Nicole seems to have resolved her popeye of death. Lots of saline, cold compresses, a fly mask, and yes, even a little human topical steroid cream (unorthodox, I know) seem to have done the trick, and the swelling is much reduced. She no longer looks as if she's ready to go on vacation with those huge bags under her eyes.
Nic has started some in-hand work for piaffe, and right now we're in the half-step phase. The popeye of death has stymied any riding efforts for the past few days, so we've been concentrating on these half-steps. It's interesting work, although I believe it's going to take a while before anything video-worthy occurs.
The half passes with Nikita are going much better, although she got today off because she seemed a little fried from the collection. In the half pass, I think "forward, forward, forward" while asking for the half pass with my hips, and the 2 efforts combined have produced some sort of collection. I guess it's a lot to ask (although it feels like crap to me) because Nikita doesn't display feelings of being fried unless she actually feels them. In other words, she doesn't express anxiety or pressure unless she's actually feeling those emotions, unlike Nicole who displays anxiety when the wind blows from the North, South, East or West. I imagine we're in another muscle-building phase with the half passes, much like we are with the collected-medium-collected trot transitions.
Up next: Learning how the Spanish Riding School trains piaffe/passage in hand at a clinic with Christian Bachinger, a rider from the SRS. Doing a clinic is odd for me, since I rarely blow money on anything horse-related except board and the absolutely necessary, but since I'm starting Nic on piaffe/passage, I want to see how the SRS method compares to the way I was taught to teach the movement in hand.
