Major Arcana: Neep Supreme
Jul. 25th, 2004 10:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dancinghorseThis week's lessons went on without me, but I wouldn't say I'm snorked, seeing as to how I was watching a Spanish Riding School master teach ten horses and riders a day for three days. I don't usually get to watch rides--a downside of having one's own barn and bringing in a trainer every week--so it was very useful for me to see what the actual movements look like, and also to see why my specific mistakes are mistakes. I came home with a lot to think about, and a bit of video--not a lot, but enough I think to keep Joni going for a while.
The clinic facility was quite spectacular, so we had great scenery to watch the rides in: a palatial indoor arena and a lovely outside arena with a view of the mountains. (The latter, I admit, I also have: my arena looks toward the Rincon Range.) The horses ranged from a 5yo Lipizzan, quite green still, through a number of Lipizzans bought from the traveling show (including one who had been terribly fried in the process, and is now a happy if still somewhat challenging horse), to a lovely Lusitano stallion, to a range of very fancy Warmbloods, one of which has serious show credits (and talent to go with). And one very opinionated pinto pony whom we all took a shine to. Ponies are very much their own thing, and they are a hoot. This one we were referring to as the Navajo Warmblood, and he was working on his dressage but also on his musical freestyle--so we had the experience of watching a SRS rider hop up on a pony and get him moving right good and proper. (And then he hopped up on a huge Warmblood--and in each case, he looked as if the fit was just right.)
We saw some very good riding--there was a group of young girls who are going to be wonderful riders as they grow up--and the clinician rode quite a few horses, either to confirm a movement or to help the rider train the horse. He had the perfect seat and the impeccably timed aids, and the SRS characteristic of honest and fully expressed love for the horse--much patting and praise, and sugar cubes were applied liberally and frequently. We were there for days three through five of a six-day clinic, and we saw the horses go from tense or confused to happy and relaxed through the course of the week. This for me is the main thing--that the horse be happy in his work. These horses were enjoying their rides.
They were working hard. Lessons were a half-hour on the average, and every second of that was made to count. The emphasis was on strong, clear impulsion and forwardness, consistent movement through the back, maximum engagement for the horse's level and strength, and quiet, consistent work into the bridle. Hands and body were to be still. Horses were to be in front of the leg without fail, even in the free walk. Collection was not the big honking hairy deal it is for the usual US riders: horses were collected as a matter of course, to the degree that they were capable of--sometimes to the astonishment of their riders. When one horse under the clinician was asked quite casually for double canter pirouettes, his owner's jaw dropped. This is supposed to be a huge thing, like quads in skating--but in Vienna they will do pirouettes that go on for half a dozen or more rotations.
The secret is collection. The real thing, not the slowing down that passes for it--horse sitting down, lifting his back, and raising his front end. That's why dressage takes years to do--you can shorten a horse to a jog in no time, but to develop the strength required for classical collection, the horse needs years of gymnastic and suppling work.
Exercises that are a huge deal over here are taken for granted in the SRS. Half pass is a nice engaging and suppling exercise, and is the setup for the pirouette, which is used quite a lot. Piaffe in hand and under saddle is a collecting and focusing exercise. Canter work is extensive and very focused, very collected. Shoulder-fore position is a default mode (Joni does a lot of this).
There were a lot of neck flexions--a bit surprising to see a Baucherian staple in a Vienna-school context, but the purpose in each case was to supple and relax a tense horse. One horse was actually put in draw reins, which tends to be considered anathema in classical barns--but he had serious confidence and brain-crispiness issues, and this was to show him how to carry himself without succumbing to a panic attack. (He was trained, very badly, to do Airs, and will try to launch whenever worried, confused, or frightened.) Once he had that extra bit of support, he softened remarkably. As his owner said, "This is just not me, but if it works, I'll do it." A very good example of a powerful and usually severely misused tool applied for a specific purpose by a knowledgeable trainer. (Draw reins are usually used to crank horses' heads in and jam them into a frame. They make a horrible mess of the horse.)
Bottom line? I have these lessons every week, and a trainer who can teach them correctly--and my horses have muscling to prove it. I do need to ride more consistently forward, pay more attention to the horse's balance, and do more canter work with Capria. It would be good to work on collecting her more, as well. And I had a lot of chances to see why my wandering hands don't work. "Outside rein gives the frame. Inside rein is for flexion, and for suppling and relaxation." Must Remember This.
Further bottom line: I very much want to ride with this clinician, but Pook won't be ready for a couple of years. He should be quite solid in all three gaits first, and ready to focus on collection. And I need to really work on those hands. And elbows. Definitely elbows. I can do this without adding riding time--just pay more attention when I do ride.
So, good validation of what I do at home, and good inspiration to keep on working. I was Very glad to see my own horses again. It will be interesting to see if I absorbed any of what I saw, and ride better for it.
The clinic facility was quite spectacular, so we had great scenery to watch the rides in: a palatial indoor arena and a lovely outside arena with a view of the mountains. (The latter, I admit, I also have: my arena looks toward the Rincon Range.) The horses ranged from a 5yo Lipizzan, quite green still, through a number of Lipizzans bought from the traveling show (including one who had been terribly fried in the process, and is now a happy if still somewhat challenging horse), to a lovely Lusitano stallion, to a range of very fancy Warmbloods, one of which has serious show credits (and talent to go with). And one very opinionated pinto pony whom we all took a shine to. Ponies are very much their own thing, and they are a hoot. This one we were referring to as the Navajo Warmblood, and he was working on his dressage but also on his musical freestyle--so we had the experience of watching a SRS rider hop up on a pony and get him moving right good and proper. (And then he hopped up on a huge Warmblood--and in each case, he looked as if the fit was just right.)
