Tools in the Tool Box

Things have been up and down with Opie lately. When I take the emotion out of my recent rides and look at everything objectively, it's easier for me to break down what's going on.

• He's inherently lazy. This isn't a new thing, this is just who he is. When the going gets tough he'd really rather not. As we've gone up the levels, his baseline has of course expanded. But each time we add on to the difficulty, we have to go through the struggle of making the baseline expand even more. 
• He's an anxious horse. When I got him, he weaved and stall walked--traits of a horse that has a lot going on in his little racehorse brain. Through training, routine, nutrition, and supplementation he's a million times better than he used to be, but again, that's just who he is. 
• Combine those two and you don't exactly have the recipe for an upper of the lower levels dressage/anything horse. If he put forth half the effort into doing what I'm asking as he does the evasions to get out of them, he'd be a shoo-in for Grand Prix. 

The past two rides we didn't work on flying changes so they were really good. I can tell I've put the correct basics on this horse. His self carriage is lovely. He collects off the seat, he responds to leg aids almost too quickly, he's light in the bridle without giving up the contact. I've been getting him settled and soft and forward even in the dreaded lateral work. 

He wants to jig between canter breaks because of anticipation, but I've been redirecting that into stretchy trot. You don't have to walk because that's clearly a lot for your busy ass brain, so your feet get to move faster, but it's productive work that's good for your body. And it's paid off because his PEMF worked said he's definitely not as sore as he has been. (Still perpetually sore in his shoulders from weaving all the time, but I ordered a massage gun for us to share so I'm excited to get to use that on a regular basis.)

The bad, however, the fucking elephant in the room is the flying changes.

I have tried every which way to make them click in his head in a sane manner. Eighteen months in and we're still getting the same result: sometimes he'll just give me a clean one, but there's no rhyme or reason as to why over why not. 

For sure the one thing that's kept me alive when I ask for them has been draw reins. Even BM, who is very much anti draw reins, said that draw reins are probably the best route for him in this particular movement for now. He throws his head up without them as he goes to bolt and/or leap which disconnects his back which then makes it almost physically impossible for him to change cleanly back to front. They haven't been an instant fix or something that makes the changes appear when he's wearing them, but they significantly cut down on the drama with the ask which speeds the process up.

So that's the final piece in the puzzle that has to happen before show season. I'm committed to Third. I'd like to not be too embarrassing.