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glenatronToday was very interesting, but not a lot to write up or at lest less than you might think, so it may be largely picture-oriented.
We started with groundwork. The reason I was tending to find Samson leaving a shoulder behind was that I was not asking him to move away with an acute enough angle. To get the horse really falling away from you when they yield their shoulder you need to be approaching the opposite hip. Any wider than that and the horse doesn't complete the turn so you end up almost leaving them no choice but to drop their shoulder in.
We moved on to working a bit on getting side pass towards you. This begins by taking a short hold on the halter and asking on the opposite side of the quarters to get a step in towards you. Once you have the idea of that it's fairly easy to develop it into a regular side pass. I found using the fence in front of us to stop things going into Samson's default mode of forwards really helped as well. Fairly soon I had a few steps of side pass. Interestingly with this activity it's quite tricky to get the same thing on the other side- the horse tends to try the same direction that was working for them before.
We got to riding next, where my main focus was on getting a soft feel and maintaining it. I'll talk about this a little more here, because it's the most important thing. When we're talking about a soft feel we're talking about the feeling that the horse is soft right the way through from their head to their feet and everywhere in between. They are able to carry themselves correctly, lifting their back and working in balance rather than dropping their weight ( and the riders' ) forward onto their shoulders. A horse that is operating with a soft feel should seem ready to go in any direction when you ask them to prepare to move, with no need to change their balance and get arranged first.
Steve got me working on riding with shorter reins ( we started on this yesterday really ) so that there is a direct connection between my elbow and the horse's head. This isn't the same working with a hackamore to how it would be working in a bridle, but the lack of constant pressure ( while maintaining a limited working space ) and not using both reins at once, make for a useful discipline.
Steve was working on Gandalf's canter transitions.
Elaine and Kai working on timing and footfalls.
Samson starting to carry more of a soft feel. He finds it hard because his instinct and his nature are keen to go forward and this requires him to keep that energy in. Because we could find it in back-up, whenever I felt a weight on my hands that he wasn't changing when I asked, I would just ask him to back up until he could offer me that softness again and on we could go.
Starting to be able to maintain it a little at the trot. Once we could go from halt to walk to trot and back again, even if only for a few strides in total, without losing that feel, it was time to quit for the morning. He was quite sweated up by this point - we hadn't worked particularly hard, but it was certainly emotional for him.
In the afternoon we set out on a trail ride. Well, a ride through the bush anyways. There aren't a whole lot of trails there...
Elaine and Kai follow us through the scrub. There were plenty of orb webs between trees in the bush, most of them with large spiders in the centre of them. Our weaving between the trees involved a few sharp changes of direction to avoid going through them. I ran into a couple of fine threads and they were very strong, much more so than anything in an English spider web.
At the bottom of the hill the plain opens out. It was late afternoon so the galahs were starting to get themselves ready to roost by flying about making a racket. These are things galahs excel in.
Elaine and Kai striding up the hill towards home...
Samson, the noble steed.
Another day off tomorrow, so we may be playing at being tourists again, then the second clinic of our visit begins so we'll have a few other riders along for the last few days.
We started with groundwork. The reason I was tending to find Samson leaving a shoulder behind was that I was not asking him to move away with an acute enough angle. To get the horse really falling away from you when they yield their shoulder you need to be approaching the opposite hip. Any wider than that and the horse doesn't complete the turn so you end up almost leaving them no choice but to drop their shoulder in.
We moved on to working a bit on getting side pass towards you. This begins by taking a short hold on the halter and asking on the opposite side of the quarters to get a step in towards you. Once you have the idea of that it's fairly easy to develop it into a regular side pass. I found using the fence in front of us to stop things going into Samson's default mode of forwards really helped as well. Fairly soon I had a few steps of side pass. Interestingly with this activity it's quite tricky to get the same thing on the other side- the horse tends to try the same direction that was working for them before.
We got to riding next, where my main focus was on getting a soft feel and maintaining it. I'll talk about this a little more here, because it's the most important thing. When we're talking about a soft feel we're talking about the feeling that the horse is soft right the way through from their head to their feet and everywhere in between. They are able to carry themselves correctly, lifting their back and working in balance rather than dropping their weight ( and the riders' ) forward onto their shoulders. A horse that is operating with a soft feel should seem ready to go in any direction when you ask them to prepare to move, with no need to change their balance and get arranged first.
Steve got me working on riding with shorter reins ( we started on this yesterday really ) so that there is a direct connection between my elbow and the horse's head. This isn't the same working with a hackamore to how it would be working in a bridle, but the lack of constant pressure ( while maintaining a limited working space ) and not using both reins at once, make for a useful discipline.
Steve was working on Gandalf's canter transitions.
Elaine and Kai working on timing and footfalls.
Samson starting to carry more of a soft feel. He finds it hard because his instinct and his nature are keen to go forward and this requires him to keep that energy in. Because we could find it in back-up, whenever I felt a weight on my hands that he wasn't changing when I asked, I would just ask him to back up until he could offer me that softness again and on we could go.
Starting to be able to maintain it a little at the trot. Once we could go from halt to walk to trot and back again, even if only for a few strides in total, without losing that feel, it was time to quit for the morning. He was quite sweated up by this point - we hadn't worked particularly hard, but it was certainly emotional for him.
In the afternoon we set out on a trail ride. Well, a ride through the bush anyways. There aren't a whole lot of trails there...
Elaine and Kai follow us through the scrub. There were plenty of orb webs between trees in the bush, most of them with large spiders in the centre of them. Our weaving between the trees involved a few sharp changes of direction to avoid going through them. I ran into a couple of fine threads and they were very strong, much more so than anything in an English spider web.
At the bottom of the hill the plain opens out. It was late afternoon so the galahs were starting to get themselves ready to roost by flying about making a racket. These are things galahs excel in.
Elaine and Kai striding up the hill towards home...
Samson, the noble steed.
Another day off tomorrow, so we may be playing at being tourists again, then the second clinic of our visit begins so we'll have a few other riders along for the last few days.
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no subject
Date: 27 Apr 2011 15:03 (UTC)no subject
Date: 27 Apr 2011 23:37 (UTC)no subject
Date: 27 Apr 2011 17:19 (UTC)Still, very lovely to see some trail ride photos. :)
no subject
Date: 27 Apr 2011 23:38 (UTC)no subject
Date: 27 Apr 2011 18:55 (UTC)no subject
Date: 27 Apr 2011 23:39 (UTC)no subject
Date: 28 Apr 2011 02:17 (UTC)no subject
Date: 28 Apr 2011 06:12 (UTC)no subject
Date: 28 Apr 2011 02:19 (UTC)And enjoy...sounds like you are getting some nice stuff.
no subject
Date: 28 Apr 2011 06:13 (UTC)