We saw some very good riding--there was a group of young girls who are going to be wonderful riders as they grow up--and the clinician rode quite a few horses, either to confirm a movement or to help the rider train the horse. He had the perfect seat and the impeccably timed aids, and the SRS characteristic of honest and fully expressed love for the horse--much patting and praise, and sugar cubes were applied liberally and frequently. We were there for days three through five of a six-day clinic, and we saw the horses go from tense or confused to happy and relaxed through the course of the week. This for me is the main thing--that the horse be happy in his work. These horses were enjoying their rides.
They were working hard. Lessons were a half-hour on the average, and every second of that was made to count. The emphasis was on strong, clear impulsion and forwardness, consistent movement through the back, maximum engagement for the horse's level and strength, and quiet, consistent work into the bridle. Hands and body were to be still. Horses were to be in front of the leg without fail, even in the free walk. Collection was not the big honking hairy deal it is for the usual US riders: horses were collected as a matter of course, to the degree that they were capable of--sometimes to the astonishment of their riders. When one horse under the clinician was asked quite casually for double canter pirouettes, his owner's jaw dropped. This is supposed to be a huge thing, like quads in skating--but in Vienna they will do pirouettes that go on for half a dozen or more rotations.
The secret is collection. The real thing, not the slowing down that passes for it--horse sitting down, lifting his back, and raising his front end. That's why dressage takes years to do--you can shorten a horse to a jog in no time, but to develop the strength required for classical collection, the horse needs years of gymnastic and suppling work.
Exercises that are a huge deal over here are taken for granted in the SRS. Half pass is a nice engaging and suppling exercise, and is the setup for the pirouette, which is used quite a lot. Piaffe in hand and under saddle is a collecting and focusing exercise. Canter work is extensive and very focused, very collected. Shoulder-fore position is a default mode (Joni does a lot of this).
There were a lot of neck flexions--a bit surprising to see a Baucherian staple in a Vienna-school context, but the purpose in each case was to supple and relax a tense horse. One horse was actually put in draw reins, which tends to be considered anathema in classical barns--but he had serious confidence and brain-crispiness issues, and this was to show him how to carry himself without succumbing to a panic attack. (He was trained, very badly, to do Airs, and will try to launch whenever worried, confused, or frightened.) Once he had that extra bit of support, he softened remarkably. As his owner said, "This is just not me, but if it works, I'll do it." A very good example of a powerful and usually severely misused tool applied for a specific purpose by a knowledgeable trainer. (Draw reins are usually used to crank horses' heads in and jam them into a frame. They make a horrible mess of the horse.)
Bottom line? I have these lessons every week, and a trainer who can teach them correctly--and my horses have muscling to prove it. I do need to ride more consistently forward, pay more attention to the horse's balance, and do more canter work with Capria. It would be good to work on collecting her more, as well. And I had a lot of chances to see why my wandering hands don't work. "Outside rein gives the frame. Inside rein is for flexion, and for suppling and relaxation." Must Remember This.
Further bottom line: I very much want to ride with this clinician, but Pook won't be ready for a couple of years. He should be quite solid in all three gaits first, and ready to focus on collection. And I need to really work on those hands. And elbows. Definitely elbows. I can do this without adding riding time--just pay more attention when I do ride.
So, good validation of what I do at home, and good inspiration to keep on working. I was Very glad to see my own horses again. It will be interesting to see if I absorbed any of what I saw, and ride better for it.
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no subject
Date: 2004-07-25 01:54 pm (UTC)I suspect I don't even want to know what it costs to bring one's own horse and have lessons from a SRS instructor.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-25 09:50 pm (UTC)$200 per half-hour, at this one. It's less elsewhere, I think.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-25 02:15 pm (UTC)How do the SRS people feel about American Lipps and their riders? Do they ever breed American horses back into their stud?
no subject
Date: 2004-07-25 09:53 pm (UTC)They are Polite about the riders.
No American horses have been bred back in, though who knows? That could change.
Word is out also that the SRS is back to offering public instruction--it was eliminated under Oulehla. Will be interesting to see how the new lessons are set up and whether riders will need references to attend. Back along, you needed a referral, and you went for six weeks. One of my instructors was admitted but ended up not being able to go because of family commitments.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-25 04:42 pm (UTC)My poor characters are going to end up with dressage-trained warhorses at this rate!
no subject
Date: 2004-07-25 05:06 pm (UTC)If I'm wrong about this, I'm sure Judy will set us straight.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-25 09:56 pm (UTC)They do say the movements were originally designed for war, and the Lipp itself was the parade horse and warhorse of the Hapsburgs. For sure dressage training makes a horse safe and focused in just about any situation, and teaches the rider to stay on, balanced, and effective No Matter What. There were a couple of times this past week when a horse freaked under the clinician and we could all see the training that keeps a rider on through the Airs. He never missed a beat.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-25 08:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-25 09:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-25 11:17 pm (UTC)