Time for Prince and me to get serious about the next phase of his rehab - the riding part. The footsoreness doesn't seem to be progressing at all, just a bad step once in a while when he treads on a rock, so no reason not to continue with his program. This week he worked in the saddle for both groundwork and longeing, and wore two different bridles. No issues with anything, I'm happy to say. He has no problem with the saddling process, no sign of the resistance and tensing of the back that give ex-racehorses a reputation as being "cold-backed," and nary a crowhop. I had some concerns about how he would carry the saddle because when I met him his back was sore and rock hard. He seemed very shut down, showing very little feeling from withers to tail, indicating to me he had worked with back soreness for some time. Horses with that history sometimes "flash back" to postural patterns, for example tightening the back as soon as a saddle is placed on it and reverting, through muscle memory, to old movement patterns that don't reflect the current state of their bodies. Prince showed none of that tendency. Equally important, he showed absolutely no resistance to being bridled. The first day he accepted a light rubber mullen-mouth snaffle, which I have used for years to introduce horses to carrying a bit, and then was equally unconcerned about a simple eggbut snaffle.

I devoted quite a bit of time to introducing Prince to the mounting block, and the concept of standing still while a person climbs up to stand over him. I'm sure at the track he had no such experience. Of course he has seen the mounting block, a very stable metal platform that resides next to the roundpen, dozens of times. But somehow, seeing it from the side opposite his longeing workspace, seemed a bit more concerning. He skittered around a couple times, and tried the time-honored technique of sidling his backside away from the platform after I had stepped up, but in the end he stood quietly while I pressed weight into the saddle and stood in the irons from both sides.

I also established a very important fact - Prince seems to know how to steer. Working from the ground, I was able to ask him to yield to rein pressure on both sides, and he did so quite softly. Yeah! Can't always count on little details like that from horses off the track. From everything I can tell about this lovely horse, someone did a very nice job on his early schooling. That sure makes it easier for him to find a second career.

I've enlisted an educated helper to assist me next week when I mount Prince for the first time. So that it just becomes an extension of the work I've been doing with the horse for the past two months, our first ride will start with a handler leading him in his everyday groundwork routine - with me sitting in the saddle. I used that technique a year ago to start a young stallion, and found it very effective and entirely without stress or drama. I expect the same response from Prince.

Week 8

Prince's big day! For the first time in at least a year, he carried a rider. As I had hoped, the session was entirely calm and trouble free. That's why I do so much prep, covering the basics until it's all routine and no big deal for the horse. Takes a bit longer in the beginning, but I find it pays off by decreasing the stress level and increasing the success rate for humans and horses.

Here's how it went:
I purposely chose to work mid-morning on a hot day - very little chance of having to deal with a lot of excess energy that way, so the horse is more able to focus. I tacked Prince and free longed him a bit in the round pen. He had a couple spurts of canter in him, then was ready to settle into slower work. At that point my able assistant, Jenny Kendall, spent a few minutes doing basic groundwork with Prince, getting the two of them grounded and connected so they could work as a team. Then we took Prince to the mounting block, which interested him not in the slightest today after our calm introduction to the contraption last week. With Jenny at his head, I was able to mount and dismount a couple times, adjust stirrups and just hang out a bit.

Then Jenny basically took over, taking Prince into the roundpen and doing basic walk, halt and bending work with him on the ground while I was just passenger. My only task was to maintain my posture, follow with my seat and turn my torso to support the bending work. Prince was calm and quiet through all the familiar work. As we continued, I gradually began to interact more, starting the transformation from passenger to guide. I began to use my legs in alternating left/right rhythm to ask him to pick up his back a bit for forward motion and started steering a bit with the reins. My first impressions were that he feels like a rather typical horse off the track - tending to weight the forehand and wanting to lean into rein pressure a bit.

After about 10 minutes, Jenny stepped back and Prince and I continued to walk a series of bending lines. He seems to have little idea how to move off a leg. He responds fairly well to feather-light rein pressure, but immediately leans into the bit with any real contact. He listened well to the voice commands that are the same as those for his longe work. He was quite reluctant to trot, responding to voice and leg/seat cues with increased impulsion at the walk and going through an interesting series of balance experiments, clearly trying to figure out the best mechanics for making the transition with a rider on board. He appeared to onlookers to be a bit uncertain - though not at all unwilling. When he did trot, it wasn't a pretty sight or feeling. It felt rough and very disconnected back to front. We did several transitions in each direction and he relaxed a bit by the end, stretching his topline a bit. I decided that was enough for the first day.

I dismounted, tied up the reins and asked him to trot out, wanting him to leave behind the stiff trot I had ridden and remind his body it could flow freely again as it had done when I longed him before the ride. Instead, his trot at liberty retained the disconnection and Jenny, a bodyworker and I could all see his back muscles spasming behind the saddle (and presumably under the saddle, as well.) So the muscle memory "flashback" I had anticipated when I first saddled him showed up only after he was ridden. Not terribly unusual in my experience with rehab horses, but an extra challenge. I unsaddled Prince and did some trigger point work to remind the long back muscles that they could release and let the energy flow freely. He relaxed visibly and then was turned loose to wander around, roll and look for mesquite beans.

Now my challenge is to develop a program to override that tendency to lock up the back when mounted. I know it will depend on groundwork to some extent, but the next couple of weeks will be all about experimenting with various approaches to helping Prince carry a rider comfortably.

Week 9

After a couple days off to play in the arena with his turnout buddies, Prince went back to work in his new status as a green horse under saddle. His back spasms didn't recur, though each ride is preceded by some warm-up massage to the area and groundwork exercises to introduce flexibility before I mount. He also gets time to roll after each mounted session - something I believe is a good general practice for any horse who has done mounted work.

Most of the work this week happened at the walk, with the focus on creating suppleness and flow. Prince made good progress bending both directions and yielding to the rein both directions. He is much more inclined to lean into (through!) the right rein, but with some hands-on help, he figured out what I wanted. I was able to place the right rein in my left hand at the midline to tip his nose right and reach forward with my right hand exerting medium pressure to ask for contraction in the muscles in the areas of the right neck that were resistant. It's a bit of an odd-looking contortion for a rider, but effective. If, instead, I just keep adding pressure on the right rein, I get contraction/resistance on the left side of the neck - the opposite of what I'm asking for. It's critical for me to be very correct with my body - aligned in balance front to back and side to side, and to really help him bend through the ribcage by turning my torso.

I also started to introduce several more "advanced" concepts - moving off the seat, lateral work and lifting the back - which are all interconnected in my training methods. By emphasizing the movement of my seatbones with his walk rhythm, I connected with what he was already doing. Then I began asking for lengthening and shortening of stride simply by changing the movement of my seat. Prince was remarkably willing to "listen" and react appropriately. I could then add lateral movement of my seat to ask for lateral steps, and was able to perform a reasonable version of the classic dressage spiral exercise at the walk. Once he would listen to my seat for rhythm, I began using a gentle left-right lift of my calves to induce him to contract his abdominal muscles and lift his topline. He was a bit uncertain about this at first, but then seemed to get the idea. It was nice to feel him rock back off his forehand and lighten up in my hand, even if only for a few steps at a time. That exercise led to a few pretty decent trot transitions. He's about 50/50 in those - half the time he's so heavy on the forehand as he speeds up that he only lasts a few steps before dropping (and I do mean that!) back into the walk. We managed each direction to do a couple light transitions with six to eight good connected trot steps and a reasonably light downward transition.