Bingo Does Not Want to do a Slow Walk

Wednesday was a wonderful day for riding, for early summer. Since I bought my Kerrits IceFil tights with the silicon full seat, I have stayed pretty cool, but on Wednesday my body said NO when I went to put on my grain leather half chaps, so I rode in my Moxie Air-Puff ventilated half chaps though they are a little bit more slippery than my leather half chaps. Yes, it was a beautiful day for riding but later on in the day it was to get hot and humid, and there is nothing like a hot and humid summer day to make my MS symptoms worse. I have to wear the coolest riding clothes I own to stay effective in the saddle.

Bingo LOVED his grooming session, he absolutely adored it when Debbie curried him with the HandsOn grooming gloves, and he loved it when I brushed his mane with the spiky brush. He even seemed to enjoy it when I used my lambswool body brush to get more dirt off his back. As we gradually put the Back on Track stuff on (poll cap, pad, four exercise boots, and exercise sheet) plus the Fenwick mask with ears, Bingo relaxed, his eyes softened, he gave me little nuzzles with his muzzle, and he looked pleased with his world in spite of the fact that we dragged him away from some hay. Since Bingo is so croup high I think he tweaks his back when at play in the pasture, anyway he came in moving stiffly, and Debbie had to sort of drag him out to the water trough for a drink, and then to the ring.

When I started my ride I figure that Bingo would appreciate me getting OFF his back, so I practiced my two-point as much as I could manage. I also pulsated my lower legs alternately to encourage him to move his hind legs forward. When Bingo, in response to his creaky back, does not stride forward with his hind legs, he seems to stay in whatever sort of creakiness he starts off with. He HAD to start relaxing his back some to bring his hind legs forward, and after several minutes he loosened up enough to do something else besides plodding around the ring. The Back on Track exercise sheet helped warm up Bingo's muscles, but Bingo also needed me to give him gentle gymnastic exercises to relax his tense back before he could move freely. And believe me, under saddle there is no gymnastic exercise that is gentler than establishing a relaxed walk with freely striding legs and a “swinging” back.

Then I started going around the jumps, working to keep his free swinging walk through the curves. This took even more leg, Bingo had to be encouraged to keep his speed at the walk while relaxing his back to where turning did not require a “dead pull” with the inside rein. Alternating my outside thigh with my outside lower leg I encouraged his spine/spinal muscles to relax into the curve while I kept my hands relaxed to encourage him to reach for the bit. I did not give him a turn signal with the reins, what I did was to allow Bingo to dictate where my hands were as he moved his head to obey my leg aids for the turn, with his inside mouth a little back and his outside mouth a little forward, with me always moving my hands to keep a steady constant contact during the walk. If I had just used my inside rein as the aid for the turn, Bingo would have contracted his neck muscles and stiffened his creaky back muscles and he would have gotten no gymnastic benefits from the turns. Bingo has all types of resistances against turning, and I get the best results from him when I make good and sure not to trigger any of these resistances!

By then Bingo was warmed enough to trot, and his first trot was stiff with his hind legs trailing behind him. Since I got tired I had to go back to the walk where I worked some on his turn on the hindquarters. Then on his next trot I used my lower legs a little stronger when I sat down, with a little “feel” on the rein when I rose while posting. Then Bingo started tracking up at the trot, bringing his hind leg forward more until it reached the point under his center of gravity. I had to work hard with my legs to get this lengthening of his stride but it was worth it, the horse gets little gymnastic benefit from a short, shuffling trot. By his third trot I did not have to work as hard with my legs and Debbie said I even got Bingo to extend his trot some.

I KNOW that Bingo has a good trot in him, if his back is not creaky. He gave me a trot that felt like he was floating over the ground two weeks before, the type of trot that requires the horse to track up with his hind legs. When his back is creaky and he is stiff he cannot give me this wonderful trot, and it would be cruel of me to try and spur and whip him into it. All I can do during the rides where he starts off really stiff is to work on relaxing his back, then he gives me the best trot that he is capable of that day. As his back relaxes and his back muscles get stronger he will give me this wonderful trot again of his own free will. Until that day I just continue with the gentle gymnastic exercises with the certainty that eventually it will pay off.

Towards the end of the lesson I worked on the three speeds of the walk. I started off sitting upright in the saddle, and he WOULD NOT slow down as long as my weight was on my seat bones. Then I shifted my seat bones as far forward in the saddle as they would go, and I asked for the super slow walk again. He slowed down just a little bit, and he managed to communicate to me that if I wanted a slower walk I would have to get OFF his back. I then worked on extending his walk some to loosen his back, and he responded a lot better to my request for extension than my request for slowing down. Even then Bingo made it clear that I would not get what I wanted as long as I had my seat in the saddle. Finally, in two-point, he gave me the free striding walk I wanted, one that Debbie praised. Then after some walk at his normal speed I asked him to slow down again, but no, he wanted to walk faster again. Finally, after I did his normal and extended walk in two-point, he consented to walk slowly, as long as I stayed in two-point, which felt really weird for me. After all, two-point is for galloping, not a super slow walk! But his back was bothering him on Wednesday, and if I wanted him to get the physical benefits of these movements I HAD TO get my seat bones off his back. Then he gave me the best he had that day.

In two weeks Debbie will have to use Bingo in walk-trot lessons during her week long summer camp. Next week I want to get the bridle she will use together, and get Bingo used to obeying his rider while he wears it. We also want to get him used to the running martingale. He will be going in Debbie's Wellep single jointed full cheek snaffle instead of my Wellep double jointed full cheek snaffle, and I want him to wear the running martingale because Bingo is always ready to invert, clench his jaws, and carry his rider to wherever Bingo wants to go—usually the gate. At least with the running martingale the little kids will have a chance of preventing this if I school Bingo with the running martingale before camp starts. Since the Wellep bit turns into a Mullen mouth when the rider pulls on both reins the riders won't be able to harm his mouth much, and since the running martingale tends to buffer the rein actions while at the same time giving the rider some leverage, I have hopes that my lesson after the summer camp won't present me with too many control problems. Bingo likes getting his own way, and if he could do what he wanted in the ring he would go to the gate and STOP, using the lesson to practice immobility. I do not have many problems getting Bingo to obey me, but I've been riding for decades and I know what I am doing. Beginners do not know what they are doing and Bingo spent several years of his past learning how to resist beginners, but Debbie will be in the ring to teach the kids how to ride Bingo effectively. After all, when I started riding a lot of the lesson horses were like Bingo, and learning how to ride a horse like Bingo paid off for me through the decades when my horses decided that they did not want to do THAT.

Have a great ride!

Jackie Cochran