A Day Late, but NOT a Dollar Short!

Dear Reader,
RAC riders, please accept my sincere thank you for caring about a horse named Lyle. Please accept my thank you for caring enough to read this account of my work. I am NOT telling any one how to train. I am only telling what I am doing for Lyle.
No pictures because I was too busy riding. But Lyle and I did a short training ride. I have made a number of changes so that Lyle can have a blank page to "write" on and so that there is as little as possible to remind him of the bad rollkur and over bending behind the vertical.
Here are the changes that I have made. These changes are temporary. One day I think that Lyle and I will be able to ride "normally." But the main thing is that Lyle is giving this riding thing a chance to succeed.
1. I have the sweet water bit rigged so that it does NOT touch his tongue and his bars. It ONLY touches his lips, that is the corners of his mouth. (But NO wrinkle at all. This is important.)
2. Because (previous trainer) sat deep in the saddle I am riding in a different style. I have shortened my stirrups and I stand in my stirrups with no weight in the seat of my saddle.
3. Because (previous trainer)  gripped hard with his lower legs and ankles I am keeping my leg off of Lyle completely. I move with his motion but with as little leg contact as possible. It is sort of how a surfer would ride a surf board in a way.
4. Because (previous trainer)  would elevate the reins by bending his elbows, I do not do this. I elevate the reins by raising my entire arm from the shoulder. I am using Philippe Karl's teaching here. But I do raise my arms differently that Mr. Karl teaches.
5. Because (previous trainer)  would over bend Lyle's neck, I keep Lyle as straight as possible. When Lyle goes into rollkur mode I just pretend that he is asking me to rub his forehead. So over bending and bending behind the bit only gets him a rub on the neck or forehead. This rubbing is taking the fear out of the rollkur frame that Lyle was forced to move in. This rubbing is also helping Lyle to understand that he no longer has to do any over bending of any going behind the vertical.
6. When Lyle runs away, I ride it standing in the stirrups and just moving with him. I lean forward and using my arms wide and straight from the shoulders I ask him to turn using the leading rein. The support rein is brought forward so that it touches the side of his face very gently. I act as if I were caressing him with the reins. I also wait for Lyle to give me a yield to the bit on the leading rein. The instant he yields, I give generously back to him. However, I also keep a very small amount of feel on the supporting rein so that he knows that I am there fore him in his need. If Lyle refuses to give to the leading rein I will quietly ask for a yield from what was the supporting rein. This surprises Lyle and he will yield because he was not expecting to be asked to yield on that side.
7. I only ride Lyle until he stops the bad rollkur and over flexed way of moving. That is I ride him only until he relaxes and he is moving in the same gait in both front and hind end. We only had to ride for about a hour until he relaxed. But he did relax and let down. Lyle's reward was to relax on this ride. My reward was to see Lyle be at peace in his heart.
I am NOT telling any one how to train. I am only telling what I am doing for Lyle.

Sincerely,
Penny Johnson