For right now Nic seems to be sound under saddle. But do you want to know what hell is? Having an FEI-level horse that has no muscle and no balance. Suffice to say, riding Nicole is tantamount to watching a drunken sailor try to walk, only less entertaining. Nicole is in the habit that if she doesn't have the muscle or the knowledge to perform up to her expectations, she rushes. So we've been off to the races the past couple days, and I'm getting my mint juleps ready (that is, if I actually drank mint juleps, which, let's face it, isn't hardcore enough for this audience) because I think we have a good shot at next years Derby. Actually, even more depressing, she feels like she felt when I got her 3 years ago. Except now I know that she's rushing because of lack of balance.
What sucks even further is that she has no neck muscle, so despite her best attempts, she can't really remain through. So we have the rehab blues. It's going to take a couple months before she's strong enough to do anything, and probably longer than that before she's ready to work on more advanced stuff. Yipee.
The main difference between Nicole and Nikita, besides the fact that Nicole clearly has a form of dwarfism and Nikita is gigantic, and that one is chestnut and one is black, is that Nicole is Speedy Gonzales on cocaine while Nikita has a normal amount of energy for a horse. I've never, ever had to use leg on Nicole except for bending and collecting, and because she's so short, if I move only slightly, that's enough of an aid to get a reaction.
So the fact that I have to actually use leg on Nikita is a new concept for me. And dealing with the varying degrees of leg pressure has been, well, interesting.
