First, let me send my sympathies for all of you affected by the wildfires, droughts, floods, tornados, earthquakes and other disasters.

I was not in my best riding form this week since I'm on an antibiotic.  My feet feel sort of like they are not attached to me.  My balance is not at its best either.  In spite of this I had some amazing rides, well amazing rides for me.  As usual I was just puttering around the rings.  Both mares were cooperative, both mares listened to me attentively, both mares are starting to "shift gears" between the three speeds of the walk, and both mares had forward impulse.  I think I have found what I was looking for, a way (the Spirit Bridle w/ running martingle) to unlock the kinks in the necks of both mares.  As long as the weather stays cool enough I will be working more at the first two speeds of the trot, I don't think the mares are up to truly extending a trot yet.  Maybe in the fall.

Cider was impressive yesterday.  After years of resisting extending her walk Cider has finally putting her back muscles to work "rolling" into her extension of the walk, keeping the same rhythm as the regular walk.  We contented ourselves with around 5 strides then we relaxed back into the regular walk, the extended walk is hard work for a horse.  I even got the energizer bunny to consent to several strides of a counted walk!  No peevishness, no temper fits, and her usual slightly sour attitude ("you're making me WORK) is changing to one of willing cooperation even when I insist that she does what I want.  She's not cheerful about it yet, but there is definite improvement.  Her walk is straighter, I can ride on the outside of the ring without a lot of outside rein and inside leg to prevent her from diving to Shannon, and with just one or two light hand and leg aids I can get Cider to walk straight again.

Mia has stopped coughing.  Before we could count on Mia having one coughing session each ride.  My last three rides there have been no coughs.  These coughing fits happened both with the bits and all the other bitless systems I tried.  Could a kink in Mia's neck have been triggering her coughs?  We had been assuming it was a combination of age and all the dust that gets kicked up by 38 horses, plus maybe an allergy.  Right now we are in high pollen season, Mia had been coughing more, and now, all of a sudden, no more deep coughing.  When I rode her Friday Debbie was giving a lesson with a lady's OTTB mare, a gorgeous bay, and another lady on a warmblood, luckily Debbie's ring is big enough so I can putter around one end while a rider is having a discussion with her horse at the other end!  Most of the ride I started off with slack reins and Mia reached out all on her own and established contact.  Nice contact.  AND she kept this nice contact until I decided to loosen the rein, lately with the bit she has been accepting a session of contact at the walk only half way around the ring before "dropping" the bit, and she has never been eager to establish or keep contact with the other bitless systems.  AND no coughing in spite of the extra dust in the air.

I am also getting faint hints that the kink in Mia's back is "thinking" about loosening.  I get this feeling of interrupted flow around two inches in front of the end of the cantle of the saddle.  So long my weight is in front of this spot Mia will usually show impulse, but if I sit back Mia immediately looses all impulse.  There is no flinching, just an interruption in the flow of her forward impulse.  The last few weeks Mia has been moving with more impulse, I am having to use less leg to keep her going at normal speeds, and occasionally, for a few strides, everything flows like it should.  She still flattens out some at a sitting trot but I am having to make my legs longer to keep my stirrups and a few times she has shifted my weight further back in the saddle.   It feels like Mia is experimenting with something back there.  I hope this works itself out, I don't think she will be comfortable starting a canter until it does.

From all the results I am getting I think that the Spirit Bridle with the running martingle is preventing me from triggering spasms in both mare's necks.  I think that a lot of the resistances I was getting to hand, leg and seat was because of these spasms.  While Mia still insists on a good neck stretch after a session of contact, she waits until I loosen the rein and she is shaking her head less.  And after a while on a sagging rein she reaches forward all on her own and re-establishes contact, a totally new behavior for her.  I certainly hope that this un-kinking continues down the spine!  Cider is stopping setting her neck against turn signals, though her neck is still stiffening when I ask her to back up.  Still, for just three rides in this bridle, Cider has improved beyond belief.

Podhajsky writes that when the horse is properly trained and conditioned a new movement will drop like "ripe fruit into your lap."  I would probably not be getting such good results without all the previous conditioning and training I did.  Both mares know what I mean when I use an aid, they've known it for years.  Both mares have gained muscle in the right places, both mares are more beautiful than when I started riding them.  By not triggering these spasms in their necks I am now rewarded with stuff just falling into my lap.  Because of this an old problem of mine has reappeared, I find it pretty boring to ride a perfectly trained horse.  I don't mean Olympic level dressage, I mean a horse who cheerfully obeys each aid instantly and moves correctly through the gaits, while at the same time able to make her own decisions if necessary in an emergency and who can tell me when I mess up.  I don't like riding a slave!  I guess I am also afraid of getting lost and too ambitious for the mares' good, of overdoing all this neat new stuff that is now accessible.  I especially have to be considerate of Mia's spavined hock since we finally got her mostly sound on it.  Besides, would you believe it, I am missing Cider telling me everything I am doing wrong in my riding!

I am saving up for more Spirit bridles and for the roundings/leather reins.  Shannon has an 18.2 hand half Dutch Draft/Irish Sport Horse gelding who is very, very massive and strong.  I can handle him in a bit and in the Nurtural, but some of our discussions have had vehemence and as I feel weaker I am much less willing to climb up on his back!  Most of my work on him had been to get him to just obey his rider, and he is pretty good with others now wearing his Nurtural bitless.  Maybe the economy will improve enough so WE feel it is getting better and I can save up enough money to get more tack.  Anyway if I can get HIM cooperating as well as the mares it would be a major advance.  I think his major neck kink is further down his neck with a lesser one further up that does not always irritate him, but when it does I am in for a serious discussion if I ask for too much, like when I expect him to go where I want.  He has good movement in him, the problem is getting him to consistently move well under saddle. 

Have a great ride!

Jackie Cochran