Smooth moves and pony grooves

What a lovely session Max and I had today! I have no doubt that the work my YO has been doing once a week is building a strong foundation that Max and I can both use to build up steadily together.

He's learning how to hold himself together and use his muscles to greater effect, and I'm concentrating on my balance and staying light in the saddle, light in the hands... every now and then we hit a groove and we're dancing like Fred & Ginger!

The lanes were a little icy today so I wasn't tempted to hack, but I'd wanted to go in the school with him anyway. I've been having a bit of trouble with saddle slippage, so today I stripped out his prolite panels and shim, and transferred in his suberpanel to see if it would make a difference. It surely did. His saddle remained steady, and I didn't have to cut off his air supply tightening his girth to "uncomfy".

There was still a little bit of movement, but very little and just shifting my weight slightly into one foot or the other got us smack dab in the centre again. I am going to order a non-slip saddle pad too, to help us further, but I think we're on the right track!

We walked in for quite a while to warm up, but Max surprised me by not even trying to do his usual schlep with all four of his sweet little feet dragging and scuffing in the dirt, like a child walking unwillingly to school. Instead, he went straight into a good working walk which was very forward going and fluid. After about ten minutes bending and working on each rein, we popped into an easy trot, and pretty much stayed that way for the next half hour.

He's a different Max in trot now, no evasions, no sneaky opportunities to slow down and get himself back into walk, and best of all, no continual reminders from me to stay in working trot and stop slouching; he just trots until I ask him to do something other.

But the trot today...! We had moments of brilliance. We can't keep it together that long, but every now and then, Max would rise up beneath me, and I could feel all the power of him as he worked himself into a beautifully held outline, and suddenly, his pony trot, which can feel like sitting atop a sewing machine, became this smooth, powerful, extended thing that is so easy to sit to, so comfortable and so... well "fast" isn't the word I'm looking for because it doesn't feel fast at all - if anything it almost feels slow motion - but we cover a lot of ground in a short time.

We couldn't maintain it too long and would collapse back down, but then we'd get it back again and have a few more turns of something rather sublime. At one point, I know not how, I even got him moving laterally across the school in trot, basically going forward and diagonally at the same time. I wanted to jump off and watch, but I also wanted to stay on board and feel it!

We left it at just 40 minutes of working and Max could happily have kept going, but I didn't want to bore him, or give us a chance to fall apart and stay that way, thus ending the session on a bad note. So after one very good transition to walk and then to stand on a low whistle, I dismounted, loosened his girth and praised him with great praise (and a teensy piece of licorice).

We hung out together on the yard for quite a while after that. I gave him a brush and scritched all his best places, and he scritched me back, using the tip of his twitchy nose to "groom" me, just as he'd do to another horse.

"You are brilliant, Max!"

"It's true! I guess you're OK, too."

I had a late night phone call last night from my sister and dad in BC. Christmas cookies were being baked and the house made ready for festive frolics.

My dad was chuckling over yesterday's blog entry and threatened to get somebody to knit a scarf for my Arabian boy. My father is one of Max's biggest fans, and gets a kick out of the voice I give him - almost as much as the kick he gets out of hearing me so happy with my childhood dream come true. He commented last night that Max's voice and his personality shine through in all I write and say about him, but wondered if it was something that only I would see through my imagination and close, emotional connection with Max. Would others see what I see if they met Max? Would they hear him speak as clearly as I do?

For those who have met Max, and for those lucky enough to meet him some day, it is clear that the voice I give him doesn't stretch my imagination far at all, and his character is very accurately portrayed. When my niece came to meet Max and have a bareback ride on him, she later, matter-of-factly told her delighted mum that Max was very good, and when she got on his back he let out a big ol' sigh! My sister-in-law burst into laughter and I said "Yep, he's my horse all right. We do sighing."

Where Max stands, there is generally delighted laughter from those who are nearby, and he is held in great esteem and affection by those who know him. He's just that kind of horse. A natural optimist with a brave heart, an entertainer with a keen intellect and a hungry curiosity of the world around him, a kind soul who expects nothing but kindness in return, and the owner of a rather wicked sense of humour - he does droll and slapstick with equal aplomb.

He is a very singular creature and I am singularly blessed to share my days with him.