Maybe a gentle kick up the derriere needed.. (sorry, bit long)

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MissDeMeena

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Took both ponies for their first schooling session of the winter today..

Polly's aim was to make sure she had some idea of what a dressage arena was, and how to do left and right lead canter.. i wasn't too worried about way of going, but anything good would have been a bonus
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Ernie's aim was to see if my whole different aproach was making a difference.. ie working him long and low at all times on the road, and first go in a double bridle...

So first up Polly... comes out a bit fresh but nothing nasty! She's a very quick learner and will do things because she thinks i want them, not because i've asked her to do them... so for the first time ever today i got left and right lead canter every time (which is a HUGE improvment) but the trouble was, i never actually asked for canter
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i might of though, in a few strides time, when i've set her up correctly, i might ask, and the second i've even started to have the thought she'll pop herself into canter!!
Anyway, she's such a stroppy little b!tch there's no point in arguing with her, so we carried on pottering about, just lots of circles and walk, trot and canter trans.. anyway, we're half way round a lovely canter circle, when i encourage her into a longer and lower outline, well, she likes the sound of this, and takes it to the extreem and starts bucking with her nose on the floor and sends me straight out the side door... i've not been bucked off for a very long time
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So mum offers to lunge her for a bit.... i have to say, i've not seen her moving since the day i went to buy her, and the improvment is HUGE, she's starting to look like something half way good now
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after about 10mins of letting off steam, i get back on, and we do some alright work.. nothing smart, but good enough for a 4yr old ex-racehorse
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Then it's Ernies turn... As i said above, i've been working him very differently since he has come in off his holidays.. long and low everywhere.. Firstly i must explain that we have some amazing hills round us!! most of them are 1 in 4, so VERY steep, and for the last god knows how many years, well, all his ridden life, Ernie has not been able to walk down these hills without dragging his back toes
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to the point where he squared them off very badly, needing shoeing every 4 weeks to give the farrier something to work with.. At the time i thought i'd tried every different way imagionable (sp?) to ride him down the hills to stop this, and resigned myself to the fact that it was his rather strange conformation making it hard for him... he's also quite a lazy git and will trip up, so therefore i was usually keeping hold of his head and making him shorten his stride down a hill, for fear of him falling on his knees
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... Anyway (sorry, i'm rambling now).. I've been riding him this winter, as i said, long and low everywhere, including down the hills, which is making him use his back-end more than ever before. and hey presto, no more dragging toes!!!
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In the past i've always (and i feel, fairly so) blaimed everything on Ernie to do with dressage.. i've always felt secure as a rider on him, and i've worked away trying to improve him...

So, fast forward to today.. come out and warm up long and low, and Ernie is swinging away like i've never felt him before!!
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He worked better on the flat that i've ever felt him before!!!
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For the first time ever i felt like i was riding an amazing pot. awesome horse on the flat.. BUT i felt like [****] on top... i wasn't feeling secure enough to absorb his new swinging movement...


So i've come home feeling rather sore (and to make matters worse it's that time of the month).. and also feeling pleased with myself for the huge improvment in Ernie, but slightly worried that i'm never going to get the hang of riding properly on the flat.. i'm always tipping forwards and can't/don't wrap my leg round him...

Any ideas would be most welcome!!
 
Well I don't even bother trying to sit on a horse for the first 24 hrs of my monthlies anymore. So you may find in a few days you're vastly improved! You have to be as flexible in the hips and back as he is to be able to absorb the movement, working without stirrups isn't necessaily a great thing for this, can you get someone to cast an eye over you? Pop to the W's for a lesson?
 
Sounds like you need to book some lunge lessons on a decent moving schoolmaster and work on your seat
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. It sounds SO boring but it really is the best way.

But failing that, lots of work in trot without stirrups on Ernie but being really careful to ride his BIG trot and not close it down to make it easier to sit. What saddle were you in? perhaps the saddle isn't helping you now that he's found his schwung?

just a word about long and low - make sure that you can bring him up and keep the movement! Otherwise he'll get awfully used to going happily along down there and when you try to bring him up for a test he'll go WTF! and get tight over his back again. Pick him up and make him keep swinging through for the last five minutes before letting him go back down to cool off.
 
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just a word about long and low - make sure that you can bring him up and keep the movement! Otherwise he'll get awfully used to going happily along down there and when you try to bring him up for a test he'll go WTF! and get tight over his back again. Pick him up and make him keep swinging through for the last five minutes before letting him go back down to cool off.

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I should also add... he has only just come back into work, so wasn't really ready for a proper schooling session... he has only been walking on the roads so far...
today, i did 5 mins walking round the school, 10 mins trotting and a bit of canter long and low.. then about 15/20 mins easy but proper work, then finished with a few mins long and low again...

When i brought him back up again, he felt amazing.. in the past i've had alot of trouble keeping him round, but this was soft and working over his back... as i said, he felt amazing.. i just felt like a novice ontop
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Re. the saddle, it's an Albion, narrow twist (or something like that?) and easier than any other saddle i've ever tried sitting in
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Sounds like you need to book some lunge lessons on a decent moving schoolmaster and work on your seat
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. It sounds SO boring but it really is the best way.

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Not boring at all!!! If i felt like it was working i could do it all day long!!!!
BUT, where do you find a decent moving schoolmaster, whos owner doesn't mind lunging you on it??
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Sounds like a good day! sitting big movement is just a question of practice and to be honest the fact that you felt like you were not sitting well means you are half way there! Some time on the lunge or without stirrups concentrating on your seat and you'll feel much more confident.

