-minute session - just long enough to accomplish something - before heading back to the barn.

I’m piecing together the fundamentals of dressage over time, acquiring the muscle memory to achieve an honest connection. Trotting on the trail, practicing transitions and bend, is where the concepts I’ve read over and over really seem to fall into place. It doesn’t seem to matter how often I am told to sit up when I ride, I never really “got” it until recently when I was working Sofie on a large circle, placed upon a slight slope. It’s a challenging exercise for her, and it really seems to help with her balance on hills and in general. I was riding her down the slope, half-halting and trying to help her keep her balance, when I started to hold myself up taller. As if by magic (really? Who knew my horse was actually affected by my weight distribution and posture?!) Sofie seemed to attain her balance so much easier. Now I think of sitting up as part of my aids (for a transition, or a bend, or whatever) and it’s becoming almost an automatic.

Riding bareback through woods and up hills. Learning to work a gate on horseback. Surviving exploding ruffed grouse and (horrors) deer. Crossing bridges (both the real, suspended-over-the-water kind and the fake, arena-trail-class kind, which proved way more challenging). Sticking a spook that took us all the way across the driveway. Making mistakes and learning from them. Always having another chance.

The barn is a wonderful place to be. Recently, after being drenched to the skin by a downpour as I fed the horses, I was driving the big water truck (I will always take any chance to drive the big water truck) when I saw a rainbow stretching across the horizon over the far horse pasture. Even though I haven’t achieved my goal of taking Sofie on an off-the-farm outing, I have to admit I’m incredibly lucky to be where I am.

I’ve made my mistakes with Sofie, and I struggle with that all the time. I struggle with the knowledge that I have invoked suffering in any living being, let alone one who means so much to me. But the fact that remains is that she is still there, beautiful, healthy, and able, still, to do so much. And when I go out to bring her in from the field, her head pops up when she sees me, sometimes from very far off, and she’ll watch me come in. When I draw near she’ll look up again, sometimes taking a step or two toward me, and she’ll sniff me and let me rub her neck, and occasionally there will be annoyance in her eyes, but mostly, now, there is contentment. She is happy, and I know she loves me, and in that moment I am able to admit that perhaps I have earned it.

On a ride last week, it started raining just as I headed out, but I declared that we were not riding in the arena for the second time in a row. Sofie was a pretty good sport, despite her strong desire to keep her face rain-free. On our way home, I let her trot, and she moved into overdrive. I held her back until we got to the final hill, and she charged up it at a strong canter. I was up in two-point, following her motion, with wet reins and a lock of her mane in my hand, looking up through raindrops at the trail home. Somehow it was magical, and I was an eventer on the Rolex course in that moment, exhilarated.

I love my mare.

Conformation update. Please avert your eyes from the excess fat...

THE FEET! This is what I am most excited about. Photo taken four weeks out from a trim. LOVE. IT.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Life Rushes On

I haven’t posted in forever, but I’ve been riding regularly, and Sofie’s doing well. We’ve gone out on a few trail rides, both alone and in company. The footing is changeable, especially on the driveway, and last time we ventured out we had to walk across a patch of glare ice. Not advisable, but Sofie is very surefooted on ice and she did just fine.

Mostly we’ve kept to the indoor, and I’ve kept up my bareback riding. Sofie has learned to back up with more impulsion, and she stays straight much of the time. She’s sitting better behind and rounding throughout her body. She’s especially good at it when we ride bareback with just a halter, and I can really feel her lifting her back and using herself. I’ve done a little bit of leg yielding at the trot as well, which is a fun exercise. I’m hoping to improve our leg yields as we’ve done with the rein-back.

Sofie has been staying round pretty consistently, and she seems in a nice frame of mind. As long as I don’t overreact and expect her to be round every second, she does very well. Overreactions never help, I’ve found. If she’s allowed to pick her head up when she loses balance or is a little stiff, she comes right back to me. On the unfortunate occasions when I forget how best to ride her, I always learn and return to the barn with a better attitude.

I’ve been doing leg stretches before and after I ride, as well as back and butt lifts. She’s not fond of those, but she is responding better and it seems to be helpful. I was able to free school her for the first time in months the other day. No one was at the barn, so I let her loose in the indoor for a few minutes after a ride (horses aren’t supposed to be loose in the indoor…shhhh. They do let the minis out in the arena, though, and Sofie is hardly the type to shatter the mirrors with her crazy antics. Anyway, I cheated). I wanted to be able to visually evaluate her after her injury (more on that later), so I had her walk and trot both directions. She was perfect, of course, remembering all her previous training and going right on the rail, calm and steady. And I was happy to see that she looks more balanced and muscled.

