by caf. » Sat May 28, 2016 2:58 am
thanks so much!
first training:
Stallions differ from mares in the sense that while a mare might give you 100% one day and 20% the next, a stallion will give you 99%, all the time. Granted, he's not a mare and he won't put himself on the line the way a female would, but he tries. Maybe some studs try harder than others, but it was well-known around Fox Hole Farm that Elmer was a solid citizen, all around.
Of course, none of this is to say that he was an expert, but his master worked hard to bring him farther in his training. For whatever reason, however, Elmer had a massive problem that could possibly break his dressage career; he refused to put his head down.
See, a previous owner - poor, inexperienced lad - had used draw reins in such an incorrect fashion that the beast was simply incapable of moving correctly. Instead of lengthening his back and powering forth from the hindquarter, he preferred to lenthen his stride while keeping his head up and safely away from his chest.
At first, it appeared that his owner might've sold him into jumpers, but his disposition and build were too good to just give up on.
So they worked - every day, rain or shine. At first, the young woman only asked him to move at an appropriate gait, hoping that the increased speed would encouraging to put his face in a natural headset. Still, Elmer remained stiff and unyielding, throwing his head violently whenever he felt his rider was being too handsy.
Luckily, Elmer's master understood that he could be retrained with enough patience and time. She continued to back him but made no move to encourage his roundness. Instead, she began to retrain him to stretch his neck outward and downward. He approached this task eagerly, having never been allowed to do so in his previous home.
Gradually, he learned to accept his bit, and Elmer be an to stretch into a moderate free walk with almost no cue from his rider. His head quit flipping, his gait became looser, his overreaches became longer and longer and longer.
The stallion began to develop an appreciation for his work; it was mentally stimulating enough to keep him challenged and occupied without being difficult enough to shut him down. Still, however, he refused to pull his nose in for a proper frame.
It became more and more frustrating to deal with his refusals as the weeks went on, and much more challenging as well. Pressing on the reins only encouraged him to throw his head downwards, pulling the rider out of her seat if she wasn't paying close attention. He had yet to unseat her, but sometimes his off reactions to being asked to bridle up seemed as though they would fling his master right over his head.
Within the two months Elmer had been in training, he'd made depressingly little progress with his headset. He still kept his muzzle planted firmly ahead of his forelegs, ears forward. That was, perhaps, the only thing that kept Elmer's master faithful in his ability; he was trying. He was excited about his work, and he hadn't given up. A mare might've gotten frustrated and stopped listening by this point, but Elmer earnestly kept trying. The rider had a realization then, a little epiphany; maybe she needed to ask him differently.
Reluctantly, she purchased a pair of draw reins from the local tack shop. Not to use them, of course, but simply to examine how they worked. She assembled them and pulled and prodded at them for many nights, observing how each little cue affected the bit. With the help of a model horse skull, she thought up all of the ways she could pull on a bridle in order to ask him to pull in his muzzle.
Her next stop was not the barn (though she continued lightly working Elmer to keep him in shape), but the tack shop. She held and examined dozens of contraptions designed to put pressure on various areas of the horse's mouth, but all that she saw seemed to have an effect that, to a horse, might seem similar to the draw reins.
What Elmer was afraid of, she'd discovered through her work with him, was being trapped in a forced headset. With the unintentional Rollkur training he'd recieved, he'd been permanently uncomfortable when being ridden. It was a wonder, truly, that he'd accepted his new master so willingly and allowed her to back him with so little resistance.
When she saw the bitless bridle, she dismissed it at first. She'd never used one herself, and surely the pressure on the unfamiliar areas of Elmer's face would make him uncomfortable. The more discouragement she found in the bit rack, however, the more attractive the little black bridle seemed. After speaking with the store employees and discovering that it was accepted in the dressage ring and had excellent reviews, she finally purchased it, hoping it wouldn't be terribly different from a generic dressage bridle.
At first, she didn't mount Elmer at all, simply putting it on him and letting him get used to the feeling. Occasionally she tugged lightly on a rein or two to gauge his reaction (and to observe where the bridle pushed each time she touched the reins). She expected to take a full week to get Elmer used to and accepting the new contraption, but by day 3 of the new bridle he'd accepted it and moved as though he'd never worn anything different.
Elmer's master would have liked to have her old trainer ride the horse first since she had so little experience, but the instructor had gone out of town for the week. Reluctantly, she saddled her warmbloods up and tried to mount him as normally as possible, attempting to give the horse no indication that anything at all was unusual.
As per usual, Elmer stretched enthusiastically at the walk and trot, ears pricked. He didn't pay the bridle too much mind, eyes bright and curious and accepting. His rider didn't expect to see progress today; this ride was only meant to get him used to the bridle. The more she saw him moving as though nothing was out of sorts, however, the more inclined she felt to just give it a shot.
Gently, she fluttered her fingers on the reins. Elmer bobbed his head this was and that, trying to escape the light, irritating pressure on his jaw. Just when she thought he was about to start a head-flipping episode, Elmer very cautiously pulled his nose inward.
His master rewarded him greatly, petting him furiously and dismounting shortly thereafter. Perhaps it wasn't perfect, but they had a chance now. They had a chance!
(1,125 words)
caf - they/them - bi
equestrian - vocalist - student
mostly i hang around here for
RVEC nowadays, though i
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