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glenatronSo the last day of our course started with a bit of talking about how we were getting on.
We talked a little at the start of the day about being with the horse- some horses need you to wait for them, others need you to get them waiting for you a little- I would characterise Zorro and Oscar in the former group, Samson very much in the latter. The goal is always to make sure that the person and the horse leave at the same time in terms of intent and movement. This goes through all our transitions and it comes down to riding with your whole body rather than just with the rein.
Steve riding a little chestnut arab working to get him to quit hurrying and stay off his shoulders.
Elaine finally got rid of the halter she hadn't been using for the last couple of days with Kola.
Elaine and Kola again - some pretty neat stuff.
A week ago Smokey was the grumpiest little mare, complaining about the aids, pulling faces at the boys, generally not happy about anything. After a week with Izzy riding her, she was looking totally different- happy, interested and enjoying her work. Also she was doing side-pass and quarters-in at trot without a problem. Really nice to see how Izzy ( who has been staying here for a five-week stint ) has turned her sensitivity from an irritation to an asset.
I mostly spent the morning working on maintaining a soft feel and getting Samson more cued up off my body- by the time we were done I could be trotting, lean back without changing the rein to get back-up and then lean forward an pick my life up a little to get trot again. I got back-up to canter at one point, but it wasn't a soft canter so I focussed on getting the right strike-off from the back-up.
In the afternoon they had the halter on but they weren't using it - Elaine and Kola weaving around a barrel.
Riding the zig-zag around the poles.
We played the mirror game a little, where you line up with another rider and you move along a line, going forward, back, changing direction and so on and the other rider has to reflect what you are doing. By this point Samson was actually able to keep up with Gandalf a little, which was pretty amazing to me.
Playing the mirror game with Lester and his mare.
Samson's feet right underneath him.
After maybe five days of consistent work, Samson was able to offer me a consistent soft feel a lot more of the time and he was really going beautifully - we still had that forwardness, but now it was a little tempered with the ability to stay with me and not feel as though he is rushing off the whole time. When I picked up the rein and prepared for us to move I could feel his back lift as he got ready to step off. I found I could get him shifting his weight from left to right hindfoot without moving them off if I asked with my legs. When we managed to get our upward and downward transitions consistently soft he just felt amazing and the more he keyed in to my body position the better and more accurate our work got. There was a lot for me to remember in terms of position and making sure he was always ready for my next request but the times we got it right, it felt truly harmonious. Being able to trot a round circle that passed between two barrels, halt from my body position as I arrived between the barrels, then be able to strike off into the same trot again and continue the circle felt fantastic.
At the end of the session we stepped over to the gate and stopped, maintaining a soft feel. I was able to get him to change his balance left, right, back and forward without moving his feet and it felt to me like we were as much there as we were going to get on this visit.
It will be a long time before I know exactly what I've learned here today, but I have certainly made some changes in what I do over the last couple of weeks and hopefully my horses will appreciate it in the longer term.
Elaine finished by accidentally doing liberty with two horses, as Gandalf had got tired of waiting for Steve.
We talked a little at the start of the day about being with the horse- some horses need you to wait for them, others need you to get them waiting for you a little- I would characterise Zorro and Oscar in the former group, Samson very much in the latter. The goal is always to make sure that the person and the horse leave at the same time in terms of intent and movement. This goes through all our transitions and it comes down to riding with your whole body rather than just with the rein.
Steve riding a little chestnut arab working to get him to quit hurrying and stay off his shoulders.
Elaine finally got rid of the halter she hadn't been using for the last couple of days with Kola.
Elaine and Kola again - some pretty neat stuff.
A week ago Smokey was the grumpiest little mare, complaining about the aids, pulling faces at the boys, generally not happy about anything. After a week with Izzy riding her, she was looking totally different- happy, interested and enjoying her work. Also she was doing side-pass and quarters-in at trot without a problem. Really nice to see how Izzy ( who has been staying here for a five-week stint ) has turned her sensitivity from an irritation to an asset.
I mostly spent the morning working on maintaining a soft feel and getting Samson more cued up off my body- by the time we were done I could be trotting, lean back without changing the rein to get back-up and then lean forward an pick my life up a little to get trot again. I got back-up to canter at one point, but it wasn't a soft canter so I focussed on getting the right strike-off from the back-up.
In the afternoon they had the halter on but they weren't using it - Elaine and Kola weaving around a barrel.
Riding the zig-zag around the poles.
We played the mirror game a little, where you line up with another rider and you move along a line, going forward, back, changing direction and so on and the other rider has to reflect what you are doing. By this point Samson was actually able to keep up with Gandalf a little, which was pretty amazing to me.
Playing the mirror game with Lester and his mare.
Samson's feet right underneath him.
After maybe five days of consistent work, Samson was able to offer me a consistent soft feel a lot more of the time and he was really going beautifully - we still had that forwardness, but now it was a little tempered with the ability to stay with me and not feel as though he is rushing off the whole time. When I picked up the rein and prepared for us to move I could feel his back lift as he got ready to step off. I found I could get him shifting his weight from left to right hindfoot without moving them off if I asked with my legs. When we managed to get our upward and downward transitions consistently soft he just felt amazing and the more he keyed in to my body position the better and more accurate our work got. There was a lot for me to remember in terms of position and making sure he was always ready for my next request but the times we got it right, it felt truly harmonious. Being able to trot a round circle that passed between two barrels, halt from my body position as I arrived between the barrels, then be able to strike off into the same trot again and continue the circle felt fantastic.
At the end of the session we stepped over to the gate and stopped, maintaining a soft feel. I was able to get him to change his balance left, right, back and forward without moving his feet and it felt to me like we were as much there as we were going to get on this visit.
It will be a long time before I know exactly what I've learned here today, but I have certainly made some changes in what I do over the last couple of weeks and hopefully my horses will appreciate it in the longer term.
Elaine finished by accidentally doing liberty with two horses, as Gandalf had got tired of waiting for Steve.
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no subject
Date: 2 May 2011 11:52 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2 May 2011 12:37 (UTC)no subject
Date: 4 May 2011 19:54 (UTC)Love the last photo, hehe.
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Date: 5 May 2011 14:09 (UTC)