A new approach to foot care has had Dublin sound through the last 2 trims. That has made progress much easier since we are no longer dealing with sporadic lameness. Also resulting in a much happier horse!
Our lessons have been on-and-off for the last couple months as my riding instructor moved to a new facility and also to a new residence and of course it takes some time to get settled in both places. My riding has also been on-and-off because of stretches of REALLY hot weather, a few home projects that took priority, and the usual life-in-general distraction. But Cowboy, at 19, is developing worsening arthritis and, while he's not ready for retirement, it is adding some urgency to getting Dublin on the trail to give Cowboy some relief.
So my neighbor and another friend packed up 3 horses and headed out to the local regional park, Ragle Ranch. It's a pretty small park but does have a 2-mile perimeter trail. It's flat and easy but it does have some challenges--several narrow bridges to cross, narrow trails with high tree and shrub growth on the sides, making several stretches very tunnel-like, and it's popular with dog-walkers, families out for a bike ride, and people pushing baby strollers.
Dublin took the trailer ride perfectly (not always the case!), stood quietly to be tacked up even though there were quite a few people milling around the parking area, and then we were off. He does need a little work on standing still when I mount! Never noticed because at home in the arena, he's in a corner with a fence in front of him. But he does walk off when he isn't restrained.
Turns out that any concerns I had about Dublin's abilities as a trail horse are unfounded. He was sure-footed and took all the tourists, dogs, bikes, and bridges with aplomb. He was a little unsure about the first bridge, but when Cowboy marched confidently across it, so did he. Thank goodness that Cowboy came through for us! I've been riding Cowboy on the trail for 10 years now, and for the first 3 I think I had to lead him across every bridge.
As a matter of fact, Dublin is a much more confident and calm trail horse than Cowboy. After 10 years on the trail, Cowboy is now a superstar, but it wasn't always that way. I spent a lot of time leading him the first few years and even now, he can get me to dismount when things get a little hairy.
Since Ragle went so well, he and Cowboy got loaded up in my trailer (he needs to get over his little kicking and scrambling issue before he's welcome in someone else's trailer), and last week we headed over the hills to Pt Reyes National Seashore. This has been our favorite riding spot for years, but it is a challenging road to get there with a trailer. With Cowboy along, Dublin rode perfectly to the park. And he was once again a superstar on the trail. There is a large cattle pasture on this trailer with a lot of Black Angus cows and calves in one part and the bull pasture on the other side. While Dublin is amazingly calm most of the time, the cattle were a new experience! They look, act, and smell weird. I did get in quite a bit of walking time through that part. On the way back, though, they were a lot less scary and I'm sure in another ride or two, they will just be part of the scenery. Dublin did so well that we even opened one of the many gates on the trail. It wasn't exactly elegant, but we got the job done.
The ride back home did not go as smoothly. On the curviest, hilliest part of the road, going downhill, he lost it and started scrambling. It's not a great place to pull over and I probably kept driving a little longer than I should have. By the time I found a spot I deemed safe, he had stopped scrambling, but it was a long ride home after that while I imagined the worst when I unloaded him. Fortunately, he just had some scrapes and a couple small cuts on one pastern. My trailer got the worst of it as he ripped up the mat on the wall between the tack compartment and the horse's area. Cowboy came through unscathed, probably wondering what was wrong with that black horse.
We've also made progress in our dressage journey. We've had our ups and downs and I hadn't been particularly happy with our first lesson at the new facility. But then I had a couple revelations. I occasionally do yoga, and my video ends with a seated meditation that I usually skip. One morning recently I did the meditation, which walks you through a balanced and relaxed posture, and it occurred to me that this is the posture and attitude I need on horseback. Head over shoulders, shoulders over hips, elbows hanging at sides, and body symmetrical. Excited, I wrote down my "discovery". I've also been reading Dominique Barbier's excellent horsemanship book "Alchemy of Lightness" and picked that up immediately after jotting my notes. And there on the next page was his description of riding as a meditation on horseback. The books also suggests presenting an image to the horse of what you want to do. On my next ride, I was mindful of my "meditation posture", and when I attempted another canter depart (still a sticky point for us), I tried giving Dublin an image of a graceful canter depart--and we did it! Between the posture mindfulness and the imagery, it's helping me to keep my weight distributed correctly, my hands on either side of the horse (I tend to cross one hand over), and stopped me from leaning forward. Must have worked because at our last lesson, Anne was floored by our improvement.
It all seems like baby steps, but when you look back on it, you realize how far you have come.
