Weekly Lesson Neep
Apr. 23rd, 2004 04:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dancinghorseToday was definitely Back in the Saddle Day. Not literally, I've been working horses all week, but I went for the full bore: two lessons in a row, plus ze keed got his weekly round of Teacher Torture.
First we had to tinker with the saddle for keed, as he's not used to the dressage saddle and we were trying different ways to make it fit him better. Once we got it adjusted properly, he was nice and forward, though Joni said he wasn't as soft as he's been known to be. Either he needs more saddle adjustment, or he was just copping a 'tude. The latter is possible. He was attitudinal this morning; it was a chilly night after a wildly windy day, and they were all fairly off the wall--Pooka more than any of them. Next weekend we'll do some more tinkering.
He did look awfully good out there, so whatever he needs, it should be minor.
Capria was up next. I wanted a longe lesson on her, then a lesson on da Pook, to see how that went. It went well. I'm absolutely knackered, but I expected that. Joni Torture(tm) is Hard Work.
My longe lesson started with basic stretching exercises to loosen up my back and isolate the tension spots. They've moved up since last week: from lower back and midsection to the shoulders. That's not so bad; means they're on their way out. Once I had that sorted out, and my upper body quieted down (no rocking shoulders), the real lesson was very simple. Transitions from walk to trot to canter and back down, while maintaining balance on the circle, while maintaining rhythm and balance in the gaits--with no reins allowed. No leg aids, either. It all had to come from the abdominals. If necessary I could slide my shoulderblades down and lower the ribcage--or raise them, depending. I might, in extremity, apply a thigh aid. That was it.
Oooooooooooofffffff........
There is a reason why we call Capria The Abdomenizer. It's not hard pressure or major physical effort. It's finesse and subtlety and relaxation and balance. On a large moving object with a serious set of thrusters. Who will ignore me unless my signals are exactly correct and perfectly timed.
Oooof.
We did it. Ended with a canter that had any number of things to pick apart, but the transitions worked. She expanded to fill up my leg. She was balanced--not falling in over her shoulder. And no rushing or freaking or blowing me off. (The mare is 16 years old. She's Been There, Done That. She can, if she feels sufficiently provoked, ignore me completely.) The fact she didn't ignore me means I did it right, I got the right calibration. Frabjous day.
That would have been enough to do me in, but I still had to ride da Pook. Who had spent the night in a raging tear at the world because it was colder than he liked, taken fifteen minutes to catch for breakfast because he had a bug in his ear and he freaked out every time I tried to put the halter on--then when I got him calmed down, I had to work on getting him to let me near enough to deal with the bug--and then spent the morning Having Hormones.
He insisted he didn't need a warmup, he could walk around once and then I could get on. OK, I said, if you say so--and got on and he sat down and started to lift his knees up to his ears (saddle-seat aficionados would go bananas over this horse). Nope, not ready yet. I got off and tied up the reins and told him to go get the kinks out. He blasted off like a bat out of hell, ranlikeMAD, thought about some big bucks but opted for his sky-high hovertrot with the snap in it, which must be seen, it can't really be described; it's not any gait you usually see. Arabians and Morgans can approximate it, but the Lipp warp engines put it 'Way Up There. Finally he decided it was OK, he really could handle a ride now.
But we had saddle problems--the downside of one dressage saddle and three horses. (Dressage saddles of the sort that will fit True Widebodies cost in the $3000 range. Not In The Budget Right Now, Dear.) He was stiff and pacey and fussy. I had to get off twice and adjust the fit, but finally got it working and we were able to concentrate on riding figures, improving the position of my elbows (made a huge difference to his balance around turns in the trot), and working on his balance and rhythm in walk and trot. No volunteer canter today, he was working hard figuring out those figures. (Long and short diagonals, wall-to-wall, and 20m circles in various combinations, for them as speaks Dressage Neep.)
OOOooooooggggg. I am a tired puppy. Ponies are tired, too. Keed slept for an hour after his lesson, and Capria slept through mine on Pook. It's a lot of work learning horse ballet.
First we had to tinker with the saddle for keed, as he's not used to the dressage saddle and we were trying different ways to make it fit him better. Once we got it adjusted properly, he was nice and forward, though Joni said he wasn't as soft as he's been known to be. Either he needs more saddle adjustment, or he was just copping a 'tude. The latter is possible. He was attitudinal this morning; it was a chilly night after a wildly windy day, and they were all fairly off the wall--Pooka more than any of them. Next weekend we'll do some more tinkering.
He did look awfully good out there, so whatever he needs, it should be minor.
Capria was up next. I wanted a longe lesson on her, then a lesson on da Pook, to see how that went. It went well. I'm absolutely knackered, but I expected that. Joni Torture(tm) is Hard Work.
My longe lesson started with basic stretching exercises to loosen up my back and isolate the tension spots. They've moved up since last week: from lower back and midsection to the shoulders. That's not so bad; means they're on their way out. Once I had that sorted out, and my upper body quieted down (no rocking shoulders), the real lesson was very simple. Transitions from walk to trot to canter and back down, while maintaining balance on the circle, while maintaining rhythm and balance in the gaits--with no reins allowed. No leg aids, either. It all had to come from the abdominals. If necessary I could slide my shoulderblades down and lower the ribcage--or raise them, depending. I might, in extremity, apply a thigh aid. That was it.
Oooooooooooofffffff........
