Читать книгу Finding the Missed Path. The Art of Restarting Horses онлайн

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Cooper started showing subtle signs of improvement within a week or so. While he had already been pretty easy to work with and ride, his demeanor during both began to calm even more. His head position, whether under saddle or when he was by himself, began to lower and the expression on his face became much more calm and relaxed.

About a month after we first put him on the supplements, I asked him for a transition from trot to lope, and the difference, while not uncommon, was pretty amazing. We had been trotting in our little arena at home on a warm sunny morning, just as we had at the venue in Wisconsin, and I began to set him up for the transition out of a turn. This time, however, instead of his back getting tight and him thinking about rushing into the transition, his movement stayed calm and steady. As we came out of the turn he eased into a really nice, almost rocking-horse-type lope with his head low and his breathing rhythmical.

Each transition that followed that day was just as nice, if not better than the first, and from that point forward we never did have another issue with it. I probably should point out here that during that month between when he had trouble with the transition in Wisconsin and when he didn’t after we had been home, I had not once asked him for a trot-lope transition. I had, however, spent time helping to clear up some of the misunderstandings he had in regard to the ease with which he could respond to requests (if he wanted) instead of the tightness with which he had been responding.