Well, what a difference a day makes! Yesterday morning I had the most AWFUL ride that I have had for quite some months! She was totally unfocussed and running through my hands – it felt vile :o( Maybe because of the hardwork she was a bit stiff – BUT – I had only intended on doing some long loose stuff after the last two days of engaged work. Also although I ‘thought’ I was looking forwards to working with her and had my head in the right place, because I was fretting a bit about my follow up smear after my op last year, in retrospect I think my energy must have been more jittery than normal. So this probably did have an effect although I didn’t think I was displaying any ‘bad vibes’ she obviously picked up on something – animals are such a good barometer for the ‘true’ emotions of people although we try and hide it well.
I cant remember what book it was in but this was termed as the ‘authentic self’ and how horses (and indeed animals in general) are so good at seeing straight through the bravado and acts of humans and respond directly to the ‘authentic self’ and that is why animals are great at sussing out people – even the real GOOD actors cant fool ‘em lol!!!
Anyway back to the session – although on reflection some of this behaviour was probably due to my ‘wired’ energy and some of it may be due to her being a bit stiff and finding it hard to engage as well therefore her evasion has always been to RUSH – I haven’t been happy about her poll area since the Chiro came :o(
As some of you are aware I have been practising ‘poll flexions’ for a while now to great effect (IMHO!) and although I know deep down that Antsje hasn’t released 100% to me, compared to when I first had her it’s a massive improvement. Im not sure WHY she is so protective over the poll area, but I know whenever she is stressed or on high alert immediately she adopts the high neck / fixed poll posture, regardless of being ridden or out in the field. It is a ‘friesian’ thing I think, well all horses raise the head I know but its very pronounced in this breed. So, as I was saying, since the Chiro treatment she has been very ‘fixed’ and ‘protective’ again over this area, noticeable when Im putting her headcollar on and off and also the bridle. When I have been trying to do the flexions she would flex to the left but I could barely get her to flex right – and when I did I then couldn’t get her to make the smooth move back to the left which makes the crest ‘flip’ over. Its as if she was stuck! I havent pushed the issue too much since the chiro as I haven’t wanted to interfere with anything and in honesty it doesn’t seem to have had a big effect on the riding after the initial few days where I got a bit panicky!!
So after I had ridden, I tried again with the flexions and I just could NOT get her to flex! In fact when I asked her to stretch her neck down just straight, it looked kinked **sigh** So I decided to do the thing that seemed to have unlocked the poll when I was experimenting which is to walk her round on a very small circle making sure her shoulders are moving AWAY from me and putting my hand on the top of her poll and just trying to flex the poll and release the neck down. She was really struggling to keep the ‘AWAY’ movement and kept walking into me, but I was quietly insistent and all of a sudden I felt something give and even heard a slight ‘crack’ and all of a sudden she started licking and chewing and released her neck down. I must admit I was little horrified in case Id done something AWFUL!! But I tried rocking her poll form side to side and although not smooth, she was able to flex each way so I left it at that.
Today I decided to do some work in hand just off the cavesson to incorporate some more of this flexing type of work and the ‘Lossyglossy’ (losgelassenheit) stuff on the lunge.
First off I just walked with her around the arena on a loose rein and each time she got all tense and high necked I encouraged her to relax her neck and clicked and treated when she did. She has a particular part of the arena where she can see the road and always likes a good GAWP but I worked on her keeping her attention on me with a relaxed low neck. Once she was consistent with this I stood in front of her and tried the poll flexions – and Lo and Behold, she was as soft as butter with her crest flipping from side to side! I clicked and treated so she understood this was the movement I wanted :o) Then I sent her on the lunge first in walk then in trot concentrating on a low relaxed neck and a swinging back – she was very good and on the whole kept nice and loose even as she passed the ‘gawpy’ spot ;o) I did have to whistle at her a few times to bring her focus back to me lol lol! Then I bought her in close and did the small circles with my hand on the top of her poll and there was very little resistance today and she was able to keep her shoulders mobile and moving away from me!
