Just another day

Here we are in New Hampshire at Heidi and Dick Venuti's beautiful Kilgore Farm.
             The sun comes up early in New England in June, it is a fresh morning and the birds are super happy, everything is clean from the rain yesterday, and they are joyful in the sunshine. The hummingbirds are happy to visit the feeders and I love to hear them buzzing around outside my window.
               I still struggle with the internet, but today I am blessed with some phone service and a precarious hotspot signal from my phone. I make the riding list for today while I reflect on the training from yesterday.
                The horses were all patient and worked well even though there was torrential rain for most of the day. Today we will make a point to walk and work outside, as well as give them their normal happy time in the big paddocks we have here.
                Yesterday I had a very productive lesson with my new young training horse. He was not having an easy time in his transfer from the braking in stable to the hunter/jumper stable where he was to be trained, so he found himself in the school for delinquent warmbloods. Several months later we picked him up to have a summer of Carousel Coaching. He got off the truck from Florida shell shocked and distrustful. He is super smart and wants to please, but completely unsure of his body, his job and his handlers. The past month with him has been one of the most fun training experiences of my life so far. I am so grateful to Tristan Tucker who has taught me so much about reading horses and connecting the dots for them when they are fearful and reactive.
                 The month started with ground work only in the halter, work in the stall, work in the grooming area and work in the arena. This guy was known to be spooky and distracted, which led to fear and bad behavior. His work in the arena was amazing to watch and connecting with him as he became more relaxed and willing has been so much fun.
                Working this horse with touch and noise has been amazing as his whole body was in such tension, even in the stall. Watching the waves of understanding and relaxation go through him is so gratifying. I always say we need to video this horse so we can document the progress. This one I kick myself, I would love to watch this over and over again, especially on the days when I forget where he came from.
                The beginning of the week we started working on leg yield movements in hand, along the wall, away from the whip and toward the whip. One of my favorite Tristan exercises. He is so careful and nervous, watching him process the aids and think about how to move his gangly legs is so fun. As he becomes "like a cooked piece of spaghetti" as Tristan would say, it is clear that he is letting the aids through with understanding and confidence. Yesterday we were able to take it to the mounting block, where to spite a lot of tension he was able to understand and bring himself to the mounting block. We were able to repeat this several times and I was able to mount him in a relaxed and happy state at the mounting block bare back in the halter. As I took him back to his stall with his neck hanging in a relaxed way from his shoulders, his eyes soft and happy and his feet hitting the ground in a slow rhythm that reflected soft joints  I was so proud of him.
          I had an awesome day with my Glorious working on Piaffe and flying changes and Enzo getting stronger on his self carriage for the canter pirouettes. However, when I look back at yesterday with my new guy at the mounting block, that was the highlight.

                                Just another (amazing) day!

                                       Embrace the Journey,
                                                  Nancy