How I discovered "Throughness"

"Throughness" is something that is discussed in various Dressage articles, alongside the German training scale.  I'd heard the word many times, but never truly grasped it's meaning.

The other day I went to a clinic.  We were trotting along, just warming up our horses.  The coach looked at my lower leg and said "Your lower leg is moving, you're not balanced."  The coach pointed to another rider in the class "Look at her lower leg, it's not moving because she is balanced."  I looked at the other rider and sure enough, her lower leg was sitting as still as a wooden board in a door.

Then I looked down at my inside leg - yes it was moving.  Not a lot, but it was moving a bit.  Damn.  Then I looked at my outside leg - it was moving, but only a little bit.  "Winner, I thought, when we change rein the coach will see that I'm balanced".  But then we changed rein, and once again, my inside leg is moving, and my outside one is pretty much still.  Damn.  The coach never gets to see the outside leg.

I didn't argue with the coach at the time, but my intuition was screaming at me that after 30+ years of riding how can I possibly not be balanced in the trot.  I'm not the most talented rider, but I'm not the least talented either.

Over the next few rides I payed close attention to the movements of my lower leg.  One time, I was riding Dingo, and we were galloping up a track in the state forest.  I looked at my lower leg - dead still.  Still in the gallop, I inspected my lower leg more closely - definitely dead still.

The pony was powering along like a little red steam train, but eventually he slowed down to a trot.  A powerful trot.  A ground covering trot.  A trot with forward and purpose.  I looked at my leg - it was still.  I was jubilant.  I *knew* that I was balanced!!!

I rode on.

In that case, if I am balanced in the trot, then why was my leg moving while trotting Echo in the clinic.  I looked up and ahead of me and felt Dingo's trot.  I held my hands just above the wither, thumbs on top.  And I rode that trot, rising to every second beat.  I barely had to make an effort.  Dingo felt like a powerful engine, that was about to go "through" me, but he never actually did.  That "through" feeling was there with every stride.  And then the penny dropped ... that is why it's called "throughness".  Wow!

Did Echo feel like that in the clinic?  No.  Echo had felt like a flat tyre in the clinic.  Echo felt like I had to give him a little nudge every stride just to keep him going.  There was none of the energy, none of the forwardness, none of the engine.  No so called "throughness".

Horse Training: Long and Low

Recently I went to a clinic with David Middleton.  Now, I have known David since he was a wee tacker playing cushion polo on Rampage.  Despite this, and maybe because of it, I don't think I've ever had a lesson with David.

In the clinic David made two things very clear - Dressage starts with the long rein walk.  I've always wondered where Dressage starts.  The simplest of Dressage tests already contain a large number of movements.  But which one should you train first.  The long rein walk, apparently.

The other thing that David made very clear, is how to train the long rein walk.  You ask the horse to walk.  To maintain contact.  You ask the horse to come onto the bit by flexing the inside rein, and then, when you feel the horse's mouth, you release the reins and see how low the horse will go before you lose contact.

Practice this a few times - say five or six - and your horse will start getting the idea that he can actually stretch forwards and down.  You want to be careful that you don't lose the roundness - they should remain "on the bit".  They also need to remain in an active walk.  But, beyond that, the ground is the limit.  Presto, that simple.

Once you have mastered this in walk, then try it in trot.  Then canter.  It is so hideously simple, yet it forms the foundation of all of your horse training.  When your horse can stretch down and forwards, yet remain round and forwards, then he will also be able to, one day, collect.

Universal Guidance

The Universe delivers, as long as we are willing to listen.

A bit of background.  A few years ago I decided that I should get the chiropractor out to all of my riding horses at least once a year for a general checkup.  That visit has now been delayed by at least 2 years, as I always weigh up how much it will cost.

Also.  My work has been really busy this year, with me working 4 days per week (but quite often, handling a full time load).  Keeping two horses in work, Lil & Echo, has been hard work, as well as helping my daughter train her pony.  So, I have been looking at ways to make everything easier.

Now, the Universe story.

