Anyone do Dressage Anywhere? And some CC please!

SaffronWelshDragon

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Just wondering if anyone here does Dressage Anywhere? My sis has entered Intro B (her first ever test!) and I’m going to enter this month’s Prelim 1. Are there any regulars out there? I had a bit of a practice last night, if anyone could give some CC (please don’t be too mean!) :p Saf is 19, and until 2011 had only ever hacked. She could barely get into a canter, however now she can canter on a straight line in a controlled manner (before it was uncontrolled trot or mad gallop!) I realise that our canter circles are naff, and we’re getting a lot of counter bend, which is infuriating but probably due to my plebby riding – I can see I’m leaning forwards a bit too much I think. Our walk and trot is currently our strong point (though she looks lethargic in her trot in this vid, she hates the heat, like me!)

Any thoughts / tips for improvement? :cool:

It would help if I actually linked the vid - duh!

[video=youtube_share;feexlSeJ0pw]http://youtu.be/feexlSeJ0pw[/video]
 
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Rouletterose

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You have really nice rythm in the trot work, the free walk is nice and marching and she is stretching well, your centre lines are straight. As you said you just need to work on her suppleness ie her bend to the inside on circles so you need to ask for more inside bend, a few lessons should sort that out and then it would be a nice prelim test, go for it.
 

SaffronWelshDragon

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Thanks Rouletterose, that's very kind :) I'm really pleased with our good points, and have lessons whenever I can afford it. Any tips at all for the suppleness and bend issues? I'm trying to push her out with my inside leg but I get no reaction. Also have a bad habit of pulling her out into the corners which causes the incorrect bend, extremely annoyed with myself for that, but working on it!
 

DabDab

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You could afford to have her moving a lot more forward, and if you got her sharper off your leg you would probably feel better able to deal with the counter flexion because you can push her into the corners with your inside leg rather than using your outside rein to try and steer her back to the track. If she was going forwards better you would also be able to sit quieter in the canter - at the moment it looks like your putting in as much effort in the canter as her! You look like a very sweet partnership though, let us know how you get on with dressage anywhere. How old is she?
 

Farma

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Thanks Rouletterose, that's very kind :) I'm really pleased with our good points, and have lessons whenever I can afford it. Any tips at all for the suppleness and bend issues? I'm trying to push her out with my inside leg but I get no reaction. Also have a bad habit of pulling her out into the corners which causes the incorrect bend, extremely annoyed with myself for that, but working on it!

A little more control from your seat will help, sit up keep her reactions sharp and forward and use half halts to keep her together, they need to be well timed so maybe a few dressage lessons would help to get started. When you push from inside leg make sure it is into the outside hand to keep the control and be sure that you control the rhythm through your body not by pushing her along from your legs. Hope that helps, my old horse started dressage at 18 so dont let the age worry you my old girl did rather well xx
 

SaffronWelshDragon

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You could afford to have her moving a lot more forward, and if you got her sharper off your leg you would probably feel better able to deal with the counter flexion because you can push her into the corners with your inside leg rather than using your outside rein to try and steer her back to the track. If she was going forwards better you would also be able to sit quieter in the canter - at the moment it looks like your putting in as much effort in the canter as her! You look like a very sweet partnership though, let us know how you get on with dressage anywhere. How old is she?

Thanks DabDab - she's 19 :) I wonder how much of it is due to the heat? Bearing in mind she's out all day in the heat (she won't stable) then I ride around 8-9pm, maybe she's had enough. If anything she's always felt to be fairly sharp off my leg, and in a competition environment I've had to work on calming her down. Here's a Prelim 7 from last month: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wegbCkajt3o And Intro A from March for comparison http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8H_MncjXZ0 (I can't believe I actually putting all these on HHO!)
 

SaffronWelshDragon

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A little more control from your seat will help, sit up keep her reactions sharp and forward and use half halts to keep her together, they need to be well timed so maybe a few dressage lessons would help to get started. When you push from inside leg make sure it is into the outside hand to keep the control and be sure that you control the rhythm through your body not by pushing her along from your legs. Hope that helps, my old horse started dressage at 18 so dont let the age worry you my old girl did rather well xx

Thanks Farma, a lot to think about there. Had a bit of a rubbish session this evening so feeling a bit low. Saf was tripping all over the place (just not picking her feet up, something she's eliminated once she's working correctly), I was putting pressure on us to get the test filmed and so I rode like an utter idiot and messed everything up. Gave up filming and tried to end on a relaxed note. You win some etc.
 

