Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Snippet from an instruction session

I think this snippet is a nice summary of where I (and frankly most people, at least in the U.S.) need to go in their riding. It's a good way of describing the goal of dressage at its most basic level, too.



12 comments:

  1. Very well said by the clinician, and probably applicable to 99% of us! I'm interested to see/hear how he helped you get to that point where he's describing.

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  2. I liked this a lot! I think most dressage riders I know/see don't get this right. I had said this on the video, but I'll reiterate - I think it's a plus that he sees you as ready to understand and get there. I think a lot of people aren't.
    My horse is forcing me to learn this - he goes acrobatic in new places, and it's how I am learning to keep him under control, compared to his mellow and easygoing typical home attitude! I liked this a lot.

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  3. I liked this a lot! I think most dressage riders I know/see don't get this right. I had said this on the video, but I'll reiterate - I think it's a plus that he sees you as ready to understand and get there. I think a lot of people aren't.
    My horse is forcing me to learn this - he goes acrobatic in new places, and it's how I am learning to keep him under control, compared to his mellow and easygoing typical home attitude! I liked this a lot.

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  4. That was really really interesting, and a lovely metaphor to think about. Wonderfully informative video.

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  5. That was awesome! But I know how it feels when you are there, too. Thanks for sharing.

    My riding teacher is wonderful, but not a hand-holder. She nearly always works on me. Even if I ask about my horse, it always comes back to me. My first lesson with her was entirely on the posting trot, even though I had been posting for like twenty years. Good instruction is both humbling and supportive. I think that this clinician can get you there and clearly he feels the same way about you!

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  6. Good explanation, but don't think of sitting "down and back" to get it. I always think of kind of "lifting the horse" under my seat.
    Your seat bones drop but your core lifts as if you have stretched yourself in the middle so seat and head kind of reach in opposite directions.

    Ah, so hard to explain, but I do like the "horse is a ball" image although your "sitting on the back of the ball," is a little concerning as it might want to make you lean back, to fall behind the motion instead of riding with the motion.

    So far, this video suggests a rather encouraging evaluation. The hardest thing for most of us to accept is that so much of how the horse ultimately goes is SO related to how we sit on the horse. (Something I need to work on all the time, so I know the pitfalls all too well.)

    Patrice Edwards, a trainer from Britain, is a "killer" about this. Riding with her can be very challenging as she might spend the entire lesson at the walk, just focusing on how your seat and position influence the horse.

    On the plus plus side, when you have a talented horse like Riley, once you "get it," he will "give it," and you will not want to ride any other way. His response will make you ride better and better.

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  7. Wow, "not apologizing for your seat"--That's really good. You know, watching him sit in that chair, I could just picture him on a horse, even though he was kinda slumping over. Somehow I could see him have really good posture and seat.

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  8. He is an amazing rider (good posture) and from the little I saw he seemed to have a good sense of how far you can "push" a horse and keeping their cooperation.

    It's not a question of being mean -- I think it might have been a confluence of things that just went wrong that day. I am finding that as I ride his suggestions are really helping. More than any other clinician I think he has "nailed the problem" and offered the solution I need. Everything else is sort of melting away at this point.

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  9. That's great that his input is helping! The instructor who makes me feel like I ride like crap by the end of clinics is the one who grabs on to our one biggest current problem and puts it in a way that I can improve on it as time goes forward. I don't always see her often, so having one big thing I understand and can work on is a great way to go between rides with her... even if I can make little progress in the course of a single session with her.

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  10. That is spooky - my instructor was telling me the same thing about cycling the energy round at the weekend.

    Maybe the universe is telling me something???

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  11. An instructor recommended Pilates (on the Reformer)to me after stalling out at 1st Level. The improvement in my seat after only 6 mo. was noticeable and after a year it was amazing. I can't recommend cross training w/Pilates enough. It has opened up a whole new world in my riding as far as feel, strength, balance and refinement of aids. Be prepared, Pilates, at least for me, makes me sore every time I go but it is all worth it when I ride my horse.

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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.