Sabina and I decided to attend an unofficial dressage day at a local riding school.  The competition offers preparatory walk/trot tests, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to introduce Echo to competition.  Naturally Sabina was taking her pony, Black Velvet, we have a two horse float, which meant that Lil was not coming.  Had there been more room on the float, I would have taken Lil and got her to do a Novice test.

I tried to download the entry form for the said competition, but to no avail.  No matter what I tried, I could not get the entry form.  Then I went to see my horses, and Echo came in lame.  It soon became obvious that the lameness was not going to go away in a day or two, and that the chiropractor might be required.  Disaster right?  All my plans have gone up in a puff of smoke right?

Wrong.  Change of plan.  Leave Echo at home, and do a Prelim and a Novice test with Lil instead.  Call out the Chiropractor to all the riding horses as they are all well overdue.

The minute I made this change of plan, the entry form for the competition downloaded without a hitch.  Fill out the form, pay, send it, and we were in.

Called the chiropractor and he was able to come out pretty much immediately, on a day and at a time that suited me.  When he came out, he found something wrong with each and every riding horse.  We have five.  The one most dear to my heart was my daughter's pony.  My daughter had been struggling with canter transitions, and a bit of pigrooting.  After the chiropractor's visit it all went away.

As far as Echo was concerned, he had strained a ligament over the stifle.  That means 4 weeks of rest, then lots of slow work (walk and trot mainly) in a straight line to strengthen it.  That means mainly trail riding.  Did I say something about easing my load?

As for Lil doing a Prelim and Novice test.  Well, this was obviously the Universe's way of telling me to get out there and do a Novice test - ready or not.

Perfect.

Temperament

When we bought Morgan he appeared to be a totally chilled out character.  My daughter could catch him in the paddock, bring him in and groom him.  All 16hh of him.  But it took me about 3 months of schooling at home to take him to a lesson, and even then, I don't think he was really ready.


When we arrived at my instructor's place he was suddenly rather distracted, and difficult to handle.  Where had the quiet horse gone?  There were some horses in a paddock next door and he was really keen to join them.


I lunged him in the arena first, but he kept being distracted.  I should have probably kept lungeing him until he finally paid attention, but my instructor had arrived and we needed to get on with it.  At the end of the day - I don't have all day.


He was still distracted when I saddled him up and when I mounted.  As I was mounting, the school bus was coming past, a mere 5 metres away or so.  But, if Morgan had a different temperament, he would have been happy to trust me and pay attention to me.  Instead, he bucked until I fell off, hitting the barbed wire fence on the way.  I was ok, but it wasn't pretty.


In comparison, Echo had been schooled by his previous owners for about 4 months when I bought him.  He had only been on their property, and trail riding in the bush.  He was with us for a mere 2 weeks when I decided to take him for a lesson.  Having learnt from the Morgan experience, I was savvy enough to take Echo together with my pony, Dingo.  I needn't have bothered, he would have been fine regardless.


Once again, the same paddock with horses.  Yes, Echo looked at them, he even neighed to them, but he also quite happily stayed tied to the fence.  The same road along the arena, with buses, utes with trailers, cars and even a couple of motorbikes.  It was all fine.  His biggest problem was with the Fresian cow in a paddock - a mere speck in the haze.


Echo's biggest issue was probably me paying attention to Dingo.  The minute I started paying attention to Echo he stopped his neighing and stood totally still.  Likewise when I mounted.  And momentarily ... likewise during the lesson.


I had a wonderful lesson and learnt heaps.  It definitely wasn't a matter of just staying on and hankering for control.  I can't wait to practice it all at home, and then come back for more lessons.  I can't wait to take him out to adult riding club and to competitions.  This horse will go such a long way - not because he is a super star, not because he looks magnificent, but because he has a good temperament.

Echoes of Crownie

Crownie was a very special horse in our lives.  When she was in full health I used to explore all the plantations and state forest near our farm.  I used to ride for hours no matter what the weather, exploring new tracks, nooks and crannies.  Galloping wildly.  Walking on a loose rein.  Sometimes I would cover 30km in 3 hours.  We were a team, Crownie and I.


