Meet Felis Apollo: Mr. Emotional

“You have to buy this horse from me because I can’t afford the number of lessons it will take for me to figure out how to ride him.”

That was the call I got from my friend, Karen Reilly.  She’s an excellent rider and trainer.That’s not something you hear, like ever.  

I first saw him when Karen rode him in a clinic with me and I was like, WHOA! Do you need to lunge him? He looked very up! But she said he was fine, he’s very sensitive but also very sensible. 

He was a giant 4-year-old.  Big and lanky, 17+ hands of bay magnificence!  I mean, he really was striking to look at even then. He has the look of eagles, you know?

Even at 4 years old, I knew he was special. Super fun to ride, like WHEEE! 

But it turns out he is just EXTRA.  

He is a trier. So much that he gets himself worked up and ends up tense.  Tight in his back.  He even squeals when he’s really worked up about something. And boy, does he get worked up!

He’s got great gaits - but they’re buried beneath the tension.

I used to say he trots like a tiny pony. Tight and choppy and ugh, miserable.  LOVES to canter though.  

But, they don’t make walk/canter tests, and my job is to train him in all the things, so I had to come up with a plan to help him.  

I really love this kind of thing though.  I also guess be careful what you are good at! 

This horse has definitely pushed my buttons a few times, but I really do get a lot of satisfaction from figuring these guys out.

Once again, I had to really stop and think about how to help this horse.  I had to figure out how to unlock Apollo.  

Literally, I needed to unlock his body so he could trot like a normal horse and not a sewing machine.  

Of course, we had saddle fittings (we’re up to saddle #5 now!), vet visits, massage, fancy blankets. It turns out chiropractic work cripples him.  But, we’ve tried it all.  All the things.  Lucky for me I have great sponsors and can try different supplements, too. 

All of these things make a difference.  But in the end, it comes down to the training.  

I always have ground poles in my arena, but I made a point of using them daily for Apollo.  We walk over them. We trot over them.  

We work on stretching down, down, down. Connect those hind legs over his back and into my hand.  

Fortunately, he’s not that spooky. So there’s that.  But the tension creeps into everything, and when he’s feeling tense from the work, then he does actually become quick on his feet and spooky! 

The science of riding has me working him in much the same way that I will with Ivar in years to come.  Same work, similar but different problems. 

It’s cool how that works.

Because he’s such an eager beaver and loves to work, we start making good progress.  Yay!  This horse is probably the most naturally talented horse I’ve ever sat on.  

We did some shows at Training and First level.  He did great! Except the parts where he would be squealing and I would need to get up into canter ASAP before we imploded! 

I also could not wear spurs until he was 6! 

He really only liked canter. To him, the walk was a useless gait that was the dumb thing we did before trotting, and that was a waste of time as we could just be cantering!! 

He’s getting a little better, but the tension is there, though, but most of the time I’m able to redirect him.  It’s super fun when he squeals in the warmup though!  Haha

But, we start to figure it out.  He’s such a trier!

Time to school the flying changes!  Yay! 

Most trainers have something they feel they do really well.  I actually think I’m pretty good at teaching horses to do the flying change. 

If you’re in the Academy, you can see why I think that.  I have a ton of exercises I do long before we get to them, that really help set up the changes to be easy for the horse to understand.  Like, I’m kinda proud of how many horses I’ve taught the changes to, and how many that had problems that I was able to fix and get clean changes on.  

Enter Apollo. He’s got a HUGE canter.  It’s his favorite gait. I’ve used his canter to help his trot.  He’s mastered all of my pre-requisite exercises for the flying change. It’s time.  Should be pretty straightforward, right?

Nope!  This guy took 9 months to figure it out.  9 MONTHS!  

I’m not gonna lie and say there weren’t days where I sat in the arena with my head in my hands.  

But again, I had to trust the training.  Keep chopping the wood.  Seriously.  I KNOW this system works.  I’ve used it successfully FOR YEARS.  

I just keep working day in and day out.  There is no reason to change things up.  

Just keep working on making sure Apollo’s brain doesn’t get in his way.

I make sure he’s feeling good physically.  Make sure his back is okay.  Do the exercises.  Some days I think it just ain’t gonna happen.  

And then it does!  High C from the heavens!  

Apollo masters the flying change!!!

And off we go!  Right?!!  Well, not exactly. 

He’s amazing at home. We start to get a glimpse of his big boy gaits.  

I decide it’s time to get back in the show ring.  We try 3rd level in Florida.  Whew, I got whiplash!  Sometimes he got HUGE scores and won his class.  Sometimes he barely broke 60%.  

Mr. Emotional, you just never know how he’s going to be until you get there! 

But over time, he got more consistent in the show ring.  I was able to start relying on him more.  We did 4th level, then some Prix St. George. 

Meanwhile, at home, he’s really getting stronger.  Like in a good way.  He’s schooling the Grand Prix and looking like a beefcake.  

Now, he’s a bit of a show-off with those flying changes.  I always say the thing you struggle with usually becomes a highlight.  Apollo proves that with his now effortless, big flamboyant  changes. (9 months!)

But we know that GP is hard.  And his desire to do it for me in a BIG way has brought the tension back.  

Sometimes it’s frustrating for me. It’s all so close I can practically taste it!

He’s just over the top.  But I believe in my horses 100% and I know who I am as a trainer.  I will do what it takes to figure out how to help my boy get over himself. 

But just once, it would be great if one of my horses would be normal!  Haha! Sometimes I just want to press the easy button! 

I am so excited to have him here in Germany while he’s green at the Grand Prix.  

Michael is really helping me - this kind of horse is well understood here. 

Sometimes I have high hopes for this one, and other times I am crying in the stall. I entertain the idea of possibly showing, and then I don’t see it as a possibility at all. And then he’s amazing again. A true rollercoaster of emotions.

I think tension is really common in dressage horses.  Sometimes it’s SUPER obvious like with Apollo. Sometimes it’s chalked up to “just how the horse is,” but it’s something anyone who rides should understand how to recognize.

I’m putting it all out there for people to see in my Passport to Germany private Facebook page. 

But only for 100 people. 

This will be a place where I  will share my lessons, the great and not-so-great days that we all go through in our lives with horses.  

I hope you’ll join me and follow along as we peel the onion that is Apollo, and the other 4 horses I’ve brought to Germany.  Go to TeamTatePassport.com for more info.

PS - feel free to share if someone you know would benefit from Apollo’s story!