@Faye when I was going for my Level II, I was riding up to 8 dressage horses a day. That included my girl at lunch time.
Many of those were in a solo lesson.
I ended up at a sports chiropractor as she was one of my students. So she saw footballers, athletes etc.
I never thought of myself as an athlete so I wouldn’t have gone there otherwise. She said I had the most toned butt out of anyone she had ever met!
Stars really is a different horse. All the things we have gone through are magically gone. It took years to get him sound. First the farrier trimming him so wrong. Injuries to legs, pulled muscles in his chest and hamstring, ulcers with his former owner
Cold backed to tack and ride. Resulting in a jog and a miracle needed to canter.
I am too soft and he milked it. Those of you who remember us from the start will remember me trying to get him forward so hard I used to end up with me feeling physically sick. We had a###hole moments all the time when he just said no to what asked, so a jog instead of a trot and if in trot I would ask for canter and his ears would go back and he would walk instead.
I thought of course that this was physical and he couldn’t do it.
A dream to ride now. My instructor made me put on a oh sh*t handle ie baling twine plaited and attached to the d’s because of course Stars would buck if he didn’t like something you did.
I was asked why I carry 2 whips? It helps with bend and flexion. For getting flies off their neck and for giving scritches on the neck when they are good 
yes scritches is a made up word. And I do not have to swap sides.
I also relented and said so they are on either side to use when I need them. He commented that I needed them 3 times in that last session and I did not use them. I had to choose one consequence if he did not do as asked. Either kick or whip but it had to be immediate and the same thing every time. Not the whip and then kick then whip.
Not only does Stars buck if something he doesn’t like but when you lift your wrist with the whip he cringes on that whole side as he knows he is going to he hit, so yes I will admit I ride without whipping horses = too soft a rider. Sigh.
I found out walking to warm up did not work and made everything worse.
So I start from the tack shed now. Instead of letting him dwardle along behind me so as he does not rodeo buck when stepping forward with the girth on. He now has a cair girth which he likes. I ask for the one step forward when he turns and then click and if he does not walk up beside me he gets a tap. I ask for halt tighten girth on this side. Click and if he does not walk forward immediately a tap. Same with halt to tighten girth on the other side.
Now I mount near E. I turn and walk to V. I ask for trot if not immediate tap and trot a few steps to the corner with not much sand. I walk so as when he is fresh him going down to walk calms me. I ask for trot and a tap if he does not go. I am more confident using the whip on the ground and in walk to start with. Just this alone has changed his attitude.
We trot around around twice on a loose rein. We change rein and trot around twice the other way. I come back across the diagonal and ask for canter his good way and canter around twice on a loose rein. Yesterday I decided to turn before getting to the not enough sand corner. I turn my head. He turns. We canter around twice on his not so good side. Again I turn my head and he turns. It is like you just think what you want and gmhe does it. If he breaks I don’t use the whip. I turn into a pony club kid bouncing and kicking and moving all around until he canters again and I sit still.
Forward to trot and I start with trot walk transitions, with sitting trot and walk on the 3rd stride, what I was given good for at my lesson. This goes to trot collected and trot forward. This goes to canter to trot. Trot 3 strides and canter, trot 3 strides and canter, don’t do that too much on a hot horse, it can be too heating.
That leads to walk canter and you now how you guys get an eye for a stride, well, wahoo, my feel for the walk canter transition is coming back. You have to ask as the outside hind is about to come forward. I could feel it yesterday.
Canter walk is not there yet. The rider is not fit and muscled enough. I am cheating and using the word steady a couple of times before I ask for walk.
Now he is forward. I can ask for medium trots. I do a canter loop and have starting to ask for leg yield in trot and canter.
Yesterday I started sitting in the collected trot and rising forward for the medium trot.
Serpentine, shoulder in, turn on the forehands.
The silly thing is the use of the whip has ended up with a happy forward horse with no attitude and no need for the whip. Yesterday I actually used it in a canter transition when he did not go into it on the 3rd stride. No turning inside out to get away from the ship. No pigroot, no nothing, he cantered on.
I asked for long and low in trot and just as we had turned away from next door the garbage truck had visited and had lifted the garbage bins over its head and there was the clanging and banging if the bins being emptied. An industrial size rectangular bin.
Not only did Stars take no notice and continue on on the longer rein. His rider also did not react and pull on the rein.
Now if the horses start running around the paddock that is a different story, but he is now becoming a horse in work instead of a horse coming back into work so hopefully he doesn’t react the next time that happens.
1 minute before I should be going up to ride, breakfast has arrived I am not dressed. I will eat breaky and go up at half past. Hubby can put him away for me.
Well over $100.00 $160.00. Over $50.00 on Ebay. I clicked on a few other links and ended up in a tack store for $28.50. Free shipping for $40.00. So I put in 2 pairs. Then I went back to one and decided to go through the shop for other things.
