Passard (sp?)

ann-jen

ann-jen

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Can anyone help me with this movement? My instructor started this in my lesson yesterday and I just wondered if anyone could help me a bit with it. Basically my instructor told me rather than doing an ordinary half circle and then travers back to the track to think of it as a huge pirrouette and then travers back to the track, but I'm ending up with too much neck bend and her flexed away from the direction we are going in the travers. I assume her head should be pointing down the diagonal line and her quarters flexed in towards the track? Her travers isnt the best along the longside - she can maintain it for 3-4 steps at most so its something that obviously needs a bit of work.
I did find this exercise useful but frustrating yesterday and it definitely improved her canter afterwards and also seemed to make her more responsive to my leg aids afterwards so I'd like to work on it a bit more.
Any tips?
 
No thats not what I mean. Passage is a very collected trot, the thing I am talking about is a lateral movement as a pre-training exercise to half pass.
 
Oh sorry, dressage is a necessary evil, not my sport of choice!
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It sounds as if you are doing the 1/2 circle and instead of holding the inside bend from the circle and directing it in travers to the track with the inside seatbone (as in a half pass), you are using the outside seatbone and possibly the outside hand to push the horse across so you are getting the effect of a leg yield. You may need to really concentrate on how you are sitting as you leave the 1/2 circle so you do not change the balance or bend.

If you can only get a few strides of travers on a long side it could also be that the horse is not yet strong enough to do too many steps and gets tired so is trying to avoid the muscle ache, especially after a lesson which would have been quite hard work! New things always seem to work when the instructor is there and leave you wondering whats going wrong when you are on your own
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Others will probably explain it better than I have though.
 
Thanks - for your reply - you could well be right that my seat aids aren't quite right - I have to really think about it when doing pirrouettes - it certainly doesn't come naturally.
I've realised I haven't explained my problem very well either in that Jenny is flexed in the correct direction - ie in the same flexion as on the half circle but in the travers I assume she should be looking down the diagonal with her quarters flexed in towards the track but it seems more like her quarters are moving down the diagonal with her shoulders flexed in towards the track - I suppose more like a shoulder in on a diagonal line if you see what I mean.
I can't find any referances to this movement in any of my dressage books but my instructor is German so I wonder if its a german thing and there isn't a name for it over here.
 
Try looking for Pessade which should bring up some answers, it is used over here but probably not talked about as much as its a more advanced movement.

If you come off the 1/2 circle with the quarters in semi pirrouette steps the horse will be in the right position for the travers, so you 'just' need to hold the position on the line back to the track (its as if you are asking for a half pass) you should then get what is being asked.
 
Aha - I thought I was probably spelling it wrong! I think maybe I'm staying on the circle too long and therefore positioning myself difficultly and I should ask for the travers earlier.
Thanks for your help.
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