racing people/exercise/work riders. Improving position

Ta, best I dont show any other photos then:D. God , he was an honest horse,that one. Signed up for pony club and wound up having to race. 15.3hh .The big horses used to knock him for six going into a fence . 5th fence at Tweseldown once ,two horses cannoned into him and knocked him sideways half the width of the fence , took it and ballanced himself and saved us both . Never was going to win a race but taught me a hell of a lot bless him. cant remember how old I was .17 I think.
 
I am a work rider, and my style in probably pretty bad. TBH I would never ride 'flat' short with my toe just in the stirrup, as I am not sure I would stay on when a random duck flies out of hedge nearly into your horse which then cr*ps itself and launches into the air! (True story, happened today!)
Although my style is not brilliant I have had no complaints, as I manage to 1) Stay on, in most cases, 2) Not get pee'd off with
I think 'feel' is more important than style.
 
dominobrown said:
I am a work rider, and my style in probably pretty bad. TBH I would never ride 'flat' short with my toe just in the stirrup, as I am not sure I would stay on when a random duck flies out of hedge nearly into your horse which then cr*ps itself and launches into the air! (True story, happened today!)
Although my style is not brilliant I have had no complaints, as I manage to 1) Stay on, in most cases, 2) Not get pee'd off with
I think 'feel' is more important than style.
Click to expand...

We don't have ducks we have deer, rabbits and phesants on our woodchip and 2 bloomin annoying dogs to dodge on the sand gallop lol!

At the end of the day everyone is different and so long as you can do your job sufficiently well, keep the beast in check and not make a total erse of yourself then your doing fine.
 
I do ride the horses at Nicky Richards shorter than the pointers as they are better behaved :D
I could improve my style a lot, and probably should ride shorter, especially when schooling. I certainly don't ride like AP! But then again its more about staying on over a fence (for me).
 
dominobrown said:
I do ride the horses at Nicky Richards shorter than the pointers as they are better behaved :D
I could improve my style a lot, and probably should ride shorter, especially when schooling. I certainly don't ride like AP! But then again its more about staying on over a fence (for me).
Click to expand...

Does NR still have a BIG chestnut horse called New Vic/Nugget?!? We had him as a 3yo and have his brother and sister but he was by far away my favourite of the 3 lol!
 
EKW said:
Does NR still have a BIG chestnut horse called New Vic/Nugget?!? We had him as a 3yo and have his brother and sister but he was by far away my favourite of the 3 lol!
Click to expand...

Yes I have been riding him everyday! One of my favourites too :) I have never schooled him but he has one hell of a jump.
 
EKW said:
I couldn't ride as short as those guys! Ride Long, Live Long in my world lol!
Click to expand...

Clearly its just me being incompetent cos I cant get the link to work . Oh well .snafu...... In take it that all you computer literate types with all your modern abreviations know this one.:D:cool:
 
dominobrown said:
Yes I have been riding him everyday! One of my favourites too :) I have never schooled him but he has one hell of a jump.
Click to expand...

Give him a big hug from me! He is a totally awesome horse! Unlike his younger brother who is just as big as him and a total *cough*w r*cough* and his full sister who is much smaller and a total and utter biatch! Lol!
 
Mike007 said:
Clearly its just me being incompetent cos I cant get the link to work . Oh well .snafu...... In take it that all you computer literate types with all your modern abreviations know this one.:D:cool:
Click to expand...

Not a clue what your abv is lol! I think you have to be signed into your Pusbook account to see the pics.
 
Newmarket is very good in that respect - very few living things anywhere near the gallops other than horses and people. There would be outcry if there were dogs, and I have only very very rarely seen the odd rabbit - certainly no deer or pheasants. There would be carnage if there were!! I tended to ride longer when I was in Epsom mainly because there were many more added hazards of dog walkers, loose dogs and random ignorant joggers (one of whom was actually doing sit-ups sitting on the gallop one morning when we were meant to be doing a fast bit!!)

I think Botti's in the photos were mainly working, they aren't riding quite as short as that when I am trotting alongside the town canter in the mornings.

I think there is definitely a flat vs NH style divide here. My OH does ride silly short in pieces of work, but don't think any of us are in a position to criticize him that much, as he has ridden winners under both codes as an amateur, then conditional and apprentice.. whereas pretty much all I manage is falling off P2P no matter how long I ride ;)
 
EKW said:
Give him a big hug from me! He is a totally awesome horse! Unlike his younger brother who is just as big as him and a total *cough*w r*cough* and his full sister who is much smaller and a total and utter biatch! Lol!
Click to expand...