FionaM12

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Well I think you both look fab, and good for you for putting your video up!

I would not dare let anyone here see my riding.:eek:
 

SaffronWelshDragon

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DabDab - I've just had a thought, do you think the canter needs to be more forward? The thing is, that she used to run into a canter and then canter very quickly, I'd then have to pull her up. She's now gone the other way and feels like she's going to break canter on the corners and circles (due to her being unbalanced) so I'm working really hard to keep her going - which is exhausting - and then my position falls apart. I really could do with riding a well-schooled horse so I know how it 'feels' to be working correctly, if you see what I mean. I love Saf will all my heart and she's all I've got, so I don't really know any different.
 

be positive

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She looks much happier in the other video, more confident and forward on a decent surface, she may be struggling with balance on the hard ground as much as with the heat. Try and get her straighter so she is not looking to the outside on the long sides, then plenty of inside leg to get her into the corners more, a shorter rein and you sitting up taller will help, try and show a clearer difference between corners and circles, balance her before turning onto and off of the centre line so she finds what is a fairly tight turn more easy to do then she should be easier to keep totally straight towards the end instead of slightly swinging to make the turn.
Otherwise concentrate on riding forward to a good strong rhythm, ride accurately to markers, make sure circles are round and a full 20 metres, go slightly to the right or left of the quarter markers when changing rein across the diagonal, this will give you more time to ride the corner that follows as a separate movement rather than drifting around the corner which happens if you turn too early or aim directly to the letter.
 

blitznbobs

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Thanks Rouletterose, that's very kind :) I'm really pleased with our good points, and have lessons whenever I can afford it. Any tips at all for the suppleness and bend issues? I'm trying to push her out with my inside leg but I get no reaction. Also have a bad habit of pulling her out into the corners which causes the incorrect bend, extremely annoyed with myself for that, but working on it!


To get them to go outward with correct bend take loads of inside rein - if he doesn't yield take more til he does yield ( even if you have to have his head on your knee. With this much bend he will fall out thru his outside shoulder. The second he does yield then release the pull. This horse is not straight enough to go forward so you need to work on that as it is very difficult for a horse to go forward if his back legs are to one side and his front to the other. Another supple ing exercise is to do 20m circle and the leg yield in to a 10 m circle and back out again and once he can do this with an inside bend do it with an outside bend (-that is a really tough exercise)

Good luck with him, he has lively rhythm but he needs to go more forward and uphill
 

JFTDWS

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She looks good - much better than stuff you showed me aaaages ago - but I agree with the comments about forwardness and suppleness. And about the ground - my schooling field has a lot more grass coverage and it's harder than I'd like, and Fergs is much less bold in trot on it (he's better in canter, because canter is the most exciting thing it the world!). Since she's better on a surface in the competition videos, I guess it's affecting Saf too. Damn weather!
 

SaffronWelshDragon

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Thanks again everyone - will take all those tips on board. Am currently experimenting with sprialling in and out in the trot. The ground was just getting like concrete, went down this morning and after the rain she was charging around with Penny for ages in the field throwing some shapes, so wonder whether she's happy the ground's softened up. Will find out if there's a difference when I ride. I have noticed the difference when riding on a surface. I couldn't decide whether it was because of the show environment = exciting, or the the lovely feeling of the surface under her feet.
 

SaffronWelshDragon

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A little update - I entered the Prelim 1 video at DA and just got my results back - 60.00% :) I fear this may be a little generous as I got 58.8% at a 'live' comp a few weeks ago (on a surface) and she felt far more amazing there than it did when I recorded this vid, but nevermind. Plus it got judged by a List 2 judge which I could never hope for in a 'live' comp :D Some really encouraging comments, and helpful ones too, pretty much emphasising what we discussed about incorrrect bend. Anyway, I'm really chuffed with that as I really want to break the 60% barrier in the prelim and so we have done it :D
 
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