The week started well with a lunging session in the pessoa and I decided as things had been going so well it was time to introduce some pole work again. I put out 3 poles 1 stride apart on a 20m circle and then warmed Jack up in walk, trot and canter before moving on to using the poles, I watched him closely as he walked over the poles to see how he was using his back end, before his last physio treatment he was struggling behind with poles but now there was no sign of any difficulty so we moved on to trot and again he was moving well with no signs of any difficulty or discomfort. As things were looking good and Jack was happily taking the poles on in a lovely forward rhythm I decided to try canter too and was soo pleased with his attitude and ability, he popped though over and over again adjusting his stride as necessary to meet the poles right without needed any interference from me and kept a lovely forward rhythm throughout. It was the same on the left rein so before he got tired or made a mistake which could knock his confidence we stopped on a really positive note :)
The next day we had a little hack on our own just through the village and back down the canal path, Jack behaved beautifully and we had a really confidence boosting ride which is just what I wanted! We had 1 really testing moment which could have spoilt things, as we were enjoying a nice canter back along the canal path home we came to the corner about halfway and were met by 2 other horses cantering along the other way, they were right on top of us so I quickly had to pull Jack up and move onto the path to let them past, they did slow to a trot to pass us and then cantered off again as soon as they had got passed us. Jack did understandably become a little upset by this and for a few seconds he stopped, snorted and thought about taking off after them! Luckily for us we were on the home straight and I think the desire to get home helped him decide to keep going in the right direction rather than turn round and give chase! I was so proud of how he coped with this situation he was really grown up and he trotted the rest of the canal path and home without any issue. If there was any moment he could have napped and reverted to being a rearing, bucking spinning monster it was this one and he did give it some though but he didn't do it, this feels like a huge accomplishment :)
He had the Wednesday off in the field with his mates.
Thursday I decided to try him in the ménage again, once a week is all I'm doing at the moment, this again was a bit of a test for him as there were tractors and bailing machines in the field next to the ménage bailing haylage into its plastic wrapping! The noise and sight of the huge bales spinning round and round and the big plastic sheeting peeling off the roll would be enough to make even the most placid horse have a bit of a look! Jack did find it all a bit much to start with so we kept to a 20m circle at the far end of the ménage at first and slowly worked our way down the ménage until he was going the round the full ménage without reacting too much! We stuck to walk and trot again and did a few poles in walk as they had been left out but he felt great and the trot work especially was the best it has been in a long time, he felt forward, strong and started to get a bit of spring back in his step :) I was thrilled but just kept to half and hour not wanting to push too far and risk spoiling the great work we'd had.
On the Friday I didn't have enough time to ride so I lunged him in the pessoa again and this time did 4 poles on the circle 1 stride apart. After a good warm up we did the poles in walk, trot and canter on each rein and the work Jack produced was just brilliant! He was really taking the poles on stretching and using his back end much better than ever before. I managed to get some videos and took some stills from these which really show how well he was working over the poles in trot and canter :) what a massive difference!
I am absolutely thrilled with the strides forward we have made lately, Jack seems to be enjoying his work, not restricted by any pain or discomfort and is gaining in confidence every day.
He has had the weekend off in the field as I went to Hickstead for the weekend to see the Derby for the first time, I had an amazing time and am inspired once again by the horses and riders I saw, maybe one day soon Jack will be ready to jump again!
Fingers crossed for another good week with my boy!
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