I recently started cantering on her again as well, bareback in a halter, of course. She’s been much better about going into the canter, which makes me think that my riding was affecting her before. My position tends to be more balanced when I’m riding without stirrups (or a saddle). In any case, it’s been nice. We still don’t have a right lead (we may never again have a right lead) and Sofie’s been a little disgruntled about the whole thing, but she hasn’t gotten sore. She’s been picking up the canter within a few strides, and holding it for at least a third of the long side. Her head does come up, and she’s still not entirely sure about cantering in the indoor, but it’s still a big improvement and I think in time we’ll be able to do even better. She hasn’t kicked out, thrown her head or done any other potentially unseating things, and she’s calming down quickly after coming back to trot. Instead of throwing her head up and rushing, she’s actually stretching down right away.

I’ve cut out cantering for now, as last Monday I discovered a rather large scrape on the inner part of her left hind, above the hock. Most of it is just hairless, but there’s a small chunk of hide missing in the center. None of us have any idea how it happened. She was never lame but was pretty sore at first, and her leg was stocked up because she was constantly resting it and not moving around. Fortunately it is not a puncture, and there was nothing to stitch so veterinary attention was not needed. We cleaned the wound and have been treating it with Vetricyn, and she’s already feeling better. We also went out to check on and exercise her five times last week to help keep the swelling down, so I got to see her a lot.

I stopped by late on Friday night (we were in the vicinity), sprayed her wound, cleaned her feet and did the short version of tacking up (helmet on me, reins on her halter). I hopped on for a few minutes, and without even a real warm-up she did nice transitions and rein-back and was basically a gem.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

All Or Nothing Winter

I am in the midst of preparing to submit my novel to literary agents (an arduous and emotional process, at least the way I do it), so I have fallen behind on Sofa updates. She continues to do well, with some very good rides in the recent past. We seem to be stuck in an “all or nothing” winter, consisting of temperatures in the teens with snowstorms that give way to 40 degree weather, snowmelt and distinctly springlike conditions. All this cold, wet, warm, changing weather can be tough on arthritic joints, and she has had a few stiff days. But on the good days, the warm days, Sofie is at her best.

On the last day of 2011, we rode with Cathy and Nakota. It wasn’t overly warm or sunny, but it was clear, the footing was fine and we were both craving a trail ride. I had planned on riding outside that day anyway, but getting to ride with someone was a bonus. We rode over to Cathy’s land, passing through the valley and heading on into the woods. Sofie handled the hills well on the way in and out of the valley and we enjoyed a nice, relaxing ride.

The next week was a little discouraging as Sofie was faintly “not right”. She wasn’t lame and she wasn’t angry or upset, just a little sore. I switched back to riding bareback and was amazed by how much I’d lost my seat in just a couple rides with a saddle. Fortunately I recovered my balance partway into the ride and stopped flopping around on poor Sofie’s back. I kept practicing and improved Sofie’s steering in the halter. We were even able to do nice circles that way. I also kept up on our rein-back, which is coming on well. I did have periodic issues with her getting crooked, but she was also powering backward with a little more energy and not dragging her feet so much. I worked on the crookedness when it showed up, and lately she’s been backing straighter.

Sofie got her feet trimmed on the 7th, which was her worst day in a while. She seemed to be moving fine when I rode her, and I gave her a light workout so she would hopefully be loosened up but not fatigued. Even so, she was a real jerk for Annie. She seemed to have trouble standing on three legs and did a lot of snatching her feet away. She’s never terrific for the farrier, which I think is partly because of her soundness issues and partly just attitude. Still, I was not happy with her. I also began second-guessing how I’ve been managing her this whole time, based on some things I’ve read. I started thinking about the cantering we’ve done, and the hill work, and how I always seem to overwork her through sheer enthusiasm when she’s feeling good. I was feeling pretty bad about it all and wondering, once again, if it was best for her.

Two days later when I showed up it was gorgeous and sunny. A prime day for an outside ride. Sofie seemed happy to get outside, and we hacked over to Cathy’s place. I rode her in the valley, intending to just do some walk and trot work. She was quite energetic but very responsive, coming back to walk from just a seat aid. I did mostly straight lines, with a little bending work here and there. Her head was up but I wasn’t concerned because she was power-trotting through the snow and definitely using herself. Apart from just making sure the basic response to my aids was there, I mostly just rode around the picturesque snowy setting, grinning and enjoying myself.

