Horse Forum

This past weekend Jean Luc was away giving a clinic in Canada and I worked Chazot lightly in hand while he was gone. I only do a few minutes a session as I know it looks easy but is very hard esp with a very tall horse! He restarted as he often does Chazot in hand when he comes back from a few days away from us. Chazot was a little cocky and I know when in the face of such a problem Jean Luc does not punish but instead challenges the horse’s concentration a little more. At one moment Jean Luc changed the reins, shifting from the right hand to the left hand facing Chazot and then walking backwards. Chazot needed a few minutes to accustom himself with this new protocol. Jean Luc was holding the whip above the coup touching gently on the left side when Chazot was shifting the croup to the left and touching the right side when Chazot was moving the croup to the right. Increasing the straightness, Jean Luc was increasing the longitudinal flexion of Chazot’s spine. At one moment Chazot was coming together so well that I was thinking my god, he is ready of the piaff and this is exactly what he did! It was just a few steps and not perfectly square and rhythmic but the thought was obviously in Chazot’s mind. Jean Luc continued a few steps at a collected trot, asked for a halt and rewarded Chazot.

I asked Jean Luc if it was a piaff, he said it was a few steps quite close. He joked must be his beginners luck.

 Jean Luc then added,â€� Once the horse learns to coordinate the vertebral column properly and therefore master the translocation of gravity quite well, the piaff is no big deal. If the horse is talented, asking a few steps is like a game for the horse but also a challenge that leads the horse’s mind to think about moreâ€�.

I promise you, I will have the camera ready and when they will do it again, I will record it. It was so quiet, so effortless; I am still shaking and amazed. Chazot was very concentrated but so calm. When they stopped, Chazot was looking for a carrot, perfectly calm and happy. I did tell Jean Luc that Chazot’s Great Grandfather Secretariat’s spirit is bringing his talents out,..:)