Mary Wanless Riding Style

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mickey

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Does anyone use this?
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Does it involve closing your upper leg/thigh rather than opening it?
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Is it an effective method, or something you wouldn't touch?
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Have done and like everything somebits work and somebits dont. I found it very useful knowing the mechanics of how things work and have found if things are going wrong that I use this method of thinking to put it right, as I now know which bits of me I should be using
 
I was guinea-pig for a Mary Wanless lecture demo a few years ago, and she rearranged me quite bizarrely, i ached afterwards like a beginner. iirc it was an open-ish style, but thinking of the knees pointing downwards not forwards, "as if you have headlamps in your kneecaps and want to point them at the ground" i think she said. i can't say as it has really stuck with me tbh, but i did think she made a profound difference to the way the SJer, Dressage rider and Novice rode... it was just me that was so set in my ways as an Eventer, i think!
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Am trying to undo everything that I got from it I am afraid...should have known better than trying to completely change myself after 30 years of doing just fine my way
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The one GOOD thing is that I am incredibly body aware, but that in itself can cause probs as I get hooked up on it. Another good thing is the core strength, that cannot be taken away and it is a mark of a great rider (sadly mine is shite!).
 
I have had a few lessons with this and I found it did help me, not so much closing your upper leg as pushing you knees down and you pelvis deeper, seat bones down and just a much stronger feeling through the upper leg (not good at explaining)
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I would say its all about those core strength muscles you use during pilates and yoga and learning to use what she calls bare down through you into the horse!
hope that makes sense
did help calm down my TB quite a lot and he started to relax through his poll much more
 
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The one GOOD thing is that I am incredibly body aware, but that in itself can cause probs as I get hooked up on it. Another good thing is the core strength, that cannot be taken away and it is a mark of a great rider (sadly mine is shite!).

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Snap... I thnk my leg position is wrong but i keep getting told it is fine, and now at least I know about core strength and that mine is lacking
 
I tried it. Admittedly, not with an instructor - I bought the books and tried the step by step changes. It felt ok at first, but as I progressed my riding, I found that it didn't work for me. I now do what my dressage instructors tell me to do because that works better for me!
 
I'm a fan.

Its not just about a different technique.. its about the language used to explain the instructions.

happy to discuss off-forum in more detail if you have specifics you are confused about.
 
I found that too Stella. It all seemed a lot of hard work, plus I got into the bad habit of keeping my lower leg TOO far back.

I think the "bear down" is the hardest concept. I have only ever heard one other instructor mention it, and that was for saddleseat, where of course your lower leg is not in contact with the horse's side except when giving aids. It does work, but it is a very different sort of riding, and it can also lead to a lot of tension if you are not careful.

I heard of one rider that "had spent 5 years" doing the RWYM way, but when she went for a "classical" clinic, the spooky, tense horse just relaxed immediately and went so much better.

Like all things, there is a lot to take in and digest, but Mary has at least carefully analysed how people ride and what muscles are used.
 
I am another fan! Absoloutly love it, have been having lessons on an off with an amazing RWYM instructor for about 3 years now, also been to two demos. I find it works with most horses, and has had an amazing affect with some that I have ridden, but NO riding style will work with EVERY horse, and as fustrating as it has been at times having to learn all the different techniques, I now feel very lucky at the fact that ive been taught by a good handfull of very different instructors, which has provided me with many 'tricks' to pull out when needed. But this is the style i think i would like to master, but, you dont have to do all the strength in all the places, some horses ive ridden, bare down is all you need, others thigh strength is enough, some nothing, some all of it with all your strength! Somebody mentiond that it made them feel tense... everything in life requires an essence of tensity and muscle tone, your just not aware of it, and you would get to the point of that in riding too
 
I went through a number of lessons at a yard where they had obviously absorbed this as their Bible, with a bit of Sally Swift thrown in for good measure. The analogies work for me and I use some of it, but I feel as though I probably have too much tension through my lower back and thigh as a consequence, whereas my lower leg seems to rarely actually make contact with the horse's side.

I do have a masterful half halt from my seat and thigh as a result of it though
 
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