Thursday, June 16, 2011

Clinic report confession: Whoever said pictures don't lie?

What I sent to the Newsletter
As you know I rode in a clinic a few weeks ago. I was asked to write up an article on my clinic experience for our GMO newsletter.

I learned a lot at this clinic but we were not the stars of the day. Riley's lesson took place when the other horses at the facility were being led in and fed. At every arena window (8 in all) he peered out, and occasionally he winnied piteously. 

In the article I tried to be honest about my own performance and Riley's inattention. I did not try to be honest in portraying my lesson the photo I included.

Pictured left you see the image I captured from the five minute video of our session. Yes, I managed to capture an image I can take pride in, never mind that it was NOT AT ALL representative of my performance as a rider, and Riley's performance as a victim  partner.


What 99% of the footage looked like.


If you want to see a much more representative image, look to the right. Now, granted, this was a bad moment, caught in mid-whinny, and granted, his head is usually within a respectable range. It's the constant, slight movement of the head up and down that is the problem.

And for those of you who feel honesty is the best policy -- feel free to write your own article when the time comes!


6 comments:

  1. Honesty is to be highly commended, well done!

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  2. Oh, the trials of riding a young horse. Riley does look rather distracted, but that's OK. We all know he can and more often does go well. "Steady" will come with time and experience.

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  3. Even if Riley is misbehaving in the right-side photo, you are still balanced and handling him tactfully. Nothing to be ashamed of!

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  4. I echo Jean - steadiness is built with time, and only time can build it.

    It will come!

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  5. Well, if it makes you feel any better, I think your position looks pretty good even when Riley is in mid-whinny. Your elbows are bent! If it were me, my arms would involuntarily brace in a downward motion & my elbows would be straight as boards as my butt would simultaneously rise out of the saddle. I always notice my effectiveness as a rider by looking at the show photos from the photographer. I'm lucky if I have a few good shots of my horse, whereas, all the photos of the good riders look really great.

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  6. Stacey: Be nice to yourself! You've got nothing but TIME...when he's on, he's wonderful and he's come so far!! Take heart! You're so lucky to do what you do with him. The fact that you could get that terrific picture at all says you know where you want to get...enjoy yourself!

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Hi Guys, Your comments are valued and appreciated -- until recently I never rejected a post. Please note that I reserve the right to reject an anonymous post.