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dancinghorsePunchy here. I should be feeding horses, but they can wait a few minutes while I write myself out of the day's lesson coma.
We have been reviewing basics with Capria for weeks. Started off as walking and trotting wiggly bits--lots of 20m circles, then a long siege of serpentines of various sizes, which developed fits of 10m circles, followed occasionally by a little canter work. Emphasis on straightness, balance (make sure she's straight up and down through all the turns), transitions, and my own aids and position (focusing on rein aids because we've spent eight years on seat and this is the last piece).
A lesson or two ago we added in a bit of lengthen stride in trot, which has always been a bugbear for Capria--she drops her back and rushes. With new saddle which allows her back to come up without getting pinched, plus improved rider who does not drop the supporting rein every time she reaches for it, after all those weeks of wiggly bits here, snaky bits there, and Get Those Transitions Right!, suddenly she can do it.
It's not what I was taught. I was taught shorten stride on the short side, then throw it all away across the diagonal. Wrong, wrong, wrong. I was also taught that the front end goes out and nobody said said anything about the back end. Also wrong. The right answer is, COLLECT the horse (get her to sit down and lift the withers and get floaty), then maintain contact but open up the seat and ask the withers to float up and the hocks to head for the elbows. Wheeeeee-BOINNNGGGGGG!!!!
The best exercise for her ladyship is 20m trot circle, get her gradually more collected (backs of thighs get a workout), flow into 10m circle (get those withers up! soften that inside rein! keep those outside aids in gear! keep that inside hind tracking up and under!), shoulder-in 3-5 strides (not hard, you're already in that position on the circle, just go down the long side that way), then maintaining contact, open up across the diagonal.
She can't quite do the whole diagonal yet, not strong enough to do a collected movement this big, so in the middle we add another 10m circle, collect her again, then off we go. And she flies.
And then we let her rest and then we did walk-canter transitions. Shoulder-fore position, inside hind in gear, outside aids on (soften as reward when she gives to them), up and into it, then make sure inside rein is soft and outside aids are on and withers are Up.
All those years of basics and we're finally doing fancy stuff. And they're right, it's easy. I read this week of Mestre Nuno Oliveira once being asked to perform the most difficult of all equestrian exercises. He mounted his horse, put on his hat, walked a straight line down the middle of the school, stopped, dismounted, and said, "There it was."
And it is. So is the basic 20m trot circle. Doing it right takes years of study and great balance and strength on the part of horse and rider. Once the horse can do that perfectly, his canter pirouettes are easy and his piaffe is no big deal.
Keed is running ahead of his mom. I could swear I saw him doing half-steps (proto-passage) with Teacher this morning. And he has lovely shoulder-in and a beautiful collected canter (hers, because of my weak aids, is still lagging a bit).
Capria certainly is a joy to ride, and she's actively demanding lessons. Banging the gate, the works.
The others are doing well, too. Pandora is getting straighter and smoother and more relaxed, and her trot is getting absolutely huge. That's when I really feel her size--remember Lipps have short legs, so 16.1 masses about 17.3 worth of modern sporthorse. Pook has made great strides in his work, is doing civilized and cooperative walkies and lovely, lovely rides. In his last ride he did a whole figure (trot wall-to-wall, three each way with a diagonal between) and he stuck with it. It was all over the place, he was figuring out rhythm and balance on the fly, and we had some fun with the shapes and sizes of the figures, but it was a whole figure and he remembered to breathe and he let me help him balance. This is the horse who, six months ago, forgot to breathe while trotting and would dribble to a halt, gulp air, then lurch back into a trot. Now he's acting just like a real horse, complete with real-horse balance and rhythm issues. Those, we can fix. Breathing's a little harder.
RFD-TV's Dressage Unlimited this week was the SRS. It's gone now, alack, but if it comes around again, it's titled "Classical Dressage." Not to be missed--lots of footage of the US tour, an interview with Riegler, and some backstage stuff, with labels on the different movements and lots of reference to 26yo solo star Siglavy Mantua. It's delightful to see these almost mythical beasts being real horses, fussing when they have to stand still, showing real opinions and then, when asked, performing with great beauty and grace. There are ads right afterwards for various competition DVD's, and the contrast is striking. The horses have looser, bigger movement but they look as if their legs are in the way--sprawling all over the place. And they can't sit down or carry the front end at all.
