Brick by Brick

Fancy and I have been very busy the last few months! We have started doing more jumping, and he has come with me to hang out at some local "C" rated shows and play in the green classes. I'm learning a lot about him now that we are working a little harder and spending more time together at the shows. He's learning a lot about his new job too!

I've discovered that Fancy does not seem to like double-jointed bits (French links, oval mouths, etc). Many horses prefer double-jointed bits over single-jointed, because the single-jointed bits can have a nutcracker effect on the roof of the mouth. However, Fancy is much more willing to close his mouth, relax, and accept contact in a single jointed bit than a double jointed one. Finding the right bit for each horse is an exercise of trial and error, experimenting with different mouthpieces, shapes, and materials until you find something that works. I may look into a Happy Mouth bit sometime soon, since the apple-flavored plastic is soft and inviting. But for now, out of the French link and into a plain ol' snaffle we go!

As we have started working more jumping into our training, Fancy has taken a step back from cantering much on the flat. He is most relaxed in the canter, and so wants to rush through his walk and trot work (I joke that he thinks walking and trotting are boring, while cantering is much more fun). To help him relax and take his time, I have cut out canter work except for when jumping for the time being. In just a few weeks of this plan, I can already feel him take a deep breath and settle into his trot work more quickly, whereas before he just felt excited for the canter. We canter away from the jumps, and now coming back down to the trot afterwards isn't such a big deal. OTTBs have all this emotional baggage leftover from the track, a lot of expectations that need to be changed (both his and mine), a new language to learn, a new job to understand, and all that takes time. Two steps forward, one step back, and slowly we will get where we want to go, one relaxed trot step at a time.

We went to a show this past weekend, and Fancy showed great progress in just three days. We went from never having jumped show jumps to consistently trotting in/cantering out of lines with boxes, flowers, and oxers with bonus lead changes! He wants to be very brave, and I feel like he always tries to get from one side to the other. We also worked on important groundwork skills like standing still in the wash rack (he thinks cool water on a 90+ degree day is torture). He was much more relaxed this trip, and actually enjoyed going out for hand walks and grazing instead of nervously pacing in circles like he did at the last show.

October and the Makeover Challenge feel very close, but I keep telling myself to take each day one at a time, to have no expectations each time I swing my leg over, and to always maintain a sympathetic and patient understanding of what I am asking Fancy to do: completely replace his understanding of the world with a new, slower, more relaxed viewpoint. Time, cookies, and patience.

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Two of our trips from the Very Green Hunters this weekend at Hunter's Run in Temperance, Michigan. It was a very hot weekend so hunt coats were waived.