Sofie, somehow magically recovered from her stiffness, was also enjoying herself, so much so that she burst into a canter without any prompting. In fact, we had four unplanned canters, each one more energetic and wild than the last. The one time I actually asked her for the canter (heading away from home), she accelerated to a Sofa gallop and was practically leaping through the snow. I saw the trees approaching fast, and knowing Sofie’s proclivity for trailblazing, I leaned back on the outside rein hard. Not wanting to stop, Sofie put her head down, pitching me forward, and stomped with her front feet several times. I was thrown up on her neck, but she stopped before I could go any further. The good thing about Sofie is she knows when to stop. After one more (slightly less out of control) canter, we went on a short trail ride and turned back. I did a little walk/trot work in the valley, and when that went well I took a second to admire the scenery. Then we went back to the barn.

I fully expected Sofie to be stiff and ouchy the next time I rode. I figured her craziness would surely have a negative effect. Once again, it was warm out, if not as sunny as the previous time. I tacked her up again, and we headed outside. Sofie was definitely alert, and she seemed every bit as energetic as she had been. I rode her across the driveway to the shorter, flat trail on the barn property, and decided to turn onto the wide, grassy lane where we like to canter. Once there I tested out the trot, and Sofie was definitely “up”. So much so that I didn’t canter her right away. I wanted to establish that she was listening to me before we went racing off. So I rode her down the trail and back, and only then did I ask for the canter.

When Sofie is “on”, the canter depart is an effortless thing. It’s really more of an “allow” than an “ask”. I just let her go up front, and think about sitting and raising my outside heel. It’s a real treat, those rare instances when it just works, effortlessly, and this was one of those times. I thought she might take off, but instead she went into this incredible, perfectly rhythmic collected canter. I haven’t felt her do one this nice in a long time. She never sped up, and she was straight through much of it. She was round, the contact was light and she just felt awesome. She’s always been capable of this, but it doesn’t always happen that way, what with her soundness issues and our general cluelessness. I was so impressed that I didn’t do any more canter work that day. So she got lots of praise and she got to walk back to the barn. I’d done everything I wanted outside, so I figured I’d finish up in the indoor, where the footing was better.

As it worked out, I got to ride at the same time Jesse was working his Friesian stallion, Zen. He hadn’t been ridden with a mare in the arena before, but he was a very good boy. I did my part, and gave him plenty of space at first (easy enough in such a big arena). Sofie, of course, couldn’t care less (although I think she does have eyes for Zen over the other stallions we’ve encountered). Zen is beautiful, and I love watching him, so it was fun to be in the arena with him. Sofie was exceptional, doing pretty much everything right. Her trot work was super nice, she was steadily round, and her transitions were lovely. It was a very productive day. It’s nice to have rides like that. Reaffirming rides.

I have a little more faith in Sofie now, and in my own ability too. There will always be difficulties, but Sofie is doing better than ever. She will have her sore days when the weather fluctuates, and sometimes I will push her a little too hard, but she will recover. The fact that she had one of her best days ever after a wild ride of plunging through the snow is heartening. It shows me I’m not destroying her, as I feared. Her balance is better than it’s ever been, and she’s learning to carry herself and move in the best way possible. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, of course, but I think I’m getting somewhere with her. There is no way of knowing if I should have done things differently. There are never any guarantees. But if I’m lucky, Sofie will be around for a long time, living mostly pain-free and able to move like I know she can.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Back In Tack

On my latest visit to the barn, excitement (or at least spazziness) was in the bitingly cold air. The previous day had been a sunny 40 degrees, but a front had moved in and snow was blowing through the air with considerable force. Perhaps due to the weather, and also due to the recent arrival of an appealing Friesian stallion (dripping pheromones that even Sofie may have taken a liking to), Sofie was a little jumpy. As we struggled through the wind to the barn door, she looked over and saw a real or imagined Something, and became rather high-headed as a result. Once inside the barn, we walked past Zen, the Friesian stud’s stall. Sofie abhors geldings, and looks upon the Gypsy Vanner stallions at the barn with considerable disdain, but I swear she gave Zen the old once-over. I think Sofa may have a thing for black boys…

After a quick brushing, hoof-picking and leg-stretching, I decided to longe the Sofa. She was still jumpy, and her mind was not all there. Looking at her elevated head with just a halter, and her bare back, I decided “Today is not a just-get-on-and-ride day.”