There is a reason why we call Capria The Abdomenizer. It's not hard pressure or major physical effort. It's finesse and subtlety and relaxation and balance. On a large moving object with a serious set of thrusters. Who will ignore me unless my signals are exactly correct and perfectly timed.
Oooof.
We did it. Ended with a canter that had any number of things to pick apart, but the transitions worked. She expanded to fill up my leg. She was balanced--not falling in over her shoulder. And no rushing or freaking or blowing me off. (The mare is 16 years old. She's Been There, Done That. She can, if she feels sufficiently provoked, ignore me completely.) The fact she didn't ignore me means I did it right, I got the right calibration. Frabjous day.
That would have been enough to do me in, but I still had to ride da Pook. Who had spent the night in a raging tear at the world because it was colder than he liked, taken fifteen minutes to catch for breakfast because he had a bug in his ear and he freaked out every time I tried to put the halter on--then when I got him calmed down, I had to work on getting him to let me near enough to deal with the bug--and then spent the morning Having Hormones.
He insisted he didn't need a warmup, he could walk around once and then I could get on. OK, I said, if you say so--and got on and he sat down and started to lift his knees up to his ears (saddle-seat aficionados would go bananas over this horse). Nope, not ready yet. I got off and tied up the reins and told him to go get the kinks out. He blasted off like a bat out of hell, ranlikeMAD, thought about some big bucks but opted for his sky-high hovertrot with the snap in it, which must be seen, it can't really be described; it's not any gait you usually see. Arabians and Morgans can approximate it, but the Lipp warp engines put it 'Way Up There. Finally he decided it was OK, he really could handle a ride now.
But we had saddle problems--the downside of one dressage saddle and three horses. (Dressage saddles of the sort that will fit True Widebodies cost in the $3000 range. Not In The Budget Right Now, Dear.) He was stiff and pacey and fussy. I had to get off twice and adjust the fit, but finally got it working and we were able to concentrate on riding figures, improving the position of my elbows (made a huge difference to his balance around turns in the trot), and working on his balance and rhythm in walk and trot. No volunteer canter today, he was working hard figuring out those figures. (Long and short diagonals, wall-to-wall, and 20m circles in various combinations, for them as speaks Dressage Neep.)
OOOooooooggggg. I am a tired puppy. Ponies are tired, too. Keed slept for an hour after his lesson, and Capria slept through mine on Pook. It's a lot of work learning horse ballet.
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no subject
Date: 2004-04-23 04:33 pm (UTC)Caryn
no subject
Date: 2004-04-23 04:52 pm (UTC)It's like ballet or gymnastics: a whole lot of work goes into making it look as if you're doing no work at all. I've heard the Vienna riders called "stiff" because they're so upright and motionless. They're not stiff at all. Look at Astaire or Kelly dancing--the upper body moves minimally, the shoulders in default mode are level and the middle is toned and the majority of the activity is below the waist. That's what we were working on today--along with the fact that said activity is minimal and should be invisible. "I don't want to see what you're doing--I only want to see it in the horse," Joni said last week.
This isn't just for pretty. The more active or tense I am, the more I get in the horse's way and the harder she has to work to do what I'm asking. If I'm really subtle, it's a lot easier for her. Or him. Pook is Really tough because he's so inexperienced. His movement is huge, so it's hard to stay with him sometimes, and he's still learning how to balance under the weight of a rider. He needs a lot of help, but it has to be super subtle because the usual exaggerated baby stuff just honks him off.
He's getting better. Soon he's going to be Amazing.
Btw, about the Henry book, did you know it's based on a couple of true stories? There was a rider who got into the school that way--but it wasn't a horse he taught the movements, it's was a pair of goats! And the opera singer was Maria Jeritza, who was given six Lipizzans as a gift after her tour in Austria. They were the first Lipizzans in the US--brought over in 1930. Three of them starred in her husband's movie "Florian" in 1938 or so.
I love that book. :)
no subject
Date: 2004-04-23 05:06 pm (UTC)Man, oh, man, that's good stuff. I'd cut off a limb for a lesson on a horse like that (or maybe not, since that would make it hard to ride, but close).
The "simple, but not easy" school of dressage...
no subject
Date: 2004-04-23 06:27 pm (UTC)Capria's always been that way. Bought her as a 4yo. Made a ton of mistakes which we are still making up for. Even with all of that, she's still a Lipp, and she's hardwired for classical aids. If you don't have the right ones in the right order at the right calibration, you get an error message. Either she gets really really rushy because you aren't helping her balance properly. Or you're pushing too hard and in the wrong way and she pretends you're not there and she can't hear you and her fingers are in her ears la-la-la.
One thing she never does is lose her temper. She's scared people especially TB people and especially hunter riders because they don't have what she calls a seat. So she goes very very fast and they're convinced she's going to bolt uncontrollably or start bucking (since the Lipp engine feels like overdrive if you're not used to it). But that's just her normal way of going. She's really very gracious and patient and she'll go and go and go until you finally catch on and listen. And then she's Perfect.
I'm really really glad I have a trainer who can teach the way she insists on being ridden. We had some tough years before Joni came along. I would have crashed and burned with Pook if I hadn't spent all those years going back to square one and learning how to ride all over again, one muscle group at a time.
Capria is my "home horse"--the one I go back to to really make sure I'm getting it right. She's pretty special.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-23 05:31 pm (UTC)To which I can only say heh.
---L.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-23 06:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-23 06:44 pm (UTC)---L.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-23 09:08 pm (UTC)