Okay..... Optimism restored!

 Okay then..... that was a happy surprise!

Today was the day Liz and I had planned for her to come give me lessons on all three horses. I wanted to have her help me, because that day she let me ride Party was so fun. I want my horses to go and feel like Party! And... Liz was super supportive of me and my business and I want to do the same for her. It was a fun day! Long... and exhausting, but fun!

We started with Dan. I put the saddle on him, although I was tempted not to. I got on and hacked him up to the arena and wandered around a bit before she got there. I was bummed, because... he kind of looked lame at the walk and kind of felt lame at the walk too. Liz got there pretty quickly after I got on and we chatted briefly. She did her amazing thing where she put her hands on him and felt for things. She said that he felt sore in his right lumbar area... which may have been from where I injected him (his "back and pelvis" protocol from Dr. DeClue). At first he was super cranky and fussy but then he started to realized she was helping him and settled into it. Then she felt the front and said his left shoulder/neck base was very stuck. Like... muscularly stuck... She didn't think it was fascia or nerve pain, although maybe a little bit of pinching. She had me walk him around a bit and then trot some. She said he looked stuck in his sacrum and his left hip was lifting more than the right hip. So then she had me hop off and adjust his sacrum. I went ahead and did his right sacroiliac joint too and ischium. He held his breath (and his leg up a bit) after the SI adjustment, but eventually took a breath. She felt him again and still felt like he was stuck in his right flank. She said it felt super taut and tight and like a blockage of energy. So... she helped him send it out and down and he started taking some really deep breaths and then finally a big deep breath and let some of it out. And then he was much softer there. I also played with his left shoulder/scapula to help relax that some and we got a big release! 

I got back on and we went to work. She said he looked MUCH better. She also mentioned that he felt "alive"... and not like a horse that was done. So we played with some stuff. She gave me some exercises to do at home. Basically... don't just take up the reins by grabbing or sliding... instead... as his front left comes back, inch up on the left rein..then as his front right comes back, inch up on the right rein. Incrementally inch up on the reins as he is walking and he'll incrementally lift his core too. If I go too quick though, he can get braced, so I had to be aware and soft. We played with a normal trot... and then a more collected trot. But the collected trot was achieved by me posting more up and down (vs throwing my pelvis to my hands) and thinking of lifting his back and core with my back and core. And it was awesome and worked! She did have me have a soft connection and felt like I could have slightly shorter reins that I wanted to have. But, honestly... he came up in his chest and neck and stayed up in his back and soft, and the connection was still super soft, so I was okay with it. Plus it encouraged me to be soft and following in my elbows. Oh, and... we did some counter bend/true bend stuff, and... when he felt like he was falling in against my inside leg, I kept wanting to push his haunches out with my inside leg, but instead, if I almost rode a  haunches in, he got straighter! Magic!

It was fun! We didn't do a ton but... he felt pretty darn sound!! Especially compared to two days ago. And he was more up and correct. He felt more like a fancy dressage horse and a CORRECT fancy dressage horse! We didn't canter because... he was working hard. We were working on strength vs fitness. And his veins were poppin'! And.. there were a few moments of uneveness, which Liz thought might have been more muscle memory of pain/anticipation of pain than a true lameness. But, he's going Tuesday for renovo for that stifle probably anyways, so.. it could be all of the above. 

So after we talked. She said she was super excited about him. She was expecting him to feel fairly bad, but she felt like he was going better than he ever has! She said he was supple and loose and stretchy and gumby and... she could totally see why I was having a hard time giving up on dressaging him. She thinks I should keep trying! She did suggest that I spent about 6 weeks just doing short intense strength building rides on him at the walk and trot only. Working trot... then on the short sides, the collected trot. She said this will fix my canter anyways without having to work on the canter. She also said that she wasn't opposed to me doing the Halloween show... even at second level! She also threw third out there but changed her mind. So.. that was exciting!!! It would be nice if I could get him happy enough to do a 2nd level test in a costume. Maybe Beauty and the Beast.. maybe punk rockers... ?? I don't know. I'm gonna have to work on a costume too. 

So yeah... a good day. And.. he was HAPPY! Not once did his tongue come out. Not once did he try to curl behind the vertical. He was more up and lifted than he's ever been and you could tell her had fun because he was almost cuddly after my ride! CUDDLY!!!