There is no nastiness in him, he sometimes gets excited but wouldn't dump you or anything. I think he would be a nice horse to have around when he comes out of racing too.
 
RachelFerd said:
I think there is definitely a flat vs NH style divide here. My OH does ride silly short in pieces of work, but don't think any of us are in a position to criticize him that much, as he has ridden winners under both codes as an amateur, then conditional and apprentice.. whereas pretty much all I manage is falling off P2P no matter how long I ride ;)
Click to expand...

True. Different type of work, often different type of horses too. I suppose if you look at the style of NHF Bumper race jockey's to flat jockey's its quite different.
We rarely work fast fast over a short distance, and tend to do more stamina work, a lot slower.
 
Its not really about criticising anybody . Its about thinking things through . Too often we take the gospel of riding very short on the flat ,too literaly. The trouble is that folk tend to forget WHY this is done ,and also the problems it can create. A galloping horse without a rider almost never falls. Put a rider on him and suddenly you realise that most things a rider does are negative. My opinion from many years of observation is that the less impact a rider has on the horse thebetter it will run. This meens keeping the cof g as low as possible and as forward as possible. Watch a few lester piggot races and you will see what I meen. Everyone should get the chance to ride round tattenham corner at full tilt ,then you realise why you want to keep as low as possible. Trust me ,it is bloody scary:eek::eek:
 
The pair of us have both ridden round tattenham corner full pelt a few times ;) I'm somewhere in this picture, not very identifiable though..

487503_10151228200876355_1929508137_n.jpg


I still fully believe the shorter you are riding the better you will feel in a piece of proper fast work. It's just all the outside factors which affect how short I choose to ride. If i'm on something that tends to have a bronc or a whip-round jumping off, I generally don't risk it. But to really get the benefit of riding short you have to ride toe-in only as otherwise the balance just doesn't work properly and you end up with lower leg swinging forwards and your hands swinging off the horses mouth. For me its anything that works to avoid having to move my hands and lets me hold them without wrestling them - for my upper body strength is absolutely nil so it's no good me doing a waterskiing impression.. it won't work!
 
RachelFerd said:
The pair of us have both ridden round tattenham corner full pelt a few times ;) I'm somewhere in this picture, not very identifiable though..

487503_10151228200876355_1929508137_n.jpg


I still fully believe the shorter you are riding the better you will feel in a piece of proper fast work. It's just all the outside factors which affect how short I choose to ride. If i'm on something that tends to have a bronc or a whip-round jumping off, I generally don't risk it. But to really get the benefit of riding short you have to ride toe-in only as otherwise the balance just doesn't work properly and you end up with lower leg swinging forwards and your hands swinging off the horses mouth. For me its anything that works to avoid having to move my hands and lets me hold them without wrestling them - for my upper body strength is absolutely nil so it's no good me doing a waterskiing impression.. it won't work!
Click to expand...
I think that the point I am trying to make is that NONE of it is about how we feel and ALL of it is about how the horse feels about our position.
 
Just realised I miss my youth and the fact that I used to be a half decent rider!

Horse in the first photo is the multiple Group 1 filly Sharp Cat

Horse in second photo is Sauve Prospect and also a group winner.

Going to go cry in a corner now. (LOL)

Terri
 
RachelFerd said:
I had it drummed into me by the lads never ever to lean on your knees. Sometimes I revert when they start to tow me, but I soon know about it as my knees end up bleeding shortly afterwards which soon stops me!
Click to expand...

I have had this exact experience...very bleedy knees! Though I must admit it becomes my default when something first tows me, then my brain engages and I hear my boss's voice in my head - 'Weight down through your legs Lau!!'. Funny how it's suddenly easier to swing off them from there...

In regards to the original post, I would certainly agree about fitness! It's about having the core stability not to hang off your horses mouth and instead balance yourself whilst sitting as quietly as is necessary. LOTS of squats, planks and sit ups help! If you can sit on some quiet ones that will just switch off going about their work, practice your possie. Try different things and see where you are most comfortable AND effective, as remember as a work rider it's about doing the best for the horse and it's fitness/education not riding the best finish or looking the most stylish over a fence. Someone told me to think about it as stable enough so that if the horse were taken out from underneath you, you'd land smartly on both feet without wobbling.

I have found now I've got the fitness I have kept it quite well and within a day (sometimes two) of returning from Uni I am lobbing along happily.

A gratuitous work pic...

63191_10200566529947494_1101221577_n_zps64bb4cdc.jpg


EKW said:
Ride Long, Live Long in my world lol!
Click to expand...

I concur! (I am the green one...)

Pentyrch5.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top