11 March
Josephine's dad had been in touch to report that Josephine felt that Argenta was holding on the left side of her mouth. When we arrived Willy did a full diagnostic check....He found a problem in the wither area on the right hand side (RHS). The mare had been stronger on the left contact as she was protecting the RHS. Willy took Argenta to the manege and with Geertrude's help made an osteopathic correction. The impact was immediate.Willy explained that is the way with corrections to the skeleton. The problem is if the skeletal problem is not identified early as then the muscles will compensate and there will be two problems....skeletal and muscular. Luckily Josephine is well trained and spotted the problem immediately. Well done Josephine!
On the way to Josephine's we talked about Valegro and why he had been so successful. Willy concluded that all the success factors were firmly in place. That is to say:
(1) The horse has good genes and is very capable of his job;
(2) He is in good health and on top form;
(3) He has been trained with patience;
(4) They have been lucky; and
(5) They have a good team working with them.
I found the following article on facebook that evening:
http://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2016/03/talking-dressage-with--carl-hester/
We also discussed the story of Totillas. A lot more controversial! See
http://beeandthehorse.com/2014/05/30/totilas-how-a-magnificent-stallion-became-a-poor-creature/
Later in the afternoon we went out for a balade with Antonio in the caleche and me on Eric. It was very fast. Mostly trot. And mostly medium trot! Quite a few times had to shout at Willy to slow down as we were trotting through deep mud at one point and on the roads...something I never normally do with Eric. But Eric returned without much sweat and in good humour. He is obviously much fitter than I think!
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