INSPECTOR BOLLA
by Lyn Doherty
A better horse you’ll never meet
Wee Bolla – Pride of the Fleet at Cleveland Street,
Six hours a day patrolling the street
Took its toll on his poor old feet
They pensioned him off, never to be sold
When God made him, He broke the mold
Their loss is now my gain
Because Wee Bolla lives at Brays Lane
Please rest easy and have no fear
Because Inspector Wee Bolla is here
Whether traffic jams, crime or folly
We’re all protected by Inspector “Bollie”
From Killarney a little Angus gray
Is through the fence and onto Bray
Attention Bollie! You’re on duty
You’d better round up this cutie
There’s a mob of roo’s in a cluster
We’ll canter over and start the muster
He thinks “I’m having none of that!”
We’ll send them back up the track
Alas! A truck is dumping bricks and rubble
We’ll sort this out without any trouble
There’s a scary dog on the back seat
I think we’ll make a hasty retreat
A poor old skinny steer is found
Standing alone in Wang pound
Inspector Bolla will conduct an investigation
Into this disturbing situation
There’s a big red bellied black
Lying right across the track
About turn, and up the pace
We’ll call into Ronnie Barker’s place
Ronnie’s always pleased to see us
A cup of tea without a fuss
He owns a cute dog named “Rollie”
He’s a great friend of Inspector Bollie
If sneaking home from the Royal at night
You may get an awful fright
Please don’t think you’re off your trolly,
Wearing fluorescent boots, it’s Inspector Bollie
At Portland end, there’s a gaggle of geese
They’re convinced they’re the Brays Lane police
They protect the innocent folk
Inspector Bollie thinks they’re a bit of a joke
Now when our day is done
And we have had lots of fun
We’ll return to Bray’s Barracks
For some juicy hay and carrots.
***************************************************
The Bone Ranger
Lyn Doherty 2008
Around the camp fire late one night,
I got a most tremendous fright,
An equine apparition quite profound,
Above our heads circled round-and-around!
Two skeletons, one man, one horse,
Complete with bridle and saddle, of course,
The roos they sent a-scattering,
With their rattling and their clattering.
The Bone Ranger carried gold dubloons,
Which glistened in the light of the moon.
Legend has it from his hand they'd drop,
Ker-flop, ker-flop, ker-flop.
Their glass-globe eyes were glowing,
Two sets - wild, green and knowing.
In mid-air bucked, kicked and put in a rear,
They performed a pirouette with great flair.
Galloping, snorting and cavorting
Across the sky - such a magnificent flaunting.
But please don't despair - there is no danger
To critter, beast or stranger.
It's just the harmless Bone Ranger.
Wee Bolla
A story of dressage preserving the health and well being of a horse.
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I first met this gorgeous lad in 2006. He is owned and loved by a lady who had been riding for many years, but still enjoys learning. Wee Bolla is a 16.1hh Bay gelding, and was 16 yrs old at the start of our friendship. He had worked hard in his life, he was a police horse with the NSW police force. Those horse’s work hard. Long hours, on hard surfaces, in challenging situations. By the time I met Bollie, he had retired to an easier life in the country and had found the best place of love to be. He has struggled with injuries to his sesamoid bone, and as a result was very stiff and lame on and off and had developed a large degree of stiffness in an effort to protect himself from the discomfort of his work. He was unable to bend comfortably to the left, and a 20m circle was totally beyond his capabilities. One corner in the arena, at the bottom of a gentle slope was impossible for him; he would just drop his shoulder to the inside and collapse totally around the corner. |
Considering his new life is as a dressage and trail horse, this was a challenge. After all, dressage is often based on using the gymnastic effects of the circle. And here, we were unable to ask the poor fellow to do one without wincing. So, what to do?
Well, there is more than one way to supple a horse, but Wee Bolla hadn’t been taught them. His owner, Lyn had (despite many years of lessons) not been taught them. Our first step was to establish his rhythm. He tended to rush and break his rhythm. So, on the large track and with very large gentle curves or arena diagonals, we got his rhythm settled at the walk and the trot. His canter, he adores a lot, but he often became too strong for his riders comfort. Over a few months, we had Wee Bolla starting to stabilize his tempo, and in the mean time we started to build the tool box which would allow us to work on his suppleness without doing a circle.
Our first step was to teach him we need to have control of his hind quarters. That the rider’s leg behind the girth means to move your bottom to the side, or perhaps don’t move your bottom any further in this direction. So, in between the long open trot we developed the turn on the forehand, TOF.
Once the TOF was established, then we started on leg yielding. In between all this, we had to have the occasional week off for weather, lameness, and those other little issues which arise. Leg yielding is a very powerful movement in that it is the first movement which really establishes the riders inside leg asking for bend. It is developed from the turn on the fore, and then adding walk forwards. And then mixing the two until they meld together. Generally, a leg yield is ridden straight, but in this case, we allowed the horse to bend more as anything which got him to bend is good. A leg yield to the left, bends the horses (normally very slight) to the right, and vice versa. So, from the centre line to the long side just before the short side and then trying to hold that same bend around the corner.
From the walk, to walk zig zags, and then up into the trot, until Lyn and Wee Bolla had a flowing leg yield. Over time, he softened and bent enough to not be dropping his shoulder as badly. Still, we needed to do more before he could make it around the corner comfortably.
