Chiropractical

Leo has been doing really well with training so far.  After the first fateful trainer ride, he has been worked twice from the ground.  The first session was on Saturday, and Trainer K focused on flexion - getting him to accept contact and move underneath himself.  By the end, he was able to work quite well at the trot, but the directional inconsistencies that I've felt while riding were becoming very apparent.  Trainer K pointed this out - that tracking right he seemed almost physically incapable of bending and moving his hind end properly.  My first reaction - would he benefit from seeing the chiropractor?

Much leaning. Strugglebus for the little dude.

On Monday, Trainer K took him outside on the lunge to see how much (if anything) he had retained from Saturday's session.  She was extremely impressed.  Not only did Leo not need to spend time re-learning the exercise, but he actually seemed to show some improvement.  He was moving into the bit, flexing down, and basically just demonstrating what I've suspected all along - that he is a pretty smart little dude.

Actually moving underneath himself somewhat

Trainer was actually able to have contact the entire time without Leo losing his brain, and there were few-to-no giraffe moments.  It was really cool to watch, and she was very impressed with the progress he had made in such a small amount of time.

he tries so hard <3

He did well enough at the trot that they progressed to cantering, and instantly there were issues.  It became apparent that Leo was not physically capable of carrying himself at the canter like he is at the trot.  He couldn't hold the canter for more than a few steps while continuing to work into the contact, which would lead to him getting rushy and running etc.  Trainer K was very patient, but it was clearly an issue that is going to take a lot of time and strength-building to fix.  And again, it brought up the subject of the chiropractor - maybe some underlying issue was contributing to the difficulties he was having.

As luck would have it, the chiropractor was actually scheduled to come out the next day (Tuesday), and had space to fit my guy in!  (The only part of me not thrilled about this was my wallet, but it seemed like he really could use the input of a professional).  The chiro that we use is a fantastic lady, and she is also incredibly blunt.  Like, she'll look at a horse and just be straight up like 'this horse has crappy feet and questionable conformation.' And then she'll make a plan to help and improve said horse, but the initial assessment can be incredibly blunt.  So I was maybe a little nervous when I brought my goofy saddlebred out for her inspection.

I mean, he's a weird little dude.

Guys. She LOVED him. She loved his conformation. She loved his attitude. She loved that I'm repurposing him to be a sport horse. She told me several times that 'he's a really cool horse.' She also pointed out several things that needed adjusting, all of which corresponded directly with the issues that we had been noticing on the lunge and before that under saddle.  She wants to see him again in 6 weeks, but she thinks that if we take it slow (which is the plan already), he's going to be something special.  She also thinks that he should already show improvements in balance and self-carriage, but had us give him two days off, so he hasn't been worked since the adjustments.  I can't wait to see how he is tomorrow!

So adorable.

The farrier is coming out tomorrow, and in case you didn't notice in the lunge pics, he was missing a certain obnoxious pair of lime green bell boots when he worked on Monday, which of course resulted in him pulling a shoe.  The ONE TIME he does something without them.  He's not due for a reset for another week, but since he's one shoe short he'll probably have both feet done tomorrow, so I'll also get to see if any of the work we've done in the farrier shed has improved his attitude on that particular subject.

Overall, it's been a really successful few days with the little guy.  Even though I'm not riding him right now, I feel like we've taken some really good steps in the right direction!

And on a side note --- 

Meet Sherlock, my cross country schooling buddy, and my official mount for the next three shows!  More on this guy tomorrow, but we are aiming for a jumper show, a combined training show, and the October mini event! :D