The Softness Will Come

I was working the pony the other day and she got to this magical place where she was maintaining line on the lunge circle almost by herself. Almost meaning there was a small correction (maybe a quarter step in or out) every half a circle or so. Sometimes she went a full circle in walk in self-maintenance of both line and tempo.

Magic.

Magic for me. Magic for her.

What I was reminded of however is how easy it would have been to say 'that's so good but really there should be lateral flexion'. Because yes, although she was self-maintaining line and tempo, she was 'crooked'; especially on the right rein where she had previously fallen in very badly and her ability to self maintain both line and tempo has taken the longest to develop. At times she was almost walking in a 'shoulder in' type presentation or with the hindquarters 'out' depending on how you want to conceptualise it.

A younger me would have pushed to try and make her better through the body.

An older me knows to let it develop on its own.

This is what the older me now knows:

It's hard when someone asks you to walk differently. It takes a lot of mental bandwidth, it takes a lot of physical effort. Horses when they get to this point often trip more frequently as they learn to place their feet in a different way to before.

If I just leave them be in this space, if I just keep the 'rules' the same — walk in the tempo I set, walk on the line I set — the softness I currently don't have, but want, will come.

I wish I'd known it sooner, I wish more people knew it so that more horses would get the time they need for their body to recalibrate on their own time.

Its a much, much nicer way to train horses.