I sent her back out on the lunge and we did a little bit of canter trying to get the same kind of relaxation as we have in trot. She actually tried very hard! She knows she has to release her neck forwards, but balance I think is still an issue so she gets so far but cant quite release fully and is still a little tight through the back. I realise that some of the neck position is ‘posturing’ on her part for a click and treat hahaha! BUT it is serving a purpose because although not correct yet, this position WILL enable her to build the strength required to fully release the back and neck at some point.
So after a highly frustrating morning yesterday, today could not have been more different! I was so pleased with her efforts, and so relieved that her poll seems a lot looser and I haven’t broken her! In fact even when we had finished and she was standing tied up while I was putting her rug on she was doing lots of ‘yawning’ and chewing so I do think Ive managed to release some more tension again today :o)
I will be interested how this correlates into riding tomorrow as although not massively noticeable I do think she has been struggling with releasing fully into the right bend – made quite obvious by the reverse pirouette video where obviously she was leaning on the inside rein / shoulders and getting stuck. We’ll see!
Showing posts with label in-hand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label in-hand. Show all posts
Tuesday, 16 February 2010
Monday, 15 February 2010
VIDEO!!! Warm up..........
Amy did some video of me yesterday!! I did a bit of work in hand, a bit of girivolta work, some of the suppling exercises that Mike showed me on Saturday and then some of the ‘prelim’ riding which is in a more ‘open’ frame at the end.
Ill start by putting on the in hand work and the girivolta exercises as I think too many videos at once will just be a bit mind-blowing hahaha!!!
Im purposefully asking her to keep her neck released in the in hand work as her tendency is to get short in the neck. It flows better when her neck is ‘up’ but now im working on strengthening her back / neck connection so she gets a bit sticky at times. I always finish with the neck down position as again her base nature is head up and rushing through you – so I like her to keep her neck long and relaxed with her circling round me as it releases any tension of the exercise particularly after the trot as she finds it harder and gets more tense. I do this ridden too, but on writing this I realise not NEARLY as much – a bit silly really. Must keep it in mind for the future. ;o)
Giravolta ridden – again just an example of the work I do to warm up. Reins in the outside hand, whip in the inside to encourage the HQ’s to move over. It would be nice to see her relax her neck more – and she does at times, but at the minute id rather sacrifice the neck for the ‘engagement’ – the neck WILL come ;o) I don’t do this for too long at a time and walk on a long rein in-between changes of rein so we don’t build too much tension through the neck.
In hand Left
In hand Right
In hand Trot
Giravolta ridden
Ill start by putting on the in hand work and the girivolta exercises as I think too many videos at once will just be a bit mind-blowing hahaha!!!
Im purposefully asking her to keep her neck released in the in hand work as her tendency is to get short in the neck. It flows better when her neck is ‘up’ but now im working on strengthening her back / neck connection so she gets a bit sticky at times. I always finish with the neck down position as again her base nature is head up and rushing through you – so I like her to keep her neck long and relaxed with her circling round me as it releases any tension of the exercise particularly after the trot as she finds it harder and gets more tense. I do this ridden too, but on writing this I realise not NEARLY as much – a bit silly really. Must keep it in mind for the future. ;o)
Giravolta ridden – again just an example of the work I do to warm up. Reins in the outside hand, whip in the inside to encourage the HQ’s to move over. It would be nice to see her relax her neck more – and she does at times, but at the minute id rather sacrifice the neck for the ‘engagement’ – the neck WILL come ;o) I don’t do this for too long at a time and walk on a long rein in-between changes of rein so we don’t build too much tension through the neck.
In hand Left
In hand Right
In hand Trot
Giravolta ridden
Monday, 8 February 2010
Musings from the weekend……
On Saturday I thought Id try and be clever and set my camera up on the fence and try and get some video!! I thought Id do a bit of lunging / work in hand first and then a bit of ridden.