I took her out in the indoor and let out the longeline, and she began trotting immediately. I walked along with her, keeping the circle large and jogging with her whenever possible, so she could go straight. I quickly overheated, so I stopped her and threw my coat off, then turned her to work on the right side. At first I struggled to get her going, and she merely spun around in a continuous turn on the forehand. Finally I got her to start walking, and she went up to a trot. After trotting her a while, I asked for a canter. She took the left lead, so I pulled her down, made sure she was bending right and asked again. She took the right lead! “Good girl!” I exclaimed. She hasn’t used that right lead in a long time! She picked it up several times, only taking the wrong lead once more. I was thrilled. She kicked up a couple times when she went into the canter, but she didn’t struggle or appear lame, and she tried so hard for me. It gave me renewed hope.

Even after longeing, Sofie was still a bit spazzy, and intuition dictated I should ride with a saddle. So, I tacked up for the first time in a couple weeks and mounted up. She was, of course, dead calm, but I was still glad I’d gone with the saddle and bridle. I’d been wanting to try riding her in tack again anyway to see how she reacted. It already felt different for me, being higher up, off her back.

Her straightness was very good initially, with very little meandering. I did some rail work, but many times I turned her off the rail to practice staying straight. I did lots of changes of direction. As we started trotting she was a little above the bit, which wasn’t surprising considering the weather. I pretty much left her alone, did a little trotting and went back to the walk for a bit. I started bending her, finding it was very easy to do circles. I did some halts, most of which were “Sofa square” (only one leg out of place). Her halts are really improving. I also tested the rein-back. She was a bit crooked and her steps were short, but she didn’t set her jaw at all. Then I trotted her for a shorter distance, asking for a bit of connection and softness. She started listening better and began to melt into her nice, open frame. I trotted her both ways and did some turns, and soon she was accepting a steady, light, definite contact. She even started foaming a little. I was surprised to trot past the mirror and see little bits of foam dripping from her lips.

After riding bareback in a halter for a while, then returning to the saddle and bridle, everything flowed. It was all just so easy. It’s clear my skills have grown since I ditched all my equipment and had to focus on my aids and my seat. With a saddle and bridle, turns and circles became simple. Sofie just powered along, steady in her relaxed, balanced frame. I turned her onto the diagonal, put my hands forward, and she lengthened her frame, moving wonderfully forward. At the corner, I sat up and half-halted, condensing her before the next diagonal, when I turned her loose again.

I did that several times, because it was so awesome, along with the occasional circle. Then I started a serpentine, and she was brilliant. Sick changes of bend, and straightness in between, remaining steady in my hands the whole time. She was at her best, because this horse can turn. She is so handy, and when she’s in balance and truly supple, she handles like a dream. I wound up doing a whole-arena serpentine, just because she was so damn awesome. It felt like she could keep going forever.

After all that, Sofie got lots of pats, and we walked. By that time, she was a bit tuckered out and a little lazy in the walk. I could hardly begrudge her a little tiredness after that trot sequence. After making sure she did not forget my leg was there, and doing our transitions (wheee, there were some pretty ones!) and a little more reinback (straightness is improving) we were done! I hand walked her then untacked and put her cooler on. She got a hay snack, and I re-stretched her legs and gave her a light massage. She seemed to enjoy all that.

I’m not sure if it can be attributed to a recent switch to SmartFlex Senior with Devil’s Claw, work in the halter or a combination of many things, but Sofie seems to be doing very well. I was feeling rather discouraged for a while, but I have hope now. All it takes is a ride like this last one to let her talent shine through, and I have reason to believe if I continue improving her fitness and working on the basics (including bareback and bitless riding, which seems an integral part of the big picture), she just may be (within reason) everything I ever thought she could be.

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Happy Christmas

This time last year, Sofie was colicking. For reasons we will likely never know, her hormones decided to go insane in the dead of winter, causing a strong heat with painful cramping. She was pretty stoic, never fractious, but no vets were around and it was one of the scariest things I’ve had to deal with. We spent Christmas Eve monitoring her, regularly walking down to the barn, standing outside of her stall and watching her belly clench, with a deep line all along it that would fit your arm. On Christmas, we drove to the only place that was open and spent some time at the Christmas buffet. It was pretty much the worst Christmas ever, except we got through it. I realized I could get through it. Sofie’s gut never shut down, her pain never worsened, and she coped. She got through it like only Sofie can, and she lives on to this day.

