05/10/2024
We are loving the progress Vigo has made so far, and really excited to support James and Vigo's work and performance!
Things continue to progress well with Vigo - very pleased with his progress, and he goes from strength to strength. I had an interesting conversation with somebody the other day, who was surprised that I was playing with things such as tranvers and renvers in trot, shoulder-fore in canter, and beginning steps of counter-canter.
There are two camps who talk past each other on how much a young horse should be doing, but they tend to miss the subleties in the discussion. For example, Vigo is ridden 4 or 5 times a week. I'll follow a schedule something like:
Mon + Tue: Schooling
Wed: Off
Thu + Fri: Schooling
Sat: Hack
Sun: Off
The schooling sessions are usually only about 30 mins long, with the focussed work of the day lasting about 15 mins. Lots of breaks, lots of walking, lots of playing with flexion, lateral movements, and transitions. I follow the French classical approach to my work, whereby balance comes first (primarily through lots of walk work, but also through thoughful riding in the other gaits), and power and performance come after - so all the work is low-impact, but high training gain. What isn't happening is milage in a single gait. Put it this way - nobody improved a trot by trotting endless circles, or a canter through laps of the arena.
Following this methodology, for example, a renvers is just playing around with a trot with the shoulders moved off the track, looking in the direction of travel. The 'outline' is not forced, nor is the lateral movement. It's all a natural progression, and tuning what is coming through the establishing balancing work, with an appropriate level of flexion and collection for the level of the horse.
There is, of course, a balance in knowing when to ask for a little more collection, or a little more flexion, or indeed when to straighten up, when to counter-flex, when to go and do something else. That's when riding ends and training begins.
Young horses are phenomenal, testing, but so rewarding. It's possible to develop their mental and gymnastic suppleness without putting worthless miles on, and while paying close attention to their musculoskeletal immaturity.
Also a huge thanks to the whole team at Entelechy Equestrian where he's now well settled - a fantastic training environment.