Well as she hadnt been ridden for a few days she was proper BOINGY and we didn’t really get much loose calm work on the lunge :o( In fact I think she spent more time airbourne than on the floor lol!! Perhaps best I didn’t get on straight the way!! One thing I did notice is she was quite ‘on the shoulders’ particularly on the right rein where she was looking to the outside on the circle and wieghting her inside shoulder. I brought her in and did some girivolta work with her concentrating on corssing the behinds and moving the shoulders to the outside. I put her back onto a circle again and we did finish with some ‘stretchy trot’ which I rewarded with click n treat :o)
I stopped the camera, and restarted it and got on to ride. She was VERY forward but at least she was also attentive to my seat so although she was boingy she didn’t try and tram off at a million miles an hour lol!
After a few circles etc I could feel that she was struggling with the flexion to the right again and I felt as if we had gone back several weeks in our progress. We also did a bit of canter and if felt absoloutely AWFUL on the right with her wanting to look to the outside and dump on the inside shoulder falling in terribly :o( She was very boingy though and chucked in a couple of bucks which ended up with me loosing a stirrup lol! Im not sure if the bcuks were down to a bit of WHOOPEE or if she couldn’t organise her legs / body?? I was worrying that the chiro work had caused a problem – or maybe im crooked and putting her ‘out’ and she hasn’t got a problem at all! Or maybe there is something kinked in her body ‘normally’ and it became more obvious again after being manipulated back into alignment? Im not sure really but its made me a bit concerned!
I did my normal ‘straightening’ exercises – riding with the reins in my outside hand and working the shoulders / hind legs by touching her with my schooling whip with the inside hand. Finally she ‘let go’ and came into the outside rein and therfore released the inside rein of her own accord :o) We went back up to trot and although it was better she was no where as consistent and kept loosing balance / inside flexion. I worked on both reins in a similar manner and by the end of the session she had definitely improved but I was left feeling a bit discouraged and a little confused by the sudden setback.
Oh! And about the video! I wasnt very clever and it seems my camera wont video without the button being held down. I got 30 secs of my arm in each clip and that was it!!! DOH!
SUNDAY
Today I went into the school for about 10 mins and worked on the girivolta circle with the one handed riding again :o) Today it was much better and I was pleased she seemed to remember the work we did yesterday. I had a brief trot on each rein and again she was more consistent so I left it at that and we went for a hack out :o)
Out on the hack I concentrated on her keeping a nice long frame with swinging strides and an even contact down BOTH reins. I was pleased that she seemed a lot straighter than the last time we hacked out so I definitely think she is improving and getting stronger.
On the way home we did a bit of trotting and in her eagerness on the homeward bound journey she went into ‘flying friesian trot’ I probably shouldn’t have let her get so onward bound and no doubt I will pay for it, but in all honesty she just seemed so thrilled to ‘trot out’ and I was so thrilled that she was thrilled that I let her lol! It truly is quite spectacular and its damn near the closest thing to flying on horseback other than being astride pegasus hahaha!!! The thing is as I looked down her neck, it was very reminscent of how it looks when you are sitting in a carriage and the horse is doing their spanking carriage trot! I really do think she would LOVE to be hitched up and be free to really trot out in true friesian style. Maybe one day…………………
Well as she hadnt been ridden for a few days she was proper BOINGY and we didn’t really get much loose calm work on the lunge :o( In fact I think she spent more time airbourne than on the floor lol!! Perhaps best I didn’t get on straight the way!! One thing I did notice is she was quite ‘on the shoulders’ particularly on the right rein where she was looking to the outside on the circle and wieghting her inside shoulder. I brought her in and did some girivolta work with her concentrating on corssing the behinds and moving the shoulders to the outside. I put her back onto a circle again and we did finish with some ‘stretchy trot’ which I rewarded with click n treat :o)
I stopped the camera, and restarted it and got on to ride. She was VERY forward but at least she was also attentive to my seat so although she was boingy she didn’t try and tram off at a million miles an hour lol!
