Paddy's Day!

Teachers Part 6 - Sitka

Sitka began life as a combined driving horse. She didn't spend too much time doing canter work - she was new to the sport, and a carriage accident left her too freaked out to really continue. From what I gathered, another carriage horse came at her head on and there was a collision. This made it really fun for me in the small warm-up arena at Rocking Horse, where she had flashbacks and wigged out when other horses came at her.
Anyway, Sitka was hands down one of my best / favorite teachers. She was a TB/Percheron, and got the best of both breeds. She had the laid-back attitude of a draft with the quick reactions and sensitivities of a thoroughbred. She also loved to cuddle and mooch treats by looking at you with great big eyes and pricking her great big ears. Honestly, if I had the money, I would have bought her in an instant, because she was such a good girl.
Now, anyone who has ever watched a rom com knows that every love story starts off with the two people getting off to a rocky start. Sitka and I were really no different. The first time I rode her was more than a disaster. It was actually probably just sad. She was rushing through my hand like a freight train, with a high head and a hollow back. Her canter went in seven directions at once, all while flying in the very general direction of forward at heart-stopping speeds. I was mortified. But, as these things do, it got better.
You see, that first ride was sans-Steph. The next time I rode her, I had Steph giving me instructions from the ground. Of course, this wasn't helping. I still felt like I was being dragged around the ring by a runaway truck. So, ever-patient, Steph got on board to show me what to do. This was a turning point for me. When I got back on, I was suddenly able to feel how it should be, and having watched Steph make it happen, I was also able to replicate it.
Now, that was just on the flat. Jumping still kind of looked like an episode of wild n' crazy kids. I distinctly remember heading down what was supposed to be a 4-stride line, and just knowing we were going to do it in three and that I had no say in the matter. That last stride, I basically just gave up trying for the four, put my leg on, and went with it. Thankfully, Sitka was fantastic on the fly. In fact, that was her favorite thing to do. Pat the ground? Nuh-uh. No sir. We don't sit on our bums and leave from a deep spot. Obviously, this was to become a major talking point between Sitka and I.
Over the next few months, Sitka and I put our noses to the grindstone and really got to work. On the flat, I learned the art of "rattling the cage". "Rattling the cage" refers to lighting a fire under the horses tail and reminding them that YES, you do have hind legs, and they move when my leg closes. For some horses, this takes a little swat with the whip (Dee), or a big swat with the whip (Kes). With Sitka, it took a little bump of the leg. If I really wanted rattle her cage (sometimes she liked to be stubborn and not respond as well as she should be... thus was usually on days when I got on her before breakfast. I think she was just angry at me) I would give a tiny tap with the whip. This usually resulted in a scoot and a little rear, but always managed to get the fire lit.
Over fences, we were working just as hard. As I said before, Sitka never wanted to sit down and pat the ground for a deep one. She would much rather just take the flyer. While this is sometimes acceptable over cross-country fences, it is not so acceptable over show jumps... especially when you have a tight line, or otherwise need your horse to give you anything resembling collection before the fence. To fix this, we worked on lots of little fences on tight turns, short [and I mean SHORT] one-stride lines, which sometimes devolved into Sitka and I bouncing through the last few. Eventually, though, it started to click. We could do the short gymnastic lines the way they were meant to be done, we could do the 10-meter circle to fence exercise like pros, and best of all, we could jump around a stadium course with collection and normal spots in front of the fences. Sometimes she would even take the deep spot.
Needless to say, I was having a blast making all of this progress with Sitka, and when Steph told me that she was coming to Florida and could ride her in a few events, I was thrilled.
Shortly before we left for Florida, Steph got on her for the first time on the flat in a long while, and she actually told me that she was impressed with how awesome Sitka felt! I can't tell you how great that made me feel as her lowly working student who had worked my butt off with this horse.
Once in Florida, we started really gearing up for our first event - Ocala. Fitness was a pretty big concern, since the weather was drastically hotter than it had been at home, and our only "real" conditioning had been doing ring work. So, i accordance, [and because I don't wear one going Novice], I planned to leave the watch in the trailer for cross-country and just let Sitka tell me what was best.
When we got to Florida, Steph and I had our hands full. We had 10 horses with us, and only 3 didn't need to be competition fit [Abbett, a client's youngster named Breezy, and Kes]. I continued to hone my skills on Sitka, and we were doing a last minute scramble to get our canter work in tip-top shape before Ocala. See, she was doing much, much better in the canter work, but she had begun 4-beating it sometimes, and I had to toe a fine line between strung-out and 4-beats to get the canter where it needed to be. I also took her for our first cross-country school as a team. I wasn't sure what to expect, considering how difficult it was to condense and change her canter stride on flat ground. But, much to my pleasant surprise, Sitka was a cross-country machine. She was balanced, responsive, and gung-ho for everything I pointed her at. The best part was that she felt pretty darn fit. This was especially good, since she had begun to balloon up on the fantastic alfalfa we had, and we were doing pretty much all we could to keep weight off of her.