Amazing!:D

This whole week has been absolutely amazing for Nico and I, I feel as though we have had a huge breakthrough mentally and physically, he is truly trying for me 110% right now which is such an incredible feeling, it's awesome when you get to that next degree of partnership with a horse, sometimes you get to a stage in training and you think maybe that's all there is to come and then all of a sudden you change a couple of things and find out there's a whole lot more in there and that feeling to me is so incredibly rewarding because it literally feels like you've taken an old friend and made them brand new again.  Nico has always been a tricky nut to crack, for my feeling he has never ever lacked in talent, he learned all of the exercises very easily at a young age but he is the type of horse who carries an internal tension about himself never quite letting go, consequently he can be very skittish and spooky at times as that tension results in a lack of throughness which of course results in distractions and lack of trust in those moments, he's the type of ride where you feel like all of the exercises are easy but that he's holding back from really giving you his all-not due to laziness but due to lack of confidence and in those moments where you want to ask a little more he likes to play it safe and hide, but this past week he has given me a whole new piece of his body and is using himself in ways that he has never before offered  (sometimes this results in some clumsy awkward movements but it is coming from such a good place that it really doesn't matter, he is trying so hard that sometimes he just doesn't know what to do with himself but as long as he is trying it's great!) finally allowing himself to push a little beyond his comfort zone, consequently he is so much more on the aids and through in the connection, all of a sudden getting him active behind and truly connecting from back to front is becoming easier and easier and he's also becoming extremely hot in his new found way of going which is allowing me to find all sorts of new gears in his work, all in all I think the training is now really starting to pay off and I also think the new saddle is helping him out immensely as he's been so much freer in the back since I've changed him over-he's a sensitive guy so when he tells me he's happier with something I'm not going to ignore him!  All in all I'm just amazed with the change in him as of late and very proud of him as he just feels like a different horse, that being said I'm now realizing that he may need a transition period and some time away from the show ring to become comfortable with his new way of going and if I feel that is the case I will respect that he needs the time, in the long run the goal has always been the international grand prix ring and if a break from the show ring at this point in time will help get us closer to that goal in the long run then I am all for it-it's so strange with horses as you can come out with a goal and a game plan in mind and then they start to give you things that gear you in a totally different direction, and yet it's a positive thing, but it just goes to show that you really can't write anything in stone with horses, you always have to be willing to make compromise and be willing to change your course of action and sometimes you have to be patient in the present to serve you better in the future.  That being said I am also excited about how I feel my eye is developing more and more as a coach, I've always considered my eye to be fairly educated but now I am finding that I am able to take the education I have now and fine tune it down to some real intricate details that I may not have noticed as much in the past, it's been a great chance to watch so many quality horses in training on a daily basis as there is not a horse in the barn who doesn't "look the part" but by watching them train day to day you start to be able to identify each and every horse/rider strengths and weaknesses even when the overall picture is quite good, I find now that I have a much more critical eye for a horse that is truly in front of the leg (and I'm not talking obvious, anyone can spot a horse that is blatantly behind the leg but I'm talking the subtle things of a step here or there where they fall behind the leg or shift the balance behind the rider), I've also started to really develop an eye for technique of the hindleg and whether or not the technique is matched in both hindlegs (again not talking obvious difference like you see in an irregular gait but small things within a regular gait such as placement and angles) most horses have minor differences in their hindleg technique and I've started to really notice the tiniest subtleties which to me is also very exciting as I know it will be something that will really help me with my teaching when I get back home.  It's important to me to have a well rounded education from the saddle as well as from the ground and I really believe that every rider (no matter what the level) needs to spend time immersing themselves in education on a routine basis, I know a lot of people try to convince themselves that it works just fine to have a lesson once or twice a week and then work on their own in between and I firmly believe that it is important for riders to work on their own at times in their career so that they can learn to apply their own skills and figure things out but I also believe it's important to take time in ones career to be absorbed in education daily for a period of time as it sharpens your skills from the saddle and educates your eye from the ground and without having that chance on a semi routine basis it becomes much too easy to become complacent in our day to day work.