Let's just say that I was quite pleased when I untacked today after my lesson and had to thoroughly hose off Pro. For once (in a long time), he wasn't sweaty because he misbehaved for an hour, but sweaty because he was thoroughly using himself.
Okay, list of things I'm not allowed to do anymore...
1) I AM NOT ALLOWED TO CROSS MY OUTSIDE HAND OVER HIS WITHERS. Gayle says the horse has full permission to ignore you when you cross your outside hand over the withers. And while turning in a circle, especially a small one, your outside hand should open OUT, not even stay neutral. My brain understands a lot about riding logically, and can usually process what an instructor says during a lesson, but I have atrocious brain-body coordination and spent a large part of the lesson fumbling with this.
2) I AM NOT ALLOWED TO DROP MY HANDS. Bad things happen when I do. It moves the bit into a weird position. And according to Gayle, it really screws you over when you graduate to a double bridle.
3) I AM NOT ALLOWED TO LET PRO LEAN ON MY LEG, ESPECIALLY MY INSIDE LEG. We had some issues with this. Gayle insisted that Pro definitely knew he was not allowed, since no Western rider would've ever let him lean on their leg. So she took over my inside rein from the ground and used her hand as my inside leg to INSIST that he move over. He finally got it, though every time I tried to turn him in a small circle and not cross my outside hand over his withers he would bow out in a counter-bend and lean on my inside leg. We finally figured it out, but it wasn't easy.
4) I AM NO LONGER ALLOWED TO BOOT HIM UNLESS NECESSARY. After so much practice with literally kicking his ass, I am no longer allowed to "yell" at him unless it's for disciplinary reasons. I have to ask nicely first (and it was a bit hard to remember how to ask nicely) by giving a light tap (NOT squeeze) with my leg, then a slightly louder tap. THEN a louder tap. She said that Pro, being Arab, wants to have things light and sensitive. But it's his choice...if he chooses to be bad, I can be loud. If he chooses to be sweet, I can be soft.
5) I AM NO LONGER ALLOWED TO USE MY INSIDE REIN, UNDER THE PENALTY OF DEATH. Haha, pretty much! ;) Unless absolutely necessary, I am to resist the urge to use it, and I am to GIVE it.
And so followed a cycle of attempts at turning him off my outside aids while keeping my outside rein opening OUT instead of over his withers, using my inside leg to bend him and keep him from leaning on it, and giving forward with the inside rein. It was insanely hard but eventually we got it all coordinated together and worked for awhile with a delightfully powerful trot! Gayle was so pleased with how much he was bending his hocks underneath himself and using that butt of his. I only wish I could've had pictures!
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6 comments:
Wow, that's a lot of "DON'T"s!
I almost made it out to take pictures. I wasn't supposed to be meeting up with any family until dinner today, but then the GPS I loaned my dad died so he needed the power cord. Glad you guys had a good lesson.
I should be free Sun afternoon if you have time to tag-team. The pictures from like 3 weeks ago now didn't come out as great as I was hoping. Though they were informative in showing me that (a) I need to bend my damn elbows and (b) we need to get him stepping under himself more.
YAY for a lesson. I'm glad that you are getting back to boot camp. That is a lot of DONT'S but hopefully it will help. I hope you guys can take pictures this weekend!
Yeah! Sounds like a great lesson to get the ass-kicking (yours apparently!) started.
I like your list of don'ts. I could probably adopt quite a few of those myself.
At Rolex this weekend I watched some amazing dressage on really hot horses. I utilized the binoculars to get really close look at the aids of the riders. Headley Britannia (love that mare!) is a spicey little thing but she and her rider click really well. Lucinda Fredericks rides her very tactfully with extremely quiet aids. She held her hands surprisingly high, too.
Ohhh I struggle with most of the Don'ts on your list too. It sounds like you got a lot of good work done in that lesson, with a lot still to do. That's a good place to be :)
That is a lot of don't, but it is very informative. I especially appreciate number 1 right now. Now that you have explained it like that, I am realizing I was on the right track with that one...YAY! I had a lesson Monday (post to follow soon!), and my instructor had me opening my outside rein more, but didn't explain the theory (we had a lot on our plate, though.) Then I was riding yesterday and realized I was losing things during some of my cicles/turns. I caught myself wanting to cross my hand over Jay's withers. When I opened the outside rein it helped! So I appreciate your explanation because it helps me know I was on the right track and to understand why! I also am having issues with dropping my hands...
BTW, I also can understand a LOT of theory, but then have brain-body coordination issues!
What a good post! Thank you!
I thought this post was so good I just had to search it out again! :)
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