Having taken a step back from my immense desire to partner on the back of this horse I am seeing a lot of room for improvement.  It is my understanding that he spent at least five of the last seven years of his life in either a 12x12 box stall or a round pen.  The round pen being the only form of turnout and movement for this beautiful guy.  His lack of conditioning and muscling was obvious upon arrival, the sharp angle to the hindquarters and dips behind the shoulder blades.  And over the last couple of months he has started to round out a bit (even in the belly)!  He is certainly an easy keeper.

What I am observing though is that it is taking him longer to muscle up and get his feet under him than I would have expected.  That makes perfect sense intellectually, but hard to accept in some ways.  If a person who has never played a sport in his life tried to get in shape at the age of 20, it will take them a lot longer than the person who played sports all through high school and then got out of shape in college.  I believe I am seeing the same thing here.

His weakness is manifesting itself most predominantly in the canter.  It seems to be where his lack of training and lack of conditioning meet.  He believes he is incapable of cantering on the left lead, even though I have seen him do it in the pasture.  His muscling seems to make it difficult for him to not cross-canter on the right lead.  He will take about 4 steps of true right-lead canter before switching behind.  At first I was letting him just canter as he wanted, assuming he would figure it out because it looks just as uncomfortable to him as it is to watch it.  But, after two months, he isn't figuring it out.  After consulting my favorite training literature and perusing the web I think I need to change tactics.  There are two concerns: (1) that there is something physically going on with him that makes it painful to canter correctly; and (2) that I could be "training in" the cross canter.

So, I have put in a call to the vet to get a physical assessment done.  I will hold off on the canter until I get the OK.  If I get the ok, then my plan is to start "training" the canter—something I have never had to do with the other horses I have worked with.  Sure, as a dressage rider I have always sought to instill more balance and cadence into my mounts canter, but to actually train the gait itself—that is a new one for me.  Thankfully he is  a willing partner in this endeavor!

He seem to enjoy the sessions, although if I get into a routine he is quick to let me know he is bored.  He shows that in a number of ways.  Either anticipating my requests as if to say "yeah, I got it."  Or nipping at the lead as if to say, "yeah, I got it!"  I work hard to change everything up, but sometimes he thinks he has it and it’s not quite there yet! J  He is a little like the know-it-all on the playground.  Just as insecure and just as hopeful to find someone that will show him how no matter what he is posturing out of pride.