When she started showing signs of wear and tear I semi-retired her.  I didn't ride her any more, but I would listen to squeals of delight as friends rode her on trail rides, and I would smile to myself.  But, eventually, Crownie was gone, and we kept reminiscing how nice it would be to own another horse like Crownie.


When Echo arrived - being the same colour and height (although he wasn't quite as long - thank goodness) - we unintentionally started making comparisons.  I like to take each horse on it's own merits, but the similarities were just too frequent and too many and we couldn't help ourselves.


He could spend hours at the hitching rail being brushed and patted - just like Crownie.  He is easy going and understanding, just like Crownie.  He seems to prefer people company to horse company.  If Echo has been put in the yard and you can't see him, then he's bound to be in the stable - just like Crownie.  And when a boot drops down too far over his coronet, he will try to kick the boot off, just like Crownie.


And so, I like to think that our wish for "another horse like Crownie" has come true.

Welcome Echo

For a while now I have been looking for a horse for my husband.  My husband doesn't need anything fancy - just something he can jump on every 2 or 3 months and go trail riding on.  Something with a bit of go, but something you can trust.  Last year we purchased an off the track thoroughbred called Morgan.

Morgan appeared to be super quiet - my daughter could do anything with him on the ground, but there was something bubbling underneath that I didn't quite like.  One time I tried to ride him up the hill in our haying paddock and he started rearing.  Little rears, but there was a huge lack of trust.  Then he started bullying his paddock mates - a few rugs have a rip or two.  Finally, I took him to a lesson and he bucked me off.  That was the end of the line.  Morgan was moved on.

Then at Easter we tried my friend's horse - Red.  He was just beautiful.  He was also 16.3hh.  While we were hoping for something around the 16hh, the extra 3 inches worried me.  A lot!  Finally my husband hopped on him and said "Nah, too much of a plodder".  That sealed it.  Red was not right for us.

After those experiences I counted up the amount of time and effort taken up by looking at both horses and decided that I didn't need another horse.  I still wanted a horse for my husband, a horse that I could possibly train up and then pass on to my daughter as her legs grew longer, but I decided to give it a rest.  Unless, of course, someone rang me and said that they were just around the corner, and they had a quiet horse that was 16hh, and preferably 5 years old, but the horse had a bit of go when you wanted, and ideally was black.  And so, I put it out there to the universe to really decide whether I needed another horse.

And the universe responded.  Within a week a lady made contact with me saying she might have the right horse for me.  See that list I made up above ... this horse ticked every single one of those boxes!  In addition the horse was located at a property, which was the very first property we looked at in the area; the property that brought us to where we are now.  And ... his name was Echo.  Echo is the name of the black horse, the man's horse, in the Silver Brumby movie.  It was an omen.  I went to see the horse.

Omen or no omen, I inspected Echo with a critical eye.  He was a bit upright in the pastern, a little bit on the thin side, which means he could be a poor keeper.  His head was a bit too big, and he was built a bit like a lama.  But his hooves were good, his legs were straight and clean (I now take clean legs as a solid indicator of a horse's temperament), and his proportions were good.  He was built a bit downhill overall, but his rump was not higher than the wither.  He had a kind eye, and was certainly very quiet standing at the hitching rail.

His owner rode him first, and then I hopped on.  I knew immediately that this was exactly the temperament I was looking for.  This horse, lama neck or no lama neck, had a huge heart and was going to try for you no matter what.  This is exactly what I needed for my husband, for my daughter, for my intermediate trail riding friends, and finally and perhaps most importantly, for myself.

Nevertheless, I put him through his paces and then we took him trail riding.  He was everything you could wish for.  You could ride him on the buckle, or you could spruce him up a bit.  You could ride him second, or in front.  When we went into canter, he didn't think it was a race, he just said "I like canter" and bowled along easily.  I bought him right there and then.

Then I went home and negotiated with my husband.

And for all my intentions of getting a horse for my husband, I said to him "I've bought myself another horse and if you're really really nice you might just get to ride him".

Within three days Echo was paid for and brought over to our property, and was happily munching on grass in the haying paddock with Dingo.