After a few circles etc I could feel that she was struggling with the flexion to the right again and I felt as if we had gone back several weeks in our progress. We also did a bit of canter and if felt absoloutely AWFUL on the right with her wanting to look to the outside and dump on the inside shoulder falling in terribly :o( She was very boingy though and chucked in a couple of bucks which ended up with me loosing a stirrup lol! Im not sure if the bcuks were down to a bit of WHOOPEE or if she couldn’t organise her legs / body?? I was worrying that the chiro work had caused a problem – or maybe im crooked and putting her ‘out’ and she hasn’t got a problem at all! Or maybe there is something kinked in her body ‘normally’ and it became more obvious again after being manipulated back into alignment? Im not sure really but its made me a bit concerned!
I did my normal ‘straightening’ exercises – riding with the reins in my outside hand and working the shoulders / hind legs by touching her with my schooling whip with the inside hand. Finally she ‘let go’ and came into the outside rein and therfore released the inside rein of her own accord :o) We went back up to trot and although it was better she was no where as consistent and kept loosing balance / inside flexion. I worked on both reins in a similar manner and by the end of the session she had definitely improved but I was left feeling a bit discouraged and a little confused by the sudden setback.
Oh! And about the video! I wasnt very clever and it seems my camera wont video without the button being held down. I got 30 secs of my arm in each clip and that was it!!! DOH!
SUNDAY
Today I went into the school for about 10 mins and worked on the girivolta circle with the one handed riding again :o) Today it was much better and I was pleased she seemed to remember the work we did yesterday. I had a brief trot on each rein and again she was more consistent so I left it at that and we went for a hack out :o)
Out on the hack I concentrated on her keeping a nice long frame with swinging strides and an even contact down BOTH reins. I was pleased that she seemed a lot straighter than the last time we hacked out so I definitely think she is improving and getting stronger.
On the way home we did a bit of trotting and in her eagerness on the homeward bound journey she went into ‘flying friesian trot’ I probably shouldn’t have let her get so onward bound and no doubt I will pay for it, but in all honesty she just seemed so thrilled to ‘trot out’ and I was so thrilled that she was thrilled that I let her lol! It truly is quite spectacular and its damn near the closest thing to flying on horseback other than being astride pegasus hahaha!!! The thing is as I looked down her neck, it was very reminscent of how it looks when you are sitting in a carriage and the horse is doing their spanking carriage trot! I really do think she would LOVE to be hitched up and be free to really trot out in true friesian style. Maybe one day…………………
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
Return of the Super Trot!
Had a REALLY good session this morning! Antsje wasn’t quite so intent on rushing today and that ALWAYS makes a difference :o) PLUS I forsook 5mins of riding and did a little girivolta work in hand before I got on, I think this MUST make a difference as we always seem to have a much better session ridden afterwards.
So after the poll flexions, which incidentally were better today, and the in-hand stuff I finally got on lol! I kept to work on a circle and did a little leg yield then straightened and repeated again a few times. Then I concentrated on gathering her up a little by tap tapping her HQ’s but holding her with my seat, this was easier today as she wasn’t to rushy so she still kept relatively soft in hand. Then we went into trot, left rein first, and it was MUCH MUCH better! She learns so quickly it makes my life so much easier! Well when I get it right anyhow lol! On this rein she does tend to back off the contact a little so I made sure I sent her forward and concentrated on her neck being straighter. Also after yesterdays session I remembered to add transitions into the mix and they were actually quite good! A little progressive but id rather her go down into a soft trans by allowing her time to step under and balance than try and make it to quick and her trail her HQs and brace her neck / back.
We changed onto the right rein and repeated the same work and again I was really impressed with the trot – on this rein she is the opposite and tends to go a tad quicker and leans on the hands for support, so I really concentrated on lifting my hands slightly when I felt her leaning and using my position and a smaller circle to encourage her to slow down a bit! Again we did walk / trot trans and this was also very helpful in getting her off the forehand and stepping under more.
I was also far more mindful of MY position and focussed on a raised ribcage and trotting ‘on my knees’ and I do think that this helped today too.
