What does it mean to say someone rides 'positively'?

[jkitten]

I had a vague notion that it meant riding with a certain amount of enthusiasm or spirit or whatever you want to call it, but recently saw a comment on a dressage sheet that said 'rode positively and quietly' which makes me think it must mean something different than I thought, otherwise that comment wouldn't make sense. Help please?

 

[paddi22]

a lot of people, especially in prelim ride very backward in dressage, they fiddle/lock with hands and stop the horses flow and forwardness. it usually results in a choppy tense way of going. I would read that comment as a compliment on you just letting the horse travel without interference or restricting it too much.

 

[MidChristmasCrisis]

Positively ridden in this context to me, particularly when paired with quietly would mean I’ve watched a well ridden test with all the elements completed as expected on a forward going horse.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Riding positively is good in my book as someone who can be guilty of being rather passive and ineffective at times.

When lining up to canter for the pro tog who took the pic in my avatar the trekking centre owner told me to ‘ride him like I stole him’ ie not my usual old ladies canter .

Same back in my dressage days. Rode much better when positive and thinking forwards throughout the test.

 

[AdorableAlice]

Leg to a forgiving hand, allowing the horse to go forwards in balance. Sitting up and look where you are going next, not studying its mane is positive riding in my book.

 

[Highmileagereindeer]

Not just being a passenger on a schoolmaster, but quietly giving clear instructions.

 

[Red-1]

To me it means that you are pro actively directing operations rather than sitting passively like a victim and firefighting when things go wrong.

In a quietly ridden dressage test it may mean some or any of: looking where you are going, keeping forward momentum, half halt to rebalance, leg on to engage horse, preparation for a transition, riding the corners to advantage, catching a loss of momentum or balance before it intensifies, setting the horse up for a movement, etc etc.

 

[spacefaer]

I'd take it to mean effective, in a good way.
And what others have said so far too.

 

[jkitten]

Thank you all for your explanations! I have a much better sense of it now.

Reading them I do think the judge was being very generous though, I'm very novicey, it was my first ever event of any kind and the horse I was on is quite new to me. He's a kind soul and very well schooled but still Welsh and has had some unfortunate experiences at events in the past and so was very wound up when we arrived, to the point that my trainer recommended a body protector even in the dressage (we were doing combined training). So really my only goal was to keep everything calm and relaxed and hopefully complete an approximation of all the movements in roughly the right places, no notion of leg to hand or anything like that (I'm not sure I even know how to do that at the best of times to be honest ). We did achieve what we set out to though and it's always encouraging to get kind comments even if perhaps not fully deserved this time!

 

[SEL]

Thank you all for your explanations! I have a much better sense of it now.

Reading them I do think the judge was being very generous though, I'm very novicey, it was my first ever event of any kind and the horse I was on is quite new to me. He's a kind soul and very well schooled but still Welsh and has had some unfortunate experiences at events in the past and so was very wound up when we arrived, to the point that my trainer recommended a body protector even in the dressage (we were doing combined training). So really my only goal was to keep everything calm and relaxed and hopefully complete an approximation of all the movements in roughly the right places, no notion of leg to hand or anything like that (I'm not sure I even know how to do that at the best of times to be honest ). We did achieve what we set out to though and it's always encouraging to get kind comments even if perhaps not fully deserved this time!

A judge will always appreciate watching a tricky horse being allowed to travel rather than it being held back or fiddled with

 

[AppyLover1996]

When I had a similar comment popped at the bottom of my dressage sheet, I was aboard Baggs my 20 year old Appaloosa cross, who thought dressage was absolutely the most god awful thing to do and it's much more fun to freestyle your way around a test, rather than do the set movements......think we managed 3 out of the 7 circles, an impressive trot to halt transition that wasn't in the test and we threw a few flying changes in for the hell of it

I asked the judge for feedback on how to improve and what she meant by "Ridden positively and nicely" on my sheet as I felt that the entire test was more me trying to stay in the white boards and not hit the deck. She replied that despite Baggs being full of himself and not sticking to the script, I sat quietly, rode forwards at all times, gently corrected his outbursts, had some lovely moments of work and in general that I made a nice positive picture, despite my pony being determined to freestyle the entire test!

She did admit that she loved his enthusiasm for life and it made her day a lot more entertaining, even if it was at my expense

 

[Breather]

I had a vague notion that it meant riding with a certain amount of enthusiasm or spirit or whatever you want to call it, but recently saw a comment on a dressage sheet that said 'rode positively and quietly' which makes me think it must mean something different than I thought, otherwise that comment wouldn't make sense. Help please?

Riding positively = the rider is taking the horse, not the horse taking the rider. The rider isn’t correcting issues, she’s creating the horse’s correct way of going.