Yep - Tai Chi for riders. I had a lesson on Saturday after being back on Skate since his shoe pulling incident. My instructor thinks he hurt his shoulder...which may or may not be related to the shoe pulling. He was still a smidge stiff and not striding out with the left front when we started (I couldn't see or feel it, but she could).
We worked on getting him to stretch, which was difficult as he was crankier than usual and really NOT into the lesson! Lots of falling in around corners and jigging during walking. Argh. Nothing frustrates me more than jigging. Once we moved on to cantering I was shocked to find Skate totally sucked back. He's rarely (can't even remember the last time) sucked back...he definitely tends towards rushy. I mean he was so far behind me and my legs I nearly topped over his head. I had to give him a good whack w/ the whip to convince him forward was best.
Anyhoo, as usual, our transitions were just plain awful. Lurching into the upwards and falling into the downwards. Frustration all around. So, my instructor decided to try Tai Chi. Basically deep breathing to the footfall of the horse to raise my awareness of where Skate is and to really help my feel. At first I was a nonbeliever...I thought my feel was just fine, thank you. After doing an upward transition with my seat into the sitting trot and then watching Skate stretch into the contact willingly while snuffling softly, I was changed. I am now a believer! And I realize I had no feel at all like I do w/ this technique. The old saying of sitting 'into' the horse's back came true...I could easily feel Skate's hips and my sitting trot was exponentially improved. For the piece de resistance, we did a few downwards using only my seat and Skate obliged while keeping his back up! It wasn't a miracle worker in the canter...but hey, two out of three gaits is enough to make me happy.
Amazing. I haven't had a ride that changed so significantly from start to finish in a while. I'm psyched to ride again...but alas, Skate pulled his other shoe off yesterday. I'm stuck with a lame horse again, damnit. So much for another good ride anytime soon. Time for a chat w/ the farrier, too.
Oh, if anyone is interested in Tai Chi for riders: www.horsehero.com/5201/13908/24930
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4 comments:
Wow! I'm glad you had such a breakthrough in your ride. I never even thought of Tai Chi for riders.
Hope Skate gets un-lame soon so you can try it again :)
Well, that was an awesome update, until the end! Sorry to hear Skate pulled a shoe and is lame again. That sucks!
The Tai Chi sounds cool, though...I am glad to know someone who has tried it and likes it! I have a book called "Ride from Within" that is about using Tai Chi principles in riding. I haven't read it yet, but this inspires me! There is a Tai Chi class at the Y that I have been thinking about trying too. Tai Chi is supposed to be good for Fibromylagia...even better than Yoga from what I have been told. Thanks for the link, too! :)
Hmm, intriguing. I love lessons that give you stuff to think about when you're riding on your own. Of course Skate pulling his shoe so you can't work on it sort of defeats the point of it. Hope you guys are back on track now!
Nope. He is still freaking lame. We took the shoes w/ clips off and put the NB shoes back on w/ bell boots. I've never had this much trouble w/ a horse pulling shoes twice in one shoeing cycle.
Strange.
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