And to finish we did the same work on the canter as we did yesterday morning – a nice relaxed stretchy canter which was in fact a lot better today because she was more contained so it had more ‘lift’ to it although I wasn’t necessarily asking for it ;o)
So again, after musing about the ride on the way to work, the next thing I need to work on is getting a more immediate reaction in the upward transitions but maintaining the softness and the engagement of the hind leg rather than her bombing off at a million miles an hour lol! Always something to work on!
So after the poll flexions, which incidentally were better today, and the in-hand stuff I finally got on lol! I kept to work on a circle and did a little leg yield then straightened and repeated again a few times. Then I concentrated on gathering her up a little by tap tapping her HQ’s but holding her with my seat, this was easier today as she wasn’t to rushy so she still kept relatively soft in hand. Then we went into trot, left rein first, and it was MUCH MUCH better! She learns so quickly it makes my life so much easier! Well when I get it right anyhow lol! On this rein she does tend to back off the contact a little so I made sure I sent her forward and concentrated on her neck being straighter. Also after yesterdays session I remembered to add transitions into the mix and they were actually quite good! A little progressive but id rather her go down into a soft trans by allowing her time to step under and balance than try and make it to quick and her trail her HQs and brace her neck / back.
We changed onto the right rein and repeated the same work and again I was really impressed with the trot – on this rein she is the opposite and tends to go a tad quicker and leans on the hands for support, so I really concentrated on lifting my hands slightly when I felt her leaning and using my position and a smaller circle to encourage her to slow down a bit! Again we did walk / trot trans and this was also very helpful in getting her off the forehand and stepping under more.
I was also far more mindful of MY position and focussed on a raised ribcage and trotting ‘on my knees’ and I do think that this helped today too.
And to finish we did the same work on the canter as we did yesterday morning – a nice relaxed stretchy canter which was in fact a lot better today because she was more contained so it had more ‘lift’ to it although I wasn’t necessarily asking for it ;o)
So again, after musing about the ride on the way to work, the next thing I need to work on is getting a more immediate reaction in the upward transitions but maintaining the softness and the engagement of the hind leg rather than her bombing off at a million miles an hour lol! Always something to work on!
Monday, 1 February 2010
Reinback Revelations
SUNDAY
Didn’t have chance for a hack out today but did get time for a ride in the arena. I started again with the work in hand, then got on and did the concentrated work on the circles again. And AGAIN we got that beautiful right trot with a really nicely activated inside hind and her seeking the contact forward. We again had a lovely slow balanced trot with such BOINGY steps and a lifted back. IT FEELS ACE!
Tried the left rein again and it was better but still lacking that real elastic and ‘lifted’ feel of the right rein. I was again trying to think of ways to activate that left hind – so I tried some reinback! Well this was an eye opener as she was finding it very difficult to remain straight in reinback on this rein with her 1/4s keep drifting to the inside of the school. So does this mean her right leg is pushing more than her left and swinging the HQ’s in? I really had to keep the outside rein to keep her neck straighter and flick her inside hind with the schooling whip to bring her back straight. Very interesting……
But as I started to get the reinback straighter I could feel her become straighter in the walk forwards also. So then I asked for reinback to trot! To really try and get her pushing that inside hind – I let her go straight for a few steps then put her on a small circle making sure she had her neck straighter and was bent more through her body. We did get a few much better steps in the end and I praised her lots and left it at that.
Now after Ive finished riding I always do these little poll flexions as it does seem to prevent a build up of tension in this area and release anything that has built up during the session. Just lately she has been so soft doing this, always a little stickier on the right but barely anything recently. Now imagine my surprise after this session that she wasn’t very mobile at ALL!! Not on either rein! After a few minutes of rocking her head side to side we began to get that ‘flip’ on the left side but really struggled on the right. So in the end I did what I did originally to get this area mobile and that is to bend her to the right on a small circle, put my hand on her poll and make sure she flexed from this point and then ask her to move around me on a small circle while moving her shoulders AWAY from me. This she found hard for a few steps and either wanted to turn her head out to move her shoulders over or keep flexed but step INTO me! But suddenly she got it, and down she went into a relaxed bend nicely chewing on the bit YAY! So then I tried the little flexions again and hey presto a nice flip to each side. I wonder why it had locked her up though?? Maybe cos she is stiffer through this side of the body?
