First Days Of Training

After the long days of travel the horses needed a couple of days to rest and then a couple days of very light stretching before going back to full work, we are now two days into our training program and so far I am very pleased with Nico.  Yesterday and today have probably been two of the best rides I have had on him in terms of focus, relaxation and suppleness.  Before we left home Nico had a check up with Dr. Brit Mills his regular veterinarian who reported that he is feeling better than ever physically, this obviously made me very happy as one always likes to hear that their horse is in top physical condition and I can honestly say that I'm definitely feeling it in his body in our rides.  The past few months I took the time to really go back to basics with Nico and clean up some of the areas that I thought weren't clear enough, no matter what level of rider you are you always have to be willing to go back to the very basics and clean things up if you want to progress.  I felt that Nico needed a clearer understanding of some of the aspects of pressure and release, he has always been a horse who is almost afraid if you give away the contact too much and would react almost negatively to a softening at times, mainly because he is afraid of his own balance and feels like he needs something to hold on to, I wanted him to be braver about 'being on his own' so to speak, as I felt this would help him gain confidence in his own balance and help him achieve that little bit of extra carriage that he needs to be in self carriage for the Grand Prix ring, I am happy to say that I think that extra time I worked to make him better understand this concept has really paid off, I feel like he is slowly becoming much braver in carrying himself and consequently more willing to be expressive and use himself.  Today I not only had the feeling that he was really with me physically but mentally as well, for those of you who don't know Nico he truly is an ADD child, he sees and hears everything around him and this sure can make it a challenge to keep him focused but today I felt he was 110% focused on me and truly trying his hardest, this felt like a real milestone!  We worked through his tempis which felt great (his changes are always a highlight) and then did some piaffe work which felt quite good, his piaffe is feeling much more real now, the next goal will be to get it a bit more on the spot as he still has the tendency to want to travel a bit too much but given his greeness at the level that is okay.  The other horses are doing well, I think Florida has brought some life to Tango I can't remember ever seeing him so spunky he seems quite excited to be here, quite cute actually!  Rozzie took a couple days to get back in to work, she was a very good girl but was definitely tired from her first big girl road trip, she had today off and seems to be back to her perky self, riding wise the goal for her over the next couple months will be to get her more uphill, more up in the shoulders and up and out in the neck, this is also a matter of strength with her and starting to understand what a half halt is all about, it is important to remember that she is still playing catch up in her training physically, although she's learned all the tricks quite handily, muscle and carriage is just something that can't be rushed.  Generally though I am very pleased with how she is developing, she works very hard every day and is always game, have to love that quality in a horse!