Redemption Arc

Show season is still well underway here in SoFlo, even as temperatures start to rise. Trainer T's show team is also growing as she's added several more off-property clients. My real adult weekends continue to be consumed 100% by horses, whether I'm at the barn annoying Fuego or tagging along to the grand prixs. Which, by the way, now that WEF is wrapped up, we're switching to polo matches instead. At least the alcohol is included with those . . .

Because of the sheer number of students she had, Trainer T offered to do my lesson whenever she returned from the show on Sunday. Earliest would be 5pm, latest would be, uhhh, like 9pm. On a work night, nonetheless. Eh, not a big deal for me. I hung out at home for the morning, stayed at the show for a few hours, then head back to the barn to mess around with Agave until they got back. That's when the whole downward-facing horse incident happened, which still perplexes me.

I think my lesson ended up being right around 8pm. Fuego and I warmed up in near darkness before nighttime set in. The redhead was definitely a little tense but obedient. I reset everything from the prior ride with the exception of the trot poles. We did those plus lots of circles and some leg-yielding. Keeping him forward was the hardest thing, but otherwise, he was right there with me and doing everything I asked.

Trainer T came out once I was wrapping up the warm-up. We discussed how he was, and since there were no major issues, we headed right into the jumping. She wanted to try something different and had us do the gymnastic in the opposite direction than we have been. Considering how he's been, I'm kind of up for anything, so we trot into it. As usual, his first time through was quite lackluster; he's pretty consistent about his first effort requiring lots of effort. It's typically accompanied by a grunt and the most lackluster canter afterwards. After that, he's running, but the first attempt always gives me a little chuckle. So we did it, he was slow, we did it again, slow again, we did it again . . . uhh, okay, buddy, guess it's leg day for me.

We popped a little course together, mostly over the combinations that we've been working on for the past few weeks. Started with the one stride, bending line to the green, at some point we changed directions and ended with the gymnastic. In line with my recent concerns, I gave Trainer T a heads up that I'd be trotting most things. Confidence is key for both of us. The transition work from the prior day genuinely paid off. He was much easier to downward transition, although it'll take some time before he has the strength to transition to a quality trot. The first time through was a-okay, so Trainer T built the trot poles back up to a fence, and we both decided on a course for the rest of the evening.

Long story short: Egg Head might just be a hunter after all. He consistently put down the nicest, easiest, softest, calmest courses we've ever had, even compared to when we first cantered a course. He's felt much more confident with the distances, so I think our long spot issue may have been a mental or fitness thing that he's been able to work out of. He came back much much sooner after the fences, too. It was to the point that I could come off the fence, half seat for one stride, then easily go back to full seat. And he was going so slow that I had to sit down and add leg in between fences.

By the last two attempts, we were cantering the whole thing, including the gymnastic. In hindsight, we didn't give him an easy course either. It was winding with a lot of quick turns. He was an absolute angel and gave the nicest halt at the end of it each time.

Now, I'm trying not to get my hopes up. What he showed behavior wise is a lot both mentally and physically. He's definitely getting a well-deserved spa day soon. What I do with him is heavily influenced by what he tells me he's comfortable with. I'm happy to work within those guidelines because, well, if I don't, things go south very quickly, and you have to regain that trust again. Transition work will stay, for sure as it makes me feel much more secure in the saddle, and it breaks a lot of tension with him. The polework will also stay, but the more windy stuff will be somewhat limited unless he tells me otherwise. Overall, this was a superb weekend for Fuego. I'm very proud of him, and I hope these lessons stick.