Anyhow, I shall be interested to see how she feels next ride to the right and to the left.
Didn’t have chance for a hack out today but did get time for a ride in the arena. I started again with the work in hand, then got on and did the concentrated work on the circles again. And AGAIN we got that beautiful right trot with a really nicely activated inside hind and her seeking the contact forward. We again had a lovely slow balanced trot with such BOINGY steps and a lifted back. IT FEELS ACE!
Tried the left rein again and it was better but still lacking that real elastic and ‘lifted’ feel of the right rein. I was again trying to think of ways to activate that left hind – so I tried some reinback! Well this was an eye opener as she was finding it very difficult to remain straight in reinback on this rein with her 1/4s keep drifting to the inside of the school. So does this mean her right leg is pushing more than her left and swinging the HQ’s in? I really had to keep the outside rein to keep her neck straighter and flick her inside hind with the schooling whip to bring her back straight. Very interesting……
But as I started to get the reinback straighter I could feel her become straighter in the walk forwards also. So then I asked for reinback to trot! To really try and get her pushing that inside hind – I let her go straight for a few steps then put her on a small circle making sure she had her neck straighter and was bent more through her body. We did get a few much better steps in the end and I praised her lots and left it at that.
Now after Ive finished riding I always do these little poll flexions as it does seem to prevent a build up of tension in this area and release anything that has built up during the session. Just lately she has been so soft doing this, always a little stickier on the right but barely anything recently. Now imagine my surprise after this session that she wasn’t very mobile at ALL!! Not on either rein! After a few minutes of rocking her head side to side we began to get that ‘flip’ on the left side but really struggled on the right. So in the end I did what I did originally to get this area mobile and that is to bend her to the right on a small circle, put my hand on her poll and make sure she flexed from this point and then ask her to move around me on a small circle while moving her shoulders AWAY from me. This she found hard for a few steps and either wanted to turn her head out to move her shoulders over or keep flexed but step INTO me! But suddenly she got it, and down she went into a relaxed bend nicely chewing on the bit YAY! So then I tried the little flexions again and hey presto a nice flip to each side. I wonder why it had locked her up though?? Maybe cos she is stiffer through this side of the body?
Anyhow, I shall be interested to see how she feels next ride to the right and to the left.
We have LIFT OFF!!!! :-D
Had a FANTASTIC riding experience this week which has helped put some more pieces of the puzzle together.
As it was the weekend I had time to do some work in hand before I rode – I really do think it makes a difference :-D We did some girivolta work, some leg yield from the centre line to the long side and also a bit of reinback / walk / reinback transitions. For some reason she find it harder to keep straight on the left rein than the right.
The last few weeks I have pondering the left rein – I have figured out what was causing the issues on the right rein and have found solutions that work and I can definitely see the improvements. But on the left, where she flexes easier, in fact I have realised now overflexes to the inside I couldn’t really nail WHAT I need to improve on this rein as it does feel pretty good but not quite there……..
So on Saturday we did the inhand work and then I got on. Once in the saddle I kind of repeated the in hand work, doing girivolta and then bringing her straight onto a circle but still trying to maintain that leg yielding feeling of her pushing from the inside hind into my outside rein maintaining the inside bend from my leg. She was feeling pretty good actually so I picked my moment to ask her into trot and BAM out of nowhere I got this flipping FANTASTIC trot!! Never felt her use herself in that way before and MY GOD did it feel good! REALLY good – I cant begin to explain the feeling it gave me but boy is it addictive hahahah!
I really feel that by working on this genuine submission to the inside bend it has unlocked her inside hind leg somehow – but not only that because she is soft through the poll it has allowed the energy to go right THROUGH and the difference in her back was amazing! Now I would say she HAS been working through her back and even now I hold to that statement, but I don’t actually think she has been fully relaxed and there has been some kind of bracing / tension along the energy line of HQ’s to Hand until now.
