A Jazz update

Time for a Jazz update, I think.

We haven't been able to get tempis for a week or more now, because he is anticipating too badly. He keeps changing legs behind and generally putting  himself out of balance. He's also had a problem with the left to right change, and won't do it on a straight line. If you loop back to the boards, he can get it fine, so it's not a physical problem, but when he doesn't have the boards to guide him, he does a skip, but does not change.

We have had to go right back to basics. I have been making him canter across the diagonals and down the quarter lines without changing, and staying in a rythmn. That's been a real challenge and at times he has really resisted badly. After several days of fighting me, yesterday he did a lovely relaxed twenty minutes in the sun that suddenly came out after a day of rain.

We cantered the diagonals and the quarter lines nicely, then did some flying changes looping back to the track, then I asked him for a left/right change on the quarter line. He didn't get it, but he felt much better than he has been, so I gave myself three attempts to get it before finishing on a decent one back to the boards if I didn't get it on the straight.

The second time he changed behind and then, very late, in front. I was hopeful he would get it calmly on the third try, and he did, so we stopped and I told him he was a good boy.

I have no idea how long it's going to take for him to get back to the tempis, but at least I know that when his brain unfries itself they are in there waiting.

Meanwhile, something interesting is happening to his trot. He has always had a lot of suspension, but it's feeling different the last few weeks. I can't quite explain it, but I guess the closest I can get is to say he feels like he's developing stronger springs in his legs*. He is bouncing "within" himself, if that makes any sense?  I think it is due to increasing strength, which is also allowing him to do 11-12 steps of approaching-piaffe in ten metres. When I started he could do 8 or 9 in 10 metres, and now its a third as much again. Piaffe is definitely on its way.

C

* later edit - I think a better description would be that he has always punched himself a long way off the floor in the trot, and returned to earth with gravity. Now it feels as if he punches himself off the floor but he has some kind of anti-gravity device in his belly that holds him in the air and makes him fall back to earth more slowly. It's an amazing feeling!