Howdy Folks,
"I noticed as
Marissa led Lilly, her footfalls and placement improved with almost every
stride."
Lilly is a
Quarter Horse. She's a seven year old beautiful black and white paint who loves
her job working with children at Verde View Equestrian Center. She's a Therapy
Horse. I had the honor of playing with Lilly, and her teammates this past
weekend while I was there conducting my "Therapy For Therapy Horses," clinic. Like all the horse partners there she receives the best of care. The
owner Lori Piccirilli, her daughter Marissa, and the volunteers make sure Verde
View is a wonderful, fun and happy place for the children who come for healing,
smiles and giggles, and for the horses too. They understand therapy horses need
a little therapy too.
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| Lilly and me just goofin' around early in the morning - I was massaging her gums here to help her relax - Doesn't she stand beautifully? |
Our "Therapy
For Therapy Horses," clinics are an all day affair, the volunteers learn a
lot of new things, and the horses do too. The clinic is designed to teach and
promote exercises that help the horse release, relax and maintain proper posture,
and clear their minds. This was my second visit Verde View, so we added a few
more fun exercises to the mix, and for me it was a delight to see what they'd
learned in May had been incorporates into the routine care of all the therapy
horses. As Lori says, "Without our horses we can't have equine assisted
therapy, they are the heart of what we do."
"Lilly's
surprise?" You might be asking.
Just as hard as
the volunteers work to understand and master the techniques and exercises, so
do the horses. It is honestly a lot to throw at them in just a day or two so
I'm careful to space out the layers of learning and allow for plenty of time
for the horses to process the new feelings, releases and posture.
Near the end of
the day I noticed Lilly was a little overwhelmed. Her volunteer had worked hard
to master an exercise I call the "one step," and while Lilly stood
quietly after numerous repetitions, I noticed she was clearly asking for a
break, so I asked Marissa to simply lead her around the arena at a walk to help
her relax and process. I thought they could just walk while I explained a bit
more.
The other horses
and volunteers stood quietly, and as I spoke I asked them to watch Lilly and
Marissa. This was a perfect opportunity to demonstrate how, while a horse might
be cooperating and doing a great job, they might be internalizing confusion,
stress or worry and I was hopeful by watching Lilly relax as Marissa led her,
the volunteers would see the transition as she softened and lengthened. The
reason I was pretty sure Lilly would be a good example is unless you looked
really close it was hard to notice she needed a break. She's a very good girl.
I noticed as
Marissa led Lilly, her footfalls and placement improved with almost every
stride. And I pointed out how she stepped perfectly heel to toe. How her hind
feet came forward nicely to her front feet.
I asked Marissa
to walk on a bit more quickly. Lilly began a soft half-a-hoof overstride with
her hind feet under her and falling exactly on the track of her front foot. Her
neck lengthened, her body lengthened and softened. In another lap Lilly had a
full hoof overstride and her carriage was beautiful, soft and rhythmic. I
thought I knew what I was seeing and had to tease, "If I take Lilly home
for a few months I'll bring you back a Quarter Horse with a running walk."
We all laughed a bit and Marissa kept up the pace.
I encouraged
Marissa to walk just a little faster as I explained a bit what was going on,
then I turned to Lori and said, "Lilly's gonna get it right here, right
now."
Everybody
understood what we were trying for by now and having a grand time as we
watched.
I instructed to
Marissa to go just a little faster, keep Lilly at a walk, but move on just
short of a trot. A few times Lilly did go to a trot, but Marissa is really,
really good, and soft, and she brought Lilly back to a brisk walk. This was all being done on a loose lead.
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| Marissa and Lilly walkin' on (sorry, we don't have a better picture) but you can see here Lilly's great soft posture and good foot placement ... One of the things we work on in the clinic is something I call "ReConnecting Your Horse To Her Feet" so Lilly has had those exercises by this time - You can read about them on my blog (HERE) - |
Then, on the
third lap, Lilly stepped into a running walk! – WOW! – She could only hold it a
few strides, but everyone saw it and burst into a cheer! It was soft and
beautiful! Lilly and Marissa got it two more times, just a few strides each time, but it's there and simply delightful.
Then we just knew
we had to try it under saddle. And since this post is already long I'll just
tell you, after a few laps around they got the running walk under saddle. Again
just a few strides, but perfect and sweet.
Now to help Lilly
build the muscles to maintain that sweet, soft running walk, Marissa will ride
her on the trail for miles and miles at a walk. And of course continue to do our
release and relax exercises. Yes Lilly can and will still trot, canter and
gallop, her new running walk is just another new gait she'll have. And folks
this was done barefoot, on a loose rein, soft and easy. Simply beautiful!
My mentor, Diane Sept often said she believed most horses can do the running walk and since this
is not the first time with horses of other breeds I witnessed it, I sure
believe it too!
What a wonderful
surprise Lilly shared with us and I'm so tickled to have been there to be part of the
fun when she discovered her new gait!
Gitty Up ~ Dutch
