Lyric 3/31 The King of the Trails

Lyric's owner has been very tentative about taking him trail riding due to his balance issues. I have to say, in all my years of training, today was probably one of my biggest feelings of accomplishment.

Lyric was KING on trail. He was so light and responsive to all his shoulder and leg aids--it really was a joy to ride him. No, it wasn't EASY. He is NOT a horse you can just sit on--you DO have to help him with his balance, but he rises to the occassion with such heart that it's truly a joy to work with him. I KNOW how hard what I was asking him to do was, and he was unsure but willing at all times. By the end of the ride, HE HAD LEARNED HOW TO SUPPORT HIMSELF DOWNHILL. This is a remarkable moment in his training. It bears repeating. HE LEARNED HOW TO CARRY HIMSELF DOWNHILL. ON HIS OWN. All the rider needs to do is keep him in a deep frame, which he did lightly and easily. He LEARNED HOW TO DO THE REST. I didn't have to half-halt, I didn't have to work to keep him between my legs. I sat and steered and kept him in frame. No pacing. None. Put the reins on the buckle and you'll have a pacing horse, but you won't feel like you're racing downhill anymore. He figured it out. It will take more repetition to "cement it" in to him, but he's definitely on his way.

We were out in Susquehanna state park for 2 1/2 hours, mostly walk work with an occassional trot. He was being so light on his aids when it came to me asking him to move a shoulder, move his hindquarter, relabance down a hill etc that I went ahead and challenged him to a very tough trail. I felt his ability to move over if necessary, and I had tested on the lower trails the fact that I could reliably close a left rein and move him to the right of the trail. Susquehanna has several narrow rocky, steep trails that have steep dropoffs on one side as they go along a ridge. I had confidence that Lyric, even tired, could do the Susquehanna Ridge Trail. It has a large dropoff to the left (that's where Lyric drifts to naturally), and winds up and down in steep ridges and hollows. He tackled the trail pretty easily. He only had one moment when he was going on a STEEP downhill where he had to step down about a foot and a half while being on a steep downhill trail that he said "I don't know, I don't want to". He doesn't do large steps down well, but after that one we encountered another downhill portion with 8 inch to 1 foot steps down every few feet and he didn't blink at them and did them well.

When we first started out in the park, he was creeping down the hills, stopping to rebalance, and I was holding his front end up from getting too heavy and quick down the hill. By the end, he was HOLDING HIMSELF UP down the hills, sitting more on his hindquarters, duckwalking less, and really using his lumbar and hocks to support himself. He also tackled water crossings well. He doesn't mind water, just steep drops IN to water. At one point I did have to get off and help him find his way on a dicey step down into a stream, but it was something I probably would have had to do for almost any horse. It was a difficult entry into the streambed with narrow rocks to step on and a steep almost 2 foot "step" at one point. When I got off and asked him to follow, though, he didn't blink twice.

We also had a victory gallop at the end and I challenged the other riders with me to a race--Lyric smoked 'em all. Admittedly, Gaby swerved decided to sideswipe Jill into the pine trees and Vicki pulled Dolly up when her hoofwings, which had stayed put the WHOLE ride, flew off :-) But Lyric outstrided and outdistanced them easily anyway!