Steven Smith lesson

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carthorse

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Had a great day.Had my lesson with Steven Smith thanks to Horse mag.The day went really well ,the photographer and journalist were very nice and Steven worked on my canter over small fences and by the time we finished I felt I could have asked him to jump 8 feet.The weather was marvellous and the venue brilliant,I am going back in a couple of weeks so looking forward to that.
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Sounds like you hada great day, well done both of you! Will defiently be looking out for you
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Great day
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although a bit stiff now. It's my age you know
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Really nice meeting you. I will also be going back soon.

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PMSL!
its the weekend catching up with you
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How was your day David?

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Very interesting.
Warmed up as I have been doing since my sessions with Geoff Luckett. Particularly focussing on moving him on and back in the canter.
Stevens first comment was that my moving him on and back was really good but i was being a little too forceful and over riding Ed. I needed to be more subtle when asking him on AND back. Warmed up a little more taking on board the comment and steven was much happier.
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We spent some time working on the lack of right bend that seems to have developed recently and then moved on to popping a small fence (1 foot).
Again I was over riding and was told to focus on keeping the canter short but forward and waiting for the stride to the sweet spot to appear. Steven is very adamant that there is no point looking for a stride when you're still 4-5 strides out and that a horse only needs 2 good strides to any fence. Focus was on waiting for the stride then just softening and relaxing letting the horse do its job. A couple of times I sort of gave up trying for the sweet spot 2 strides out and just let Ed go which raised another interesting point.
Again steven is adamant that you never give up on getting the stride even if it means you only get 1 decent stride or non at all. He believes you can make all kinds of errors on approach as long as you get the horse to the right point for take off.
Once I had this waiting then softening sorted we moved on to some bigger fences which were to put it midly .....easy
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as by this time Ed had lost his upperty fizz and was really letting me ride him softly.
So what were the learning points from the session.

1) I no longer need to ride so aggressively. Ed does now GO off my leg and have a powered canter so I can afford to be more subtle and relax. It would have been interesting to see what steven would have made of Ed prior to Mr Luckett sorting out our power and response issues.

2) Spend a lot of time working over very small fences at home until you can find that sweet spot every time. Seeing a stride on approach to a tiny fence is a lot more difficult than a bigger fence, hence why he uses them. Once you really crack this progression is very rapid

3) Never Never EVER give up on getting that perfect stride.

4) Keep the canter short, in to your hand and WAIT.

5) When you see the stride, RELAX and let the horse do its job.

6) Spend a lot more time working Ed in at comps until he does let me ride him.

Brilliant session and cant wait to do it again.
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Thought I'd better add a bit as my post could imply that steven likes slightly wooly riding which is definitely NOT the case.
I wasn't allowed to come to halt from canter by going down through trot then walk. Rather he insisted on canter to halt immediately.
Getting the short, powered canter back after a fence had to happen within 1-2 strides, NOT half a dozen.
Occasionally Ed would go a bit long and lean. The instant this happened I had to halt immediately, rein back a couple of steps the straight back in to canter.
Emphasis is really about getting exactely what you need and THEN relaxing.
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PMSL!
its the weekend catching up with you
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I can assure you Ed and I both worked 50 times harder yesterday than the weekend. Slept like a log last night.
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Its your age
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Brilliant report, and very interesting read.
You were at my Ollie clinic, and how many times did i get shouted at for not sorting out my canter after the fence sooner
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Yogi was very much for pulling up, reining back and cantering on again with something that lays on your hands.

No. 5 will stay with me continually, as its my big problem and something i have to work really hard on.

Now, am to expect a completely different way of going with Geoff then? as what youve described is very similar to what Im being taught now.....
Equally i dont need much more power! its like riding a rocket as it is
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Now, am to expect a completely different way of going with Geoff then? as what youve described is very similar to what Im being taught now.....
Equally i dont need much more power! its like riding a rocket as it is
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I dont think so.
What Geoff had me doing was absolutely right for us at the time. When I went to Geoff. Ed really wasn't going forward or responding to my leg. His canter lacked power and he sort of collapsed after a fence.
Without doing what Geoff advised I couldn't have done what I did yesterday with so much ease.
I guess its really about the progression of training. Our major issue at the start with Geoff was the lack of response or any sense of urgency about Ed. This did require me to be on his case all the time until it was automatic for him to respond to the slightest 'ask'. What I hadn't realised was how much Ed had improved in this area and that I not longer needed to be on his case. In fact I was in danger of creating another problem as he was responding to a 'polite' ask and me being on his case constantly was starting to pee him off.
As I said, I think my lesson with Steven would have had a very different focus had I not done the work with Geoff.
These top guys work with what is in front of them and deal with the most pressing issue of the moment. Once that is solved they move on to the next issue.
The lesson with Steven came along before I had a chance to go back to Geoff to start on the next issue.
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Sounds like you both had a good time, and learned loads
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It's interesting to hear what he says about finding it harder to see a stride to a smaller fence too, as i would have to say i find the same ! I always put it down to me having to concentrate more to a bigger fence but don't know if there is something more scientific than that
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Rambo, I only have to watch Rich jump a x pole to know how hard it is for the big boys to find a stride over small fences. He says when its goes up it just comes naturally.

Should land me in good sted then.....I only ever jump small fences
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David:- Agreed, in that Geoff or Steven will work with what they have in front of them and not just teach everyone the same. YO was disappointed that I wasnt going to SS
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theres not pleasing some ppl lol
Equally, I see what you mean, as Eddie is quite a laid back kinda guy who needs to be more reactive from the leg. He I would say is like riding winston, so what you are talking about all makes perfect sense. However, some of the exercises wouldnt benefit Snoop.

Squeals.... not long now until my session.
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