Dublin Does Dressage

It's been a few weeks since the last post.Usually this means that life has intervened and Dublin has been lounging about in the pasture while I slave away at something unrelated to horses.

I am happy to report that this is only partly true. January is a busy month in the accounting world and I have certainly been busy. But I have made my work with Dublin more of a priority, and he has actually gotten some attention.

One of my goals for Dublin has been to do dressage work with him. I developed an admiration for dressage as a child watching the Disney movie, "Miracle of the White Stallions" about the Lipazzaner stallions at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna way back in the 1960's. As the years passed with limited time and limited funds, the idea that I might someday learn the art of dressage became more and more of a fantasy. And then, as an adult, I had friends whose children were taking dressage lessons, and I heard about those lessons, and some of the ugly truths about modern dressage were presented. As is often the case, the "art" became more about winning prizes and less about excellent horsemanship. But, while modern day dressage became tainted for me, the idea that there was still a core element of dressage that was about the art of horsemanship persisted. And then I found that there is still a substantial movement of "classical dressage" that is all about the horsemanship.

So I still made the art of classical dressage a core part of Dublin's journey. And through a few coincidental channels, I encountered Anne Douard-Palmer, newly of Karuna Stables here locally in Sonoma County, CA.

Anne was on my list of people to contact this year when, coincidentally, she contacted me. Talk about serendipity! Fast forward to my first dressage lesson with her a couple weeks ago. I had hoped to find an instructor with an experienced horse for me to learn on, but as it turned out, I brought Cowboy with me for my first lesson. My nearly 19-year-old Quarter Horse, as is typical of him, morphed himself into a dressage horse for my lesson. Cowboy is just up for anything! And because he is an old warrior, he was chosen for my first lesson because he is reliable and flexible, and he came through for me yet again. Not that he will ever be an advanced dressage horse, but he gives as much as he can when called upon, and he really did quite well. He did well enough to make me look good enough for Anne to suggest that I bring my green horse, Dublin, for the next lesson, which took place today.

My plans for preparing Dublin for this experience fell apart drastically. I'm in the accounting world, and this is January, the month of issuing W2s, 1099s, and dealing with panicky clients who have suddenly realized that an entire year has gone by and that it is time to do taxes. I had vowed to make my horses a priority, and we had some excellent weather that supported that goal, but in reality I needed to deal with customer issues. So this morning rolled around with my needing to trailer Dublin to our lesson, and we had barely gotten in a couple of rides and had not done any trailer work at all. Dublin's trailering skills are limited at best. He is anxious in the trailer and acts out by pawing and kicking.

He was gently encouraged into the trailer this morning fairly uneventfully, but the minute the truck started, the pawing also started. I headed gingerly down the road towing a trailer containing an anxious, pawing horse. Finally, I closed the truck window so I just couldn't hear him any more. The trailer did a fair amount of bouncing around but I didn't get any sense that a disaster had taken place back there, and in about 20 minutes we reached the beautiful Karuna Stables for our lesson. Dublin was literally dripping sweat. He had fogged up his fly mask and his shipping boots were drenched from sweat running down his legs.

Thankfully, he settled down pretty quickly, even accepting Inky the Donkey. After gettng to roll in the round pen and settle down, he was fitted with a saddle and we headed down the (steep!) hill to the arena. Anne worked with him on the ground for quite a while and then in the saddle. For a crazy off-track Thoroughbred after a stressful trailer ride, my boy did quite well. Then I got to ride and continued with the teachings from my lesson on Cowboy, learning how to get a horse to yield to the bit, flex and round, and be soft and responsive.

I so appreciate Anne's approach, which is less about specific technique and much more about feel and about making the horse comfortable doing the right thing. It lines up beautifully with my Parelli teaching about rewarding the right behavior, even though it varies from the Parelli teachings in subtle ways. The fact that I have had only 2 lessons, but I feel my riding has been improved and validated, speaks volumes.

Anne feels that Dublin has a good mind, eager to please and to learn. He is looking for the right thing to do. This is so encouraging for me, since he came off the track sullen and angry and ready for a fight. It seems that many off-track horses have this attitude, and even if they make progress, it becomes their back-up mode. Dublin in particular had been tagged as this type of horse, and I am so happy that a couple years of mental rehab and learning to be a horse again (thank you, Cowboy, for your help!) have paid off in the form of a willing learner.

He loaded back up with a minimum of fuss, although he did paw most of the way back down the driveway, and we had an uneventful trip back home. Cowboy was happy to see him return. Dublin was still pretty anxious but the sweating had been reduced by about half--which means that he wasn't actually dripping. He was re-united with Cowboy in the pasture, where I am sure they exchanged notes and then went about their business of eating grass.

So we have accomplished a couple of major goals--trailering Dublin, and starting dressage lessons. We are on our way again at last! Now if I can just remember to bring a camera and get some pictures or video...

Dublin Goes For a Ride

This must be a record--six straight days of riding, with great progress. The canter is getting easier and easier. Dublin has one of those canters that is gorgeous to watch--relaxed and floating. I've been itching to ride it and now that we are getting some consistency and I can enjoy it, I've found that it is as beautiful to ride as it is to watch. What a treat!

He has done so well with trailer loading the past few days that today we loaded him up, closed up the trailer, and drove him around the block. We're in the country, and "around the block" is probably 2 or 3 miles. He was anxious and did a bit of pawing, but all in all he rode like a champ. The last time we tried this, he pawed and kicked the entire way. It wasn't my trailer either. So this time he went in my trailer, so any damage he did was to my equipment, and as it turns out, he did very well. He was anxious and sweating when we got back, but he stood quietly in the trailer and took treats, and then unloaded like a champ, backing calmly out the trailer. So we'll keep this up until he actually relaxes on the drive.

This also marked the first time I've hauled a horse with my new truck ("New"--I've had it for over nine months).  What a difference! With my old '88 Ford, every bump in the road felt like it would jar your fillings loose. The new Chevy rides like a dream and you hardly know the trailer is there. Both the truck and the trailer got baths so Dublin could ride in a nice clean rig. Actually, the trailer has been sitting for so long that it had moss growing on it, and I was shamed into washing it before taking it out. Then it looked so good that the truck looked terrible in comparison, so it got a bath too. Only Dublin missed out on the bath, and since it's January and darned cold, it's just as well.

This has been a great week for Dublin's progress. A little time off from work and some nice weather, and a new commitment to working with him have made such a difference! And I feel better both physically and mentally, too, getting some exercise and seeing the horse start to blossom.

We have achieved what I think may be a record--five straight days of riding and working with my boy Dublin. We have cantered four days in a row and are achieving some consistency (I can get him into a canter in less than 5 time around the arena at a very fast trot, and then we stay in a canter for more than 3 strides). He does seem a little perplexed that we keep doing this (hey, I cantered already, why are you asking me again?) and it seems that a left lead is not in the cards at the moment, but what a good boy he is being! I have also opened and closed gates from his back, and ridden around the outside perimeter of the arena in a faux trail ride. He did spook a bit when my jacket rubbed up against an oak branch but that sure beats the time my helmet rubbed against a branch and Cowboy went into a bucking fit and dumped me!

He has also loaded very quietly and elegantly in my trailer and today I closed him up inside and pulled forward about 20 feet. Then backed up again. Nice and quiet, and I took my time unloading him. Tomorrow we are going for an actual ride around the block.

It sure makes an impact when you devote some consistent time to these projects! And his canter, which looks spectacular from the ground, lives up to expectations. A real rocking horse ride.