Once we had the leg yield happening in the trot from both the centre line and off the side and then (getting clever) a trot zigzag, then it was time to develop the shoulder in. Sounds scary but really, the basics are there once the leg yield is confident. It takes rider confidence to hold the horse on the line, and suppleness for the horse to perform well. So, Lyn, you did well. New territory for you both, and now I think of you doing those shoulder in’s and they look so good. So proud to watch the two of you flowing down that long side. Of course, we learnt to do all of this at the walk, then we got brave and threw the trot in. Ok, not brave, but confident that Wee Bolla was ready. To watch this horse learn to bend and soften was awesome. Of course this process is much faster in a younger horse with a more skilled rider, but this story highlights that no matter your age, skill level or your horses condition, dressage done correctly should improve your horse’s fitness and well-being.
In this process, we also had his nose to tail frame soften, so, where before he was hollowing the back and coming too high with his nose and neck, Wee Bolla started to offer “Free gifts” of poll flexion and engagement. Now Wee Bolla was working his top line correctly without stress. Never under estimate the power of lateral work. If you can’t deal with problem head on, think about the end result and what you are trying to achieve, and you may think of a different way of approaching the problem.
Speaking of stress, Wee Bolla had a problem with grinding and stress. Each time we noticed him starting to get heavy, lean, and grind his teeth (and no, we are not talking gentle chewing), it was time to stop and change back to a mentally easier exercise. Mostly I think this stress was due to discomfort in not being able to physically cope with what was being asked, and that discomfort translated into mental stress. By recognizing his comfort level, we could identify when to step back and when we could ask for more.
Here we are with working shoulder in’s. NOW the real work begins in suppling this horse. Shoulder in, corner, and shoulder in, straighten, change into other shoulder in. Setting up a corner by asking for the shoulder in prior to the corner, and holding the shoulder – in for a few steps after. Asking for shoulder in, both into the arena, and facing out of the arena helped gain control and balance and obedience. Straighten, bend, straighten, bend. It is like a Yoga exercise for horses.
During all this time, we introduce gentle extend and collect, always always keeping the rhythm. Transitions also to help keep him light, but again, the shoulder in helped when he got too strong as 650kg of horse vs Lyn who was a lightly built lady – sometimes the brakes didn’t work, so, one rein stop or using a bend to say “hey there lad, not so keen, you need to think” worked nicely. Some people might say, oh hell, give him a good one in the mouth, but frankly, this horse is honest, trying hard and was enthusiastic. Does that really deserve punishment? No, it doesn’t. All we did was redirect the keenness, and rider got better shoulder ins, better engagement and better improvement. Never waste a horse’s willingness to work. Just get them to use it in a better manner.
Once Wee Bolla handled those exercises, we started the introduction of the next tool – Travers. Travers is where the front end of the horse stays on the line of travel and the hindquarters are moved, generally to the inside of the track. The biggest difficulty here was getting the bend in the right direction. Asking for the quarters in was fairly easy – a turn on the fore step, but keeping the bend was harder. This is not the conventional way to teach travers, but it is gradually working. We taught quarters in first, then we fixed the bend. I can here the dressage purist’s now, but… this horse is not aiming for high level completion, will never go to the Olympics, the aim here was to prolong the working life and enjoyment of a stunningly hearted horse. The aim is to improve his health and well being. After all, isn’t that what we are supposed to do? For all our horses? Yep, I can hear the cowboys, and others asking, why bother?
Well, here’s my answer. Only a very small number of people will reach the top. They will sacrifice enormous amounts to get there. The rest of us need or want a more balanced and less intense experience with our horses. The majority of us spend time with horses because of love. Not ambition. Not work, but for the sheer pleasure of being with such wonderful generous creatures. And to me, dressage is a tool and a means to help my horse be his or her best in life. They do not have to be world champions, they only have to try. And then, they become, in my books, gold. For each step, leads to another, and as each journey, as many people have noted, is made up of steps. And it is those steps joined together, that makes the journey. You never know, you can find yourself in places you would never believe you could get.
Where are they now? This week, after the rain, the new tracks in the arena have started to show. Wee Bolla has worn a new track in the grass. Those corners he struggled to so hard with, are now, round and curved. He only drops his shoulder to the inside on rare occasions; mostly he remains calm and balanced with a lovely flexion to the inside. He loves his extension work. Those shoulder in’s….. oh, sigh, they belong in a competition arena. They have stability, position, bend, engagement, softness. Lyn can ask for either side, on the diagonal, down the centre line. The transitions are lovely, those hind quarters drop and step in under. The halts are generally square (unless Wee Bolla is being keen or Lyn doesn’t manage to sit). The outline is improving all the time; there is a clear transition from lengthening to compression in the trot stride. So, he will never win an EFA level test, but his health is better, his lameness is less, he is happy. Lyn is riding movements (she tells me) she never has. She is exploring a world and a relationship with her horses she never thought she would. Nope, never going galloping over the hills, but the joy in a partnership is there for them both, and that is what is important, worth more than gold.
Soon, Wee Bolla, and his lovely mum, will be riding half passes. Sure, they won’t be Olympic standard, but to be able to do them…. How many of you will be learn such a skill? How many of you, when you are around 60 yrs old (Wee Bolla’s age in human terms) will discover new dance steps?
Come, dance with me.
Allie Booth.