This year I spent a much more enjoyable Christmas Eve, grooming and riding Sofie. And when I was leading her out to the pasture, it suddenly occurred to me. One year later, here we are.

Bad Indoor Photos, and Good Ride Recaps

The last couple rides have been quite successful. We’re starting to have our little breakthroughs again, and we can pretty much do everything we were doing before, even with our minimalist approach. Which is all good.

Thursday I changed up my warmup a little, and instead of going right into the trot after walking on a long rein, I picked up the reins and did a little bending work in the walk. Sofie did well with this, and was listening to my hand and bending nicely. This led to a fifteen minute walk warmup. After getting a nice circle in both directions we started trotting. In a slight reversal she was better to the left, at least when bending was concerned. It was hard to keep a consistent bend at first, which is typical for us now. I just worked a little on bending in between straight line work, rail work and transitions. Sofie did well throughout.

Toward the end of the ride I worked on rein-back, something I’m hoping will help strengthen Sofie’s hind end. I’ve never been able to give the “proper” aids for rein-back - using leg as well as a slightly restraining hand - because Sofie would always think “forward” and just blow through my hand if I ever touched her. Recently she’s begun to understand me better, and I’ve been able to cluck to her and have her still go backwards. So as I was asking her to step back with the usual aids - hand and a little seat - I decided to experiment and lightly closed my legs. She rocked forward a little, so I closed my hand again, keeping my leg on, and she went backward! Even better, she seemed to get rounder and use herself more. I praised her, and soon I tried it again. While she did step forward once, each time she listened quite well and I was able to get a very nice, correct rein-back. Using my legs, I could put a little more energy into her backward steps and get her to lift her belly a bit. She was much rounder in front and gave me a very nice feeling. I was super pleased.

Near the end she was much more connected, and she did some very nice, light turns with no issues at all. It was a great feeling.

Saturday (aka Christmas Eve) I found that Vicky had left us a little gift bag of sugary treats for me and Sofie! Sofie’s treats were quickly re-gifted (Sofie doesn‘t do sugar. I, on the other hand, have been mainlining it this holiday season). I did give her a hay snack, though. I’m not that mean. I forgot my watch this time around, so I wasn’t able to monitor how long I rode or how long I warmed her up (note to self: Do not forget watch in future. Watch is very, very helpful!). She was a bit of a grump for whatever reason (although she still did everything I asked with no real protestation, so clearly it wasn’t all that bad). When I first started trotting she was kind of rushing and she was rather stiff. I think maybe my warmup that day was inadequate. She also has no opportunity to run around outside, because the ground is all icy and it’s been that way for the last week, at least.

After the icky warmup portion, the rest of the ride went well. The only slight issues we had were occasional drifting in (which was easily fixed) and some wobbliness when we were supposed to be going straight. The usual suspects. Our transitions were all of nice quality, with only a little bit of a slow response time in one direction. Circles were a bit wonky, but she did do two nice ones for me, which is really all I need. Later in the ride, she was really solidly establishing contact, moving along in a good rhythm. I practiced lengthening and shortening the reins in trot, which she did awesome with, staying really steady. I did some more rein-back work, and discovered that when I do it off the rail, she gets crooked. She likes to swing her haunches left, probably compensating for something. I was able to correct it, and while it took a bit of stopping, repositioning and starting, I was able to get several straight steps from her each time. She should get stronger if I keep up on it.

I finished up with a nice sequence. First I trotted her down the rail on a light rein. Then in the corner I turned her across the diagonal, mostly taking my aids off. She stayed nicely straight, and when we turned the corner I asked her to walk. She made a nice, prompt transition without sticking her head up in the air. Yay! Good girl!

So, my immediate plan is:

-Remember watch (‘cause it’s helpful to see how long I ride, and how long I spend on each part of the ride)

-Do longer warmups

-Do massage/stretching whenever possible

-Perfect the rein-back

-Improve straightness and self-carriage

-Lots of connected transitions

-Don’t forget walk work

-And most importantly, remember to think. Remember to learn. True success, really, is to be kind, and never deviate from that kindness, no matter what happens.

I think Sofie will teach me that this winter.

