Warning: there is much gushing about my pony happening in this post so if you have a strong gag reflex or already rolling eyeballs you might want to back away now.
We had another dressage lesson on Tuesday night, and Henry was probably the best he’s ever been. I don’t know if it was a fluke or if things are just starting to click, but we had some honest to god throughness and connection. Pretty much the first time that’s happened. He leg yielded and shoulder in’d and turned on the forehand and lengthened. He did haunches out on a circle, leg yield to shoulder in, canter squares with leg yield, and stretchy trotted. In fact, in our first attempt at the ever elusive stretchy trot Trainer said “There he goes! Good boy!” and I said “SHHHH be quiet or you’ll scare it away!”. There were still some moments of stiffness and some slow or heavy transitions, but for the most part he was really fantastic. Every lesson has just gotten better and better.
After some canter leg yields, canter lengthenings, and transitions within the canter we took a walk break and chatted. Trainer was very complimentary of Henry’s canter work, saying that the quality and balance of his canter was very good, his lengthenings were naturally uphill, and the transitions within the gait were obviously easy for him. He said certain things that even much more advanced horses find difficult came naturally him. Then he called little ol’ Henry “quite talented”. Talented? This guy? At derpssage? I felt like the Grinch when his heart grew 3 sizes.
If you’d told me a year ago that a legit dressage trainer/rider would ever call this horse talented, I would have laughed in your face. In fact, I’d probably still be laughing. The word “fried” had been used to describe him when I bought him, and just getting to where I could put my leg on without an explosion or keep contact without him putting his nose to his chest has been a long difficult road. The fact that’s he’s moved past that now is, IMO, a testament to Henry and his kindness and his general good nature. He tries so hard and really wants to please, I think as long as he trusts his rider and feels like he’s being treated fairly he could be good at anything. Trainer agreed saying he seemed very willing, praised me for being a tactful rider and said I’d done a good job with him. Majorly proud horsemom moment. I appreciate him saying nice things about me as well but I’m not gonna lie, the compliments for Henry brought tears to my eyes. Of course I love him but I’m also extremely aware of his (and my) shortcomings, so the fact that someone whose opinion I greatly value and respect sees something special lurking in him does my heart good.
Henry has suddenly also decided that whips will not, in fact, kill him and are not, in fact, cause to become extremely belligerent. Last summer I tried carrying a whip for a month in a attempt to get him to calm down about them, and every ride he acted like I was going to kill him. He was completely incapable of relaxing as long as I had it in my hand so I eventually gave up. On Monday I carried a jumping bat for our informal bumming around pole work day and he didn’t even seem to notice. So in the dressage lesson I decided to push my luck and warm up with a dressage whip. Again, he gave no craps. I did eventually give it to Trainer once we started canter work, since that’s about the time when Henry can sometimes get a little overreactive/anticipatory, but it totally helped in the warm-up. I even lightly tapped him on the butt with it once in the first leg yield when he was slow off my leg and he had a totally appropriate, non-belligerent-meltdown response. He just went “Oh yeah, sorry” and moved away. Knock me over with a feather, he no longer thinks I’m going to eat him. I joke that I have finally just broken his spirit, but the fact that he’s now chill enough to move past whatever happened in his history to make him so tense and worried makes me proud all over again. The boy is a champ.
End gush. Sorry if I made you reach for your barf bags.
breedrideevent.com 
No barf bags needed! So glad things are coming together. Sometimes it just takes patience and consistency and the wait is well worth the reward. Go Henry and Amanda!
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Yayyyy!! That is so, so, so awesome! You deserve to be so proud! Very happy for the both of you 🙂 🙂 :)!
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Yay, Henry!
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I NEVER get tired of proud horsemom posts! Congratulations to you and Henry on your success! Just goes to show that you are a great rider and have done a wonderful job with Henrypants, but most of all that he trusts you. YAY!!
However, I still refuse to believe that derpssage is not evil. We can agree to disagree on that point of contention haha 😉
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It’s still evil. Plenty evil.
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I’m with Jenn, I employ and enjoy the gush. I may even go so far as to say I am in it for the gush moments. I can’t chase ribbons so when I win all the feels, that’s good enough for me 😀
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Dawwwww I actually love this! You two are so great together, and I love hearing how fabulous the pony can be. 🙂
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Awesome! I love those rides when it feels like it’s all coming together!
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I like reading about people when they love their horses 🙂 You’ve worked hard with him and he’s done amazing. You SHOULD be proud!
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Love it. I can totally understand the sentiment here. Such a good Henry!
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Oh the feels! I love this post, it totally brightened my day! I just started reading your blog a few weeks ago but I am totally in love with Henry… even more so now than I was. I have a thing for bay geldings I guess. You should be incredibly proud of him and more importantly yourself! Getting a horse to overcome trust issues and anxiety is no small feat. You are obviously doing a great job.
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AWW HENRY! This is so awesome to hear. Good little derpsage pony!
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Yay for getting to the fun parts of dressage! And even more yay for trainer like Hen. 🙂 It really makes a huge difference.
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Whoa whoa whoa, I never said the FUN word.
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Good boy Henry! I LOLed at dersage
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New bridle?
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Yep, the Olympic Revolution. 😉
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Those are just the best rides. If everyone could have one of those every day, there would never be any wars. I swear.
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I think you’re right.
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Daw! Yes 🙂 I’m with your trainer. I have a horse who came with some serious contact-related baggage and is a very sensitive soul. I know how much tact and patience it takes to overcome that. Kudos, lady. 🙂
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Love this post, what an excellent update and yay for all the positive feedback 🙂
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Awwwww!! So happy for you! Love gushy posts because life is hard and riding horses is hard and having horses is hard so we have to celebrate the good parts!
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yay!! way to go Henry – and way to go you too, it’s definitely a testament to the time and care you took to bring Henry around 🙂
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Seeeee we told you dressage could be great 🙂
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I would be interesting to know his past pre you…
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Your post made me smile! But then I feel like every three posts that I write pretty much reads like this one…
I didn’t realize that Henry was such a challenge at first, for some reason I got the impression he was just green, not a horse with baggage already. Makes it even more impressive what you have done with him! =-)
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This is the exact opposite of my little Ries. I was saying these things last month, but apparently April shoved a giant stick up his ass. Congrats for you guys!
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Love the photos and am curious to read about the new stirrups. Henry is such a fab model.and i am so glad the shiny new-to-you devoucoux & ogilvy combo are helping the dressage Diva quest.
I also just have to say that the rainbow gif is amaze
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