The lucky bastards who have perfect seats tend to be riding 5+ dressage horses a day, including advanced horses, in front of mirrors and with excellent eyes on the ground at all times.
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ps. lunge lessons: Talland offer them, as do a number of BD trainers - check out the BD trainer's database and ring some numbers.
 
Well i dont know about you but I know that with me, Its very difficult to get back into schooling when you havent done any flatwork for a long time. Plug away at it for the next week with regular schooling sessions and you'll be feeling like a better rider again in no time.

In the last 2/3 weeks ive been schooling my poor horse for 45 mins nearly every single day . This is the first time I've done so much flatwork for years due to various reasons. Boy am I feeling toned and fit now!!3 weeks ago I was weak and pretty useless in the saddle. Now I feel like I can just wrap my legs round him and just stay there in the right position easily.

So it is just fitness!!
 
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web page

You can search by county.

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Have found one in the next town to me... it says this about her....
What does it all mean? that she has ridden to affiliated level herself, and got points upto Elem.. and her last pupil to ride also rode to elem level?? what does group 6 mean????

Achievements
Training achievements Rider achievements
Affiliated


Highest level of points is ELEMENTARY

Facilities
Outdoor arena
Indoor arena
Long arena (20x60m)
Short arena (20x40m)

Rider group
Group 6
Riders who have won points at elementary level after 1 April 1994
 
OB, i think and hope you're probably right... i does seem to take me a while to get back into things!!!

I think i'm just feeling a bit sorry for myself, but also confused by the fact that for once my horse felt amazing, but i felt like the novice...
 
I used to be like a ship at sea on my horse but had one lunging lesson and one without stirrups with Jo this year and it has improved my riding 200%. Its just practise and getting used to it. Every decent rider I speak to says that after a break they have to spend time without stirrups to get back into it again.
 
I agree with everybody else re fitness, practice and gernerally not panicking. Just two things to add: 1) Personally I wouldn't try Ernie without stirrups for a while yet for fear of unconsciuously killing the trot, what I do with big movers I'm struggling with is to establish a working trot I'm happy with, then go sitting between two markers, then rising for a bit, then sit again, making sure rythmn doesn't alter. Throwing in some walk trot transitions into this exercise can also work well, so you have a pattern worked out round the school and just keep repeating it. 2) When I'm in this situation feeling a bit wobbly and not quite in balance, I focus on my core strength ie holding myself up with my tummy and chest muscles, this helps me...

Chill, man, you'll be fiiinnnne
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Thanks guys
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Lec, it was getting weight down through the back of my leg i was also finding hard.. but i remember your woman saying something about that?

TD.. i wasn't going to even try sitting on him for a while, atleast till he's fit enough/strong enough... cos i'm out of work at the mo, it's not helpfull, but last season i used the poor racehorses to ride without stirrups
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but it helped.

I think it's cos i have this grand idea in my head about how it all should be.. and for once Ernie lived up to it, but i didn't!
As i've started early this winter i've got alot longer to sort things out over the winter...

Dressage comp on Sat.. Polly in prelim 18. and Ernie in Elem 50
Would like to just stay on Polly, as feeling rather stiff and sore today
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HAHA, the boy is coming good
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I feel Im struggling like you atm. I know if I can sit to the big guys trot he's def not going anywhere, but when he's swinging and really soft the trot is huge and I still struggled (unless Ive got my shock absorbers sorted)
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I now have this huge bouncy pony, and like you feel like Im swimming up there.

I agree with HS, that long and low is fab, but Ernie is built a little like Winnie so you will have to pick him up from time to time and he MUST stay soft and not change his rhythm.

After spending a few days dressage training over the summer I didnt realise how much I hang on with my seat/thighs. Consequently I was killing the pace and losing the big forward trot.

It was like learning to ride all over again, but now I have a huge forward going pony and Im beginning to at last get that deeper seat Ive always wanted.

I wouldnt take your stirrups away yet, lots of the work you did yesterday will do him the power of good
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sounds like hes raring to go after his virus this summer and cant wait to go eventing again.

xx
 
As you know I have been working really hard on trying to keep the warmblood type trot my horse is capable of but which gets lost via me as I find it such hard work and I struggle to balance to it.
Karen Whiston is Mary Wanless trained as well as being a lovely rider. With me she worked on the tops of my thighs. They should feel like an arch with you putting a lot of pressure there as this is where the stability for your position comes from without you blocking the movement through the horses back or your legs. To get the feeling of what you are trying to achieve stick a fist at the top of your thighs and think about squeezing it. Its this that you want to be thinking about in the saddle. Your pelvis needs to be slightly tucked under you. With your legs I was told straight line through the thigh imagine pushing your knee down as much as they will go this means you are not tightening through the thigh. With my ankles I was told light ankles (it felt like they were by his tail!) which put my legs much further back, weight in my heel and kept my thigh straight and stopped me blocking through my legs.
Finally in the bigger trot I was told when I sat to his rising trot that it should feel more like a trampoline that when you sit you make a positive effort to bounce upwards this makes you lighter and keeps the horses back soft.
I spent about 20 mins doing all this being quite sceptical but the trot got bigger, I got more balanced and the horse just kept lovely and soft.
 
Wow, fab news with both horses, I think your mare let of steam because she suddenly realised she could use her back muscles!
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As for Ernie, I think you need to go and have dressage lessons with a "good" instructor. That will really sort you out
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Mine is brilliant if you can afford the time to come over here and have lessons?
 
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