These are from the icky warmup portion, and the quality is quite poor. But here it is, photographic evidence of our mad bareback-and-bitless skills!

Yes, I may have enjoyed playing with "black and white effects" on my computer.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Bareback & Bitless

We’ve been confined to the indoor arena since winter started, and boredom was starting to settle in. Turns out, even a huge, well-maintained indoor with mirrors is still just an indoor. Bleh.

With nowhere to go and not much to do after determining that Sofie, for whatever reason, was not physically okay with cantering, I started to notice some disturbing trends in my riding. I was getting too easily frustrated, too critical. I was getting sucked into the “gotta-be-perfect” dressage mindset that surrounds me at this barn. I regularly ride at the same time as an FEI-seeking rider who expects a lot of their horse, and it’s hard not to be influenced by that. It’s something I will need to continually work on, I think. My corrections were occasionally overreactions, and while I was okay much of the time, I’d have pissy moments and later regret it.

I decided it was time to change it up. I’ve been riding bareback on and off, and I noticed I was always more obnoxious when I rode with a saddle. Without one, I was more easily pleased. It really brought everything down to a simple partnership.

I'd been wanting to try riding Sofie in a halter again, something I hadn't done in a very long time. One day when I brought her in, nobody was riding, and I decided it was time to test her out in just a halter. I had avoided doing it with other people in the ring, just in case the steering went out. So I "tacked her up", which involved merely tightening the halter by one hole, fastening reins to the noseband and putting on my helmet. I left on my snowboots and my blue fuzzy gloves, completing the rednecky ensemble.

Slightly nervous, I mounted up and immediately asked the question "Do we have brakes?" Yup, brakes were there, just as much as usual in fact. Comforted, I let Sofie warm up as usual, working in some turns and changes of direction. Steering was a little wonky, but not too bad. We went up to a trot, and she transitioned right back down without a problem! I think it's helpful that I use a lot of seat in my down transitions, because I've never had a problem going bitless. We finished up the ride just fine, and I was quite pleased at our stripped-down approach to dressage.

I've left the saddle and bridle behind since then, and we've had a couple more good rides. One thing about not saddling up - it saves a ton of time. I could get used to not messing with girth straps, sliders and keepers! I've always wanted to be better at bareback riding, and now that I've finally gotten comfortable enough to do it I hope to continue practicing this winter. I of course don't have a classic dressage position when riding bareback, but it's got to be good for balance and such. As far as bitless goes, I've never been against using a bitted bridle, provided the horse was comfortable with it. However, I think it is good to practice riding with fewer artificial aids sometimes. I may return to using a bit at some point, if I want a little more flexibility with my rein aids. A nylon halter doesn't allow for too much subtlety, and it's sometimes tough to get flexion. An actual bitless bridle might work better, but I don't feel the need to upgrade at this point.

As far as "frame" goes, Sofie maintains a pretty nice, natural frame, even without contact on the reins. She doesn't tend to really hollow out too much, except if something makes her nervous or I sit too heavily in a transition (can't blame her for that one). It is possible to "put her together" a little more in just the halter, and she will stretch into the contact, but she does get a little heavy at times. I tend to alternate between self-carriage work, where I let the reins get floaty and just follow her movement along unless I really need to do a correction, and more "precise" (with air quotes) "dressage-type" work where I attempt to get an actual connection and do circles, leg-yield, rein-back and connected transitions, etc. She does rein-back well in just a halter (actually, that's how she learned it), and while circles can be reeeeally tricky (I often feel like we're fishtailing a little bit, just because of the limited steering capabilities of the halter), we can actually manage some nice, connected transitions in the halter just the same as with a bit.

It's interesting, also, to feel the crookedness in her that I always felt when using a bitted bridle. Sofie has always been "hard" on her right side, and she often needs to be "held" more on the right rein, especially when tracking left. I always assumed it was "deadness" in her actual mouth, but she feels just the same in a halter, so it has to be more of a body issue than just a mouth issue.

Anyway, while I'm going to be working toward hopefully being able to do our nice, vaguely-respectable-looking dressagey type work bitless and bareback, it should still be beneficial as a change-up, and helpful for my seat and fitness. Last time I managed a full hour ride, which is a first!

And it just makes me happy when I set my hands down and she goes trotting down the long side in her relaxed, Sofa-round way with floaty reins and I just post along with her trot even as it quickens, because I'm not afraid anymore.