Your tips please- How to improve!? (yourself not the horse!)

[silvershadow81]

Just over two weeks ago, I took the plunge and bought a 4yo, my dream horse! I've had some very sharp quirky horses in the past, and the main objective was to stay on. I am now finding myself having to ride in a completely different way with my new girl. I also want everything I do to be completely correct and I am becoming rather critical of myself.

So, thought id turn to you lovely lot and ask:

'When your riding, what are you aware of, what do you concentrate on getting right, what can you hear your instructor shouting at you, what are your main things you are doing?!' (and your probably doing them without realising!!)

I've got some flatwork lessons booked in for next week, but wanted to remind myself there is more than 'heels down, toes to the front!!'

 

[PaddyMonty]

During early training my focus would be
1) making sure my position is good. It's very easy to block a horse or give confusing signals through riders position. This is head to toe.
2) Make sure horse is forward but not to the point that they are pushed out of balance all the time.
3) Make sure I'm not nagging the horse and creating the problem of a horse dead to aids in the future.
Get those right and you'll have a good basis going forward to work with.

 

[milliepops]

Oooh another good thread in C&T for work avoidance

What are you aware of:
keeping an even contact (I have a wandering left hand sometimes). sitting evenly on both seatbones (little horse tries to push me one way), instant reaction to aids then not nagging, assess each step taken for quality. Hmm this is difficult to separate what the rider does from what the horse is doing, because unless the horse is straight, supple and through to a degree, it's very hard for the rider to become more 'correct'. Also aware of keeping a sense of humour. Your horse doesn't do things wrong to wind you up, though many people let frustration cloud their judgement when riding

Concentrate on getting right:
not letting small things slip, or not getting lazy about details. e.g. I know my cob's right canter is better if I sit slightly toward the inside. she pushes me to the left to avoid having to engage that leg so it's difficult to correct and each time we strike off I have to remind myself to sit to the inside slightly. All sorts of little details so generally becoming less accepting of small mistakes as a rider - always correct a halt that isn't square, etc

What I can hear my instructor shouting at me:
Shorter reins, sit on my seatbones. I try to think of having my horse like a speedboat skipping across the water, as that helps me to sit on my bum rather than perch. I can also hear him laughing along with me when it unravels :lol:

what I'm doing:
Well that's really hard to answer in terms of what I'm doing *myself* rather than what I'm asking the horse to do, because if you are doing something well, it's probably become part of your subconsious! I'd say the thing that comes naturally to me now is correct use of the outside rein to straighten a horse. It goes against your instincts, but when you learn how to use it, it's so obvious that you don't notice you are doing it anymore until you try to help someone that hasn't had that lightbulb moment.

Similarly, to sit in the direction of travel for lateral work. Like in the half pass, sitting against the direction of travel makes the exercise much harder, but that's counterintuitive when you first start.

With regard to the horse, what I'm doing is trying to challenge the way of going as much as I can. It's easy to get lulled into a false sense of security having a lovely time swinging along on the track. Then you make a change of rein and lose balance on the turns, your contact goes wonky and the horse bogs off on the diagonal. So by constantly moving on and off the track, turns, circles, on, back, change gear, change pace.... you can honestly appraise the progress you are both making. It's still nice to have those easy bits on the track though, so I tend to start and finish like that so we both get a good feeling

 

[LeannePip]

I completely know how you feel, I have a lovely 5yo who when i bought last year, I was paranoid i was going to screw up because i thought she was far too good for me.

The things i try to remember to make me a better rider/ owner;

I try to remember to always be fair, to your self and the horse. If i am asking her for something that she is capeable of i expect an attempt or an answer, i dont give in or give up on something if the question is reasonable, i might re-asses or come back to it but dont automatically assume i am doing it wrong just because it didn't work immediately. At the end of the day, with what ever discipline, you are working towards a partnership where you can ask them to do something and they oblige willingly, so I try to instill this from the very beginning, in return they get a reward be that a pat or a stretch or a give and retake and like wise i must not ask stuff that is unreasonable or get frustrated when she finds something new difficult.

I have a game plan of where i want to go and what needs to improve to get there, this changes all the time but it helps to make progress.

Don't focus on one thing too long, be that in a training session or over a week, come back to things and re-asses.

I have as many lessons as i can afford.

I try to keep things varied and fun.

Check you are not hindering the horse with your position, develop some self awareness, i find this especially hard during lateral work so, i stop have a little shake and try again!

