Epiphanies and slow progress

 Tonight I worked Lyric in the round pen. We just did pillar 1 at the walk and some pillars 2 and 3 at the halt. She's getting better at relaxing her brachiocephalics and walking with purpose. I got a few licks and chews, but again, still nothing major. 

I tried lunging again. She's getting the hang of it. And she's hard to keep going. ha ha! I hope she has more "energy" when I get on. But she was inverted and hollow and leaning in. I tried to keep her going for a little bit to see if she would settle into a nicer slower and more relaxed trot with her head more dropped, but.. not really. She may have slowed a tiny bit and went from more frantic to just inverted, but... it was pretty bad. I also had to keep pulling (and releasing) her nose in to the center because she is desperately wanting to travel counter bent. Which, duh, is because she is not upright on all four feet. So, I didn't try too long with her as it was just painful to watch knowing what I know. So then we went back to pillar 1. Then I thought, you know... let's do pillar 1 at the walk... then do it at the trot. She doesn't have to lunge... she can trot with me next to her! And it worked! Kind of. It's hard to keep her trotting. I have zero stamina. At one point I even tripped on the footing and slightly rolled my ankle... doh! But I did get her to relax her brachio's and trot with a lowered head and it was a slow trot. So, maybe there is more of this in my future until we can figure it out. 

And then I got some good advice and love from two friends. I had mentioned to Aubrey how she doesn't lunge and she said she would coach me. And mentioned she needed to write a "Thoroughbred Logic" article on it. I haven't had time to get over there for a lesson or training session though. And I had posted about Lyrics mounting block success and people acted like I was making her out to be unbacked. So I clarified why I was doing it. And then Aubrey posted an article on groundwork to help transition the TB from race life to regular barn life. And it was all about some in hand stuff you can do while you're "rationing" out your allowed rides for RRP. She also said she would do the next article on lunging. :) Perfect!

And then I had posted on the masterclass facebook page about wanting help with Lyric. Because, again, I'm just not sure I'm getting her where she needs to be as there is not much releasing or processing. And another friend, Alexandria, offered some thoughts. She said that she seemed to be a bit shut down and guarded and unsure of what I want, although she seems to be trying. She said that maybe I'm just going a hair too fast and need to give her more time to process. She said I also need to focus and use my intent. She said something about how the mare is maybe looking for a connection and I'm just... doing my thing. She said it much more sweetly and kindly than that, but... in essence. OHHHHHH... yes!!! I thanked her profusely. She's so right. I went into "get it done" mode instead of savoring it for what it accomplishes. So, tomorrow.... I will plan to just snuggle and bond with her. My excuse was that she didn't seem to be processing even.... so I didn't give her time. But tomorrow, I will give her time and see what happens. I will project what I want to her. And I will try to connect and bond with her. :) And hopefully that will help her feel more welcome and willing to open up.