Its difficult to know if it was the relaxed poll that allowed the hind leg / back or if it was the engagement of the hindleg that gave proper use of the back! In Antsje’s case I rather suspect it was the first ;-) Tension in the poll has always been an issue and I think finally we are starting to see it melt away.
So, back to the transition – as I asked her to go up into trot I could feel her take the weight from behind and step into trot but as she did so her back was just ‘so full’ and ‘bouyant’ it really lifted me up!! But not only that she also sought the contact with an open throatlash area and inside flexion. Now this is a BIG thing for her because she always struggles with that tiny bit of ‘nose out’ reach and can often curl back as a result. The trot was very slow but had far more OOOOOOOMPH than her usual trot and the suspension was unreal lol! So although in some way it was easier to ride because her back was so lifted and carrying, I really had to work hard to keep MY balance as I didn’t want to mess hers up lol!! It just felt DIVINE! I was so flippin pleased with her she got herself a whole heap of treats
So then we changed onto the left rein and I really struggled to get the same feeling out of the trot. So I finally figure out that on the left rein she is too flexed on the inside and is not engaging her HQ’s really at all! And when I do ask for a bit more engagement it becomes a bit like pogo stick steps and doesn’t really come forwards into the hand – not the deep activated steps that flowed through the whole of her body on the right rein!
So I really started to try and FEEL how her body wasn’t straight and what I needed to do to try and remedy this. First off, she has kind of tricked me with the inside flexion! Although she is a lot better at this ‘leg yield’ feeling as in stepping over and feeling her in the outside rein – I had kind of missed the point that she was barely IN the inside rein! Just like I struggle with the right rein in being barely in outside! I had got so fixated with the concept of the inside leg to outside rein that I it had just not dawned on me that although she shouldn’t be LEANING on the inside rein, she did actually have to take some weight into it in order for her body to be straight BIG DOH! So I spent some time asking for her neck to become straighter on this rein and she found it quite difficult. I could almost feel her HQs warping to the outside – in fact complete opposite to the issues on the right rein – which would make sense wouldn’t it? Good Lord I am slow on the uptake! So with a straighter neck but a little inside flexion I started to ask her to take more of a ‘travers’ position with her hind quarters to get some bend though the lumbar region which she had been resisting. I could tell she was finding this more difficult but once she got the idea I could feel her take a deeper step with the inside leg.
I also then had a play with walk pirouettes on this rein – at least I think I did!!! I need to get Mike to check if im doing this correct lol! But it felt like it was a good exercise in getting her to control her HQ’s and flex through the body to the inside.
I let her walk on a long rein and left at that for the day.
As it was the weekend I had time to do some work in hand before I rode – I really do think it makes a difference :-D We did some girivolta work, some leg yield from the centre line to the long side and also a bit of reinback / walk / reinback transitions. For some reason she find it harder to keep straight on the left rein than the right.
The last few weeks I have pondering the left rein – I have figured out what was causing the issues on the right rein and have found solutions that work and I can definitely see the improvements. But on the left, where she flexes easier, in fact I have realised now overflexes to the inside I couldn’t really nail WHAT I need to improve on this rein as it does feel pretty good but not quite there……..
So on Saturday we did the inhand work and then I got on. Once in the saddle I kind of repeated the in hand work, doing girivolta and then bringing her straight onto a circle but still trying to maintain that leg yielding feeling of her pushing from the inside hind into my outside rein maintaining the inside bend from my leg. She was feeling pretty good actually so I picked my moment to ask her into trot and BAM out of nowhere I got this flipping FANTASTIC trot!! Never felt her use herself in that way before and MY GOD did it feel good! REALLY good – I cant begin to explain the feeling it gave me but boy is it addictive hahahah!
I really feel that by working on this genuine submission to the inside bend it has unlocked her inside hind leg somehow – but not only that because she is soft through the poll it has allowed the energy to go right THROUGH and the difference in her back was amazing! Now I would say she HAS been working through her back and even now I hold to that statement, but I don’t actually think she has been fully relaxed and there has been some kind of bracing / tension along the energy line of HQ’s to Hand until now.