And i find most importantly to regularly take stock of how far you've come and what you've achieved. With youngsters things sometimes dont happen very quickly so it can feel like you aren't getting anywhere, i had a blip a few weeks ago because our trot-canter transitions were hair raising at best and didn't seem to be getting any better. So my instructor made me look at the things we had achieved and where we had come from in other areas and the trot/canter transition isuues just paled into insignificance really. Its still only about 80% good relaxed and consistent but we are coming from about 10% a couple of months ago, as soon as i stopped worrying about it, it got better! go figure!

And Finally - just enjoy it, with youngsters you will learn so much if you are open minded and receptive to what they are telling you!

ETA: What is my instructor always shouting at me;
Right shoulder back
Do it again
Diagonal
I said sitting trot/ that's not sitting trot/ stop laughing/ why have you stopped (in that sequence usually)
Hmm its okay (never one to give out too much of a compliment)

 

[GemG]

All very good pointers.

General thoughts -

* set yourselves up to 'win' when trying new things (baby steps)
* common sense - never lose, it takes you a long way
* a lot of the time your gut feeling will be right
* patience, patience and more patience, e.g. When things aren't working you know when to call it a day (session) before you lose your rag and spoil a horse.

An instructor that is on your wavelength is valuable, even once a month. Gives you aims, motivation and there's nothing better than a good critique on the ground...

Don't overthink it. Enjoy.

* oh and don't forget the value of time spent on the ground. You can build a real bond if you have time and interest. That bond will help see you through the scary moments!

 

[meesha]

Always ride correctly, don't get sloppy. Ask for stand at every junction, if you ask for something in the school ask clearly. Someone has on their profile "don't let him do that" ....

On second youngster, first was fab but I never enforced anything, we had a lovely time but I was sloppy (still prob am). Trying this time to be clear and totally consistent ....

Also totally agree with other posters, set yourself up to win but if you find an issue don't ignore it tackle it in baby steps!!

My 4 year old wouldn't stand to be mounted, wouldn't tie up, wouldn't pick feet up, wouldn't load...... I am a novice but with work he is now 110% at all of those and much more, I am happy to get off out hacking and can pop straight back on him, when I got him it could take 30 mins to get on.... I kid you not!!

 

[LiffWee93]

What a great idea for a thread!

I agree with the post that says it's hard to really ride correctly until the horse softens and is through and in balance, however....

What I'm aware of - that I pull up through the back of my knee, I need to sit *up*, sharp reaction to aid then leave alone, half halt... Lots!!!
What do I concentrate on - all of the above really, really pulling down the back of my knee, keeping my left hand and ankles still, and that we have enough power without hurrying

What I can hear my instructor saying - do you have any sense of direction? STEADY, halt halt- soft - leg- half halt, do it again!!!!! Hmmmm that's okay ( compliment of the century ha)

 

[Bernster]

So many helpful comments! I tend to overthink as I have so many things to improve on and am a bit too 'active'. At the moment I'm working on riding him forward into the contact, not pulling back - that's my main issue.

As for my position, it's woeful. Biggest things are my left leg/heel, which ends up near my backside, and trying to sit straight as I get all cork screw reacting to how F is going (which is partly him reacting to me too, but not completely as he does it with other riders too).

As others have said though, I try to remember we are improving, just at a slow pace. I am also guilty of getting frustrated when it's not working, so this thread has reminded me to remember he's not doing it on purpose (in fact he gives 100% whatever I ask of him), were just not quite there yet.

Enjoy your new horse!

 

[ljohnsonsj]

I am aware I push my seat back and my shoulders forwards, I can feel myself doing it so need to give myself a mental smack back to the right place.

My main problem is being too keen ( I blame many years on ponies) If I'm a bit behind on a stride or feel im a way off, I know I should sit up and hold and let the babies get underneth and jump themselves out, I am there to offer support. Many years of jump offs on ponies makes riding for a long fast stride a really hard habit to get out of!

 

[muddy_grey]

ljsj - I hear you! It is really hard to not ride when you see a stride, even though your brain knows your on a youngster, autopilot can take over!
As others have said making sure you don't nag and the horse is sharp of the aids is number one in my book.
I try not to work on too many things with my own position as I find it counter productive. My instructor tends to give me 1 or 2 things at a time. At the moment it is my lower leg, in particular keeping my left heel down, which is made much harder due to numbness in my left leg below the knee. I need to re-learn how it feels when it is correct as at the moment nothing feels right!
No.2 is holding my hands a bit higher.

I am always thinking of her shouting "shorten your reins" and "no even shorter"

 

[Vodkagirly]

Get someone to video you. I learn a lot from watching myself. It drives home what the instructor has said.