Good news to share and it’s taken me TWO WHOLE DAYS! I was super busy on Sunday at Waredaca with Liza, Liza’s 4-year-old-Windfall filly (who is AMAZING!), and Woody.
THEN, Sunday night I celebrated both Woody’s strong finish (he totally won) and the first sunday night at our favorite bar that I didn’t have to go to work on Monday.
and THEN on Monday, I had the cocktail flu. I would have posted videos, but that would have required me to get out of the fetal position and off the couch.
Neither was a viable option. 
So, Woody was GOOD! Finished in first place on his dressage score (32.5). He gave Liza the middle fingers a couple of times in the beginning of the test, but it was STILL good.
Liza said he actually feels more anxious galloping between fences, which in hindsight is where we would start to become unwound. After I sat and tried to figure out which amateur mistake I made to bring this about Liza put me out of my misery. She assured me, even more so after riding him out, that she didn’t even really think it was a jumping issue, that he’s just ANXIOUS and shutting down.
So today, I decided I was going to take him out on a proper hack. Not just the short loop around the creeks, but a PROPER hack. I admitted to Liza and myself that I had not been doing very much hacking. I was obsessed with practicing my circles!
This is what Woody thought about our hack.
Yet one more place where I assumed he’d retain some of his learnin. We used to hack ALL the time, and while it’s never a TOTALLY relaxing experience, by the end of our first year at Southwind, he was pretty brave.
Today? It took us ten minutes to walk through some ferns that were apparently the Lord of All Things Evil. I wish I was kidding. I also wish I could say that was the ONLY thing that Woody was convinced was going to be the end of him. Like I said, he IS a spooky horse, but this was loco.
So, Things we have learned about Woody this spring? Don’t assume that he’s got anything down pat until he’s a bit older. He’s careful and anxious and a little “special.” Admittedly I haven’t ridden him out much since last fall, and it’s apparently SUPER important for him in order to feel confident. Man, horses are hard. If nothing else Woody is teaching not to take ANYTHING for granted, no matter how simple, automatic, or natural it may seem to me.
So, that’s what we’re doin. I’m of course going to keep working on everything else, but there is going to be at least 3 significant hacks per week. He’s a smart boy, he’ll find his balls again sooner rather than later.