Its difficult to know if it was the relaxed poll that allowed the hind leg / back or if it was the engagement of the hindleg that gave proper use of the back! In Antsje’s case I rather suspect it was the first ;-) Tension in the poll has always been an issue and I think finally we are starting to see it melt away.
So, back to the transition – as I asked her to go up into trot I could feel her take the weight from behind and step into trot but as she did so her back was just ‘so full’ and ‘bouyant’ it really lifted me up!! But not only that she also sought the contact with an open throatlash area and inside flexion. Now this is a BIG thing for her because she always struggles with that tiny bit of ‘nose out’ reach and can often curl back as a result. The trot was very slow but had far more OOOOOOOMPH than her usual trot and the suspension was unreal lol! So although in some way it was easier to ride because her back was so lifted and carrying, I really had to work hard to keep MY balance as I didn’t want to mess hers up lol!! It just felt DIVINE! I was so flippin pleased with her she got herself a whole heap of treats
So then we changed onto the left rein and I really struggled to get the same feeling out of the trot. So I finally figure out that on the left rein she is too flexed on the inside and is not engaging her HQ’s really at all! And when I do ask for a bit more engagement it becomes a bit like pogo stick steps and doesn’t really come forwards into the hand – not the deep activated steps that flowed through the whole of her body on the right rein!
So I really started to try and FEEL how her body wasn’t straight and what I needed to do to try and remedy this. First off, she has kind of tricked me with the inside flexion! Although she is a lot better at this ‘leg yield’ feeling as in stepping over and feeling her in the outside rein – I had kind of missed the point that she was barely IN the inside rein! Just like I struggle with the right rein in being barely in outside! I had got so fixated with the concept of the inside leg to outside rein that I it had just not dawned on me that although she shouldn’t be LEANING on the inside rein, she did actually have to take some weight into it in order for her body to be straight BIG DOH! So I spent some time asking for her neck to become straighter on this rein and she found it quite difficult. I could almost feel her HQs warping to the outside – in fact complete opposite to the issues on the right rein – which would make sense wouldn’t it? Good Lord I am slow on the uptake! So with a straighter neck but a little inside flexion I started to ask her to take more of a ‘travers’ position with her hind quarters to get some bend though the lumbar region which she had been resisting. I could tell she was finding this more difficult but once she got the idea I could feel her take a deeper step with the inside leg.
I also then had a play with walk pirouettes on this rein – at least I think I did!!! I need to get Mike to check if im doing this correct lol! But it felt like it was a good exercise in getting her to control her HQ’s and flex through the body to the inside.
I let her walk on a long rein and left at that for the day.
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!
I rode!!! YAY!!!
I think the rest has done us both good as Antsje felt very relaxed and supple and I seemed to be able to absorb the trot better the an normal too :-)
During the break I have been watchin my Bettina Drummond 'work in hand' videos and feel re-inspired to do more of this work so before riding I did 10 minutes of basic giravolta type work in hand, really asking for a stretch down and her stepping away from me with her shoulders as well as her hindquarters. We then moved onto leg yielding from the centre line to the long side and then into shoulder in, finishing with her circling around me in a stretch position as a reward. We did this on both reins. Then I did a little backing up and moving forwards and backing up again - really concentrating on her stretching her neck forward and down (FDO) throughout the exercise.
When I got on she immediately felt nice and soft and light and we did some nice large circles in a forward rising trot in a forward out and down (FDO) position, changing reins frequently and working on keeping the same rhythm throughout.
We then did some backing up exercises while mounted and this always really helps to supple her back as when we went back into trot, her back felt much stronger and 'up'.
So using this, I began to collect the trot up slightly and took sitting trot and worked on 10m circle going into a few steps of shoulder in and then back onto the 10m circle down the long side - we did this on both reins. I also did a bit of leg yield work concentrating on her keeping her hindquarters in line more as she does trail them somewhat esp on the right rein. The quality of her self carriage is becoming quite lovely on the left rein, although I do have to be mindful that