Meanwhile, back at the farm, the Girlz are training themselves. When I ground-drive Camilla, Ephiny comes and makes it a pair. She stays with us throughout, about 20 minutes' worth. I had to stop her from doing when I longed Camilla, she'd get in the way and get tangled in the line, so now she gets her own longe (walk and a tiny bit of trot so far). She knows how to go on the circle and she knows all the commands. She watched the rest of them and taught herself.
She's the right age--three and a half. And she's very, very talented. As gawky and rangy as she is, she can do a courbette (did one in front of Teacher that dropped her jaw nicely) and she has gorgeous big movement. Bride of Pooka or not, she has to be a riding horse. She insists.
We have been reviewing basics with Capria for weeks. Started off as walking and trotting wiggly bits--lots of 20m circles, then a long siege of serpentines of various sizes, which developed fits of 10m circles, followed occasionally by a little canter work. Emphasis on straightness, balance (make sure she's straight up and down through all the turns), transitions, and my own aids and position (focusing on rein aids because we've spent eight years on seat and this is the last piece).
A lesson or two ago we added in a bit of lengthen stride in trot, which has always been a bugbear for Capria--she drops her back and rushes. With new saddle which allows her back to come up without getting pinched, plus improved rider who does not drop the supporting rein every time she reaches for it, after all those weeks of wiggly bits here, snaky bits there, and Get Those Transitions Right!, suddenly she can do it.
It's not what I was taught. I was taught shorten stride on the short side, then throw it all away across the diagonal. Wrong, wrong, wrong. I was also taught that the front end goes out and nobody said said anything about the back end. Also wrong. The right answer is, COLLECT the horse (get her to sit down and lift the withers and get floaty), then maintain contact but open up the seat and ask the withers to float up and the hocks to head for the elbows. Wheeeeee-BOINNNGGGGGG!!!!
The best exercise for her ladyship is 20m trot circle, get her gradually more collected (backs of thighs get a workout), flow into 10m circle (get those withers up! soften that inside rein! keep those outside aids in gear! keep that inside hind tracking up and under!), shoulder-in 3-5 strides (not hard, you're already in that position on the circle, just go down the long side that way), then maintaining contact, open up across the diagonal.
She can't quite do the whole diagonal yet, not strong enough to do a collected movement this big, so in the middle we add another 10m circle, collect her again, then off we go. And she flies.
And then we let her rest and then we did walk-canter transitions. Shoulder-fore position, inside hind in gear, outside aids on (soften as reward when she gives to them), up and into it, then make sure inside rein is soft and outside aids are on and withers are Up.
All those years of basics and we're finally doing fancy stuff. And they're right, it's easy. I read this week of Mestre Nuno Oliveira once being asked to perform the most difficult of all equestrian exercises. He mounted his horse, put on his hat, walked a straight line down the middle of the school, stopped, dismounted, and said, "There it was."
And it is. So is the basic 20m trot circle. Doing it right takes years of study and great balance and strength on the part of horse and rider. Once the horse can do that perfectly, his canter pirouettes are easy and his piaffe is no big deal.
Keed is running ahead of his mom. I could swear I saw him doing half-steps (proto-passage) with Teacher this morning. And he has lovely shoulder-in and a beautiful collected canter (hers, because of my weak aids, is still lagging a bit).
Capria certainly is a joy to ride, and she's actively demanding lessons. Banging the gate, the works.
The others are doing well, too. Pandora is getting straighter and smoother and more relaxed, and her trot is getting absolutely huge. That's when I really feel her size--remember Lipps have short legs, so 16.1 masses about 17.3 worth of modern sporthorse. Pook has made great strides in his work, is doing civilized and cooperative walkies and lovely, lovely rides. In his last ride he did a whole figure (trot wall-to-wall, three each way with a diagonal between) and he stuck with it. It was all over the place, he was figuring out rhythm and balance on the fly, and we had some fun with the shapes and sizes of the figures, but it was a whole figure and he remembered to breathe and he let me help him balance. This is the horse who, six months ago, forgot to breathe while trotting and would dribble to a halt, gulp air, then lurch back into a trot. Now he's acting just like a real horse, complete with real-horse balance and rhythm issues. Those, we can fix. Breathing's a little harder.
