Neepery

[dancinghorse]

Lesson day today. My brain is mush as usual: it's been a very brain-intensive week, and this morning we had a strong east wind blowing. As I said to Teacher, "It must be Pandora's turn--it's blowing up a gale."

Now lessons are over, of course, it's just a mild breeze.

At any rate, Pandora was at the gate asking to be ridden, so I couldn't fault her attitude--but she was in Big Spook mode, and that made for an interesting ride. Main hammered-into-head lesson of the day was, keep her spine in the middle of your seatbones and stay in her back and she can't (and won't be as tempted to) go splooie. Naturally when I get tense, I get perchy, and that is the exact wrong thing to do.

I need to trust her and myself--even if she wants to blow the joint at warp factor sixteen, she's taking me with her. And I've got the control module. If I remember to use it.

I have many notes from Teacher with homework on them. Having to take a break between sessions so I can groom and saddle the next horse has clearly driven her mad, mad I say, mad with power.



3-23-06

Riding

-Keep trunk solid--upright--dignified posture

-A solid trunk allows hips, legs and ankles to relax more--makes weight/seat aids effective (it's 85% seat, 10% leg, 5% rein)

-A loose trunk is like a leaky hose and allows your weight to have no effect on the horse--Yikes ==80

-When horse sucks back/neck compresses backward
--ears move closer to you
--back drops

Not necessarily all or in this order:
+lift chest up--tone trunk
+drop shoulders
+carry hands (allows reins to effect hind end)
+press whole of spine forward
+drop legs (soft joints) down and back
+center twist between seatbones

-Look between ears at all times!!! To keep you and your horse straighter

-To increase body awareness pick one body part and pay attention to it in all aspects of going about your day for one week--then switch body parts
+ex. When you're focusing on your hand explore all sensations your hand receives--but AVOID THINKING--no matter what you're doing--typing, holding a glass, walking, petting your cat--explore textures and sensations
Don't think--Just feel
No Words Allowed!!!
I used this visualization to help turn off my thinking mind

-Imagine you are an alien who communicates telepathically but only in kinesthetic feels, so when exploring motions, sensations they can only be catalogued in the mind kinesthetically. So when picking up a glass--which muscles do you use? How is the weight, feel, and texture of the glass? Pause to allow the sensations to be catalogued, so that you can share these "feelages" with your compadres later. AND NO WORDS!!!



Next up was Camilla. She was having a jaw cramp which made her spooky and uncomfortable. Teacher worked on massaging it out, and succeeded about halfway; I have to work on it over the next few days. Camilla localizes all her tension in her jaw especially on the left side; sometimes she locks up. Even so, she did manage some nice bit work with soft eyes, and after in-hand work with Teacher, she got some time with me. It was not a day to ride her; she was on a hair trigger and wanted to go splooie a la Pandora. I stuck with working alongside, concentrating on keeping my body language very low and centered. She kept trying to make my center come up too high and exacerbate her tension, and kept trotting off along the outside edge of the circle until I Really Got That Center Down and kept that outside rein and got us both dug into the ground. She wanted more in spite of her discomfort, and that was good.

Finally we grabbed da Pook. Wind never much bothers him. Apart from one "Heeeeyyyyyyy BABY!" to Pandora, he stayed focused on me. His work has been in making his atlas symmetrical, which means teaching him to shift the muscle behind the ears and even it out on both sides. Nummins has been figuring it out himself, and I've been reminding him every day or so just by touching the muscle and asking him to flex it. It must feel good, because he does it easily and willingly, though of course he will revert to old patterns sooner or later--and it's getting later each time. (Icon shows the hypertrophy of the neck muscle--photo taken by lynnesite when he was 4.)

More work on my center and my focus, and making triple certain sure I don't slip that outside rein, which with him is crucial. Being my custom-fitted pony, he's exactly the right size for me to wrap my arm over his back and keep my outside hand on his withers on that side, and he does love it when I have my arm over him (we've been buds like this since he was tiny). It's like riding him but I'm walking alongside. Outside rein solid, inside rein not even there ("Pretend you don't have an inside rein"), make sure his neck isn't kinked or bent, check his jaw to see what he's doing there. I kept wigging because his neck was so perfectly normal--no bulge. Last time he couldn't walk and equalize his neck at the same time. But then we know he studies dressage at night when nobody is around.

By the time I finally get back on him, he should be in great shape. This work is teaching him and Camilla both to accept the bit, and is showing them how to carry it and what it's for. It is also, we note, encouraging them to use their bodies and come up from behind, which is excellent. You'd think it would commit the heinous crime of riding front to back, but it doesn't.

And now I have much homework. But I think I'm getting what I'm supposed to be doing. We shall see.

Comments

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

I was telling my PT/trainer about Pook and his unbalanced muscle and about the stretches you did with him. She was really interested and pleased; it hadn't occurred to her that horses had the same issues and the same solutions! (Me, I have a tight chest.)