There wasn’t much talk here of the Henrypants last week, mostly because it rained a lot at the beginning of the week so I didn’t ride much. I did have lots of time to sit and stew over the Great Horse Show Catastrophe ad nauseam though. I watched the video about a dozen times and came to one definite conclusion: we need better flatwork. I saw a horse that never truly looked like he was in front of my leg and into my hand the way he should be. I think because he has a major tendency to curl up behind the bit so much, I in turn tend to let him take the easy way out with a hackamore all the time, and don’t necessarily ride him as forward to get him UP into my hand. We’re both cheating.

That all changed on Thursday. Out came the dreaded (in Henry’s never humble opinion) loose ring french link, and we started flatwork boot camp.

OMG I’M CHOKING TO DEATH ON THIS METAL THING, HAAAALP

While Henry isn’t much of a fan, he has been pretty cooperative so far. My legs however are dying. Getting this horse out in front of you is a serious job… he’d rather go through life at one speed with his nose tucked in like a roly poly at any hint of contact.  This weekend we trotted and cantered with impulsion, walked like we were on a mission, lengthened, shoulder-ined, haunches-ined, leg yielded, spiraled in and out on a circle, serpentined, halted, sat the trot, stretchy trotted (eh… kinda), flying changed, simple changed (through the walk like a gangsta), hand-galloped and we even did a couple impromptu dressage tests as a status check. What’s more – a couple times we even went straight. Like legit nose to tail straight. No wiggle, no wandering butt, no bulging shoulder, just right there perfectly between both hands and both legs. Everyone be impressed right now. I’m not saying we did all of those things particularly well, but some of it we did, and for the rest we damn well gave it our best shot. Baby steps.

I’m not quite sure who has done more work at this point – me or him. I’ve been pouring sweat like a water fountain and he’s been pretty whooped after each ride. But I feel like even in just these 3 rides we’ve made some progress. We’re both steadier and we’re both paying more attention to the tiny details. I am determined to get him in front of my leg and he’s going to learn that contact isn’t the end of the world, even if it kills me. I hopped him over a handful of jumps at the end of Saturday’s session and things seemed to feel a little better, so we’ll see where this goes.

Flatwork boot camp is hard, y’all

Also – how the hell is it JUNE already? Summer, here we come. I’m so not ready for 100+ degree temps yet, but we’re getting dangerously close to triple digits. Boo.