RFD-TV's Dressage Unlimited this week was the SRS. It's gone now, alack, but if it comes around again, it's titled "Classical Dressage." Not to be missed--lots of footage of the US tour, an interview with Riegler, and some backstage stuff, with labels on the different movements and lots of reference to 26yo solo star Siglavy Mantua. It's delightful to see these almost mythical beasts being real horses, fussing when they have to stand still, showing real opinions and then, when asked, performing with great beauty and grace. There are ads right afterwards for various competition DVD's, and the contrast is striking. The horses have looser, bigger movement but they look as if their legs are in the way--sprawling all over the place. And they can't sit down or carry the front end at all.
Meanwhile, back at the farm, the Girlz are training themselves. When I ground-drive Camilla, Ephiny comes and makes it a pair. She stays with us throughout, about 20 minutes' worth. I had to stop her from doing when I longed Camilla, she'd get in the way and get tangled in the line, so now she gets her own longe (walk and a tiny bit of trot so far). She knows how to go on the circle and she knows all the commands. She watched the rest of them and taught herself.
She's the right age--three and a half. And she's very, very talented. As gawky and rangy as she is, she can do a courbette (did one in front of Teacher that dropped her jaw nicely) and she has gorgeous big movement. Bride of Pooka or not, she has to be a riding horse. She insists.
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Date: 2005-12-11 05:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-11 05:30 pm (UTC)Must Go To Flist And Add Your Userid.
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Date: 2005-12-11 09:30 pm (UTC)I like this :)
At my stable we learn that while yes you have to learn the walk, the trot and then canter, and there are so many levels to each gait, the walk is still the hardest. :)
Its so amazing how everything comes together when riding.
It is very cold here (NH) so I haven't been riding as much, but I love the "pulled together" feel. Nothing else really matches it :)
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Date: 2005-12-12 02:16 am (UTC)As another thought...feeling turnip-y? (I've gotten another lesson in Scottish Doric dialect yesterday, turnip = neep and neepheid (turniphead) is an insult. :) )
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Date: 2005-12-12 02:40 pm (UTC)that sounds like ROUGHLY what I am supposed to do to get Miss Joy into a running walk.... Level of success is varying, but I can usually hold it together for at least 2 striders now :). Then she breaks, I drop my inside hip and support the rein for shoulder-in (though more often I just use haunches in cuz ya - but the lateral step or two breaks the diagonal and brings us back to a run-walk - Joy is the trotty-type of walker), and we find it again. Maybe. For a stride or two. I tend to tighten up or lose my abdominal elasticity and drop my hips (forming V 3 point contact instead of the nice U i strive for).
Work.in.Progress.
Meanwhile, back at the farm, the Girlz are training themselves. When I ground-drive Camilla, Ephiny comes and makes it a pair. She stays with us throughout, about 20 minutes' worth.
*hee* Miss JJ is much the same. When I spend time doing ground work or riding Joy in the round pen, JJ stands outside and watches intently.... She also ALWAYS is right there when I am leading JOy to and from the round pen, especially if the saddle is on. Unfortunately, Joy is not thrilled with the attention. Ears go back when we pass JJ on the roundpen rail, and yesterday Miss attitude shot the boots at the nosy baby who wouldn't leave her alone on her way to the round pen. *sigh* I have been telling her not to worry, but she wants HER time, uninterupted by baby-ness.
JJ needs to be patient though, as she has another couple of years before I'll be getting on her - in the meantime, manners and obstacles and ground work!
All my girls are so jealous.... Shaughnessy has actually perfected her "gang-girl" look when I spend time with Joy. *sigh*
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Date: 2005-12-13 05:44 am (UTC)And come the other end of the diagonal, you'll hit the wall with a thump as everything completely falls to pieces.
I like the following exerciese - open up slightly on the open side of your circle, then use the energy to collect slightly towards the closed side of the circle, then use the power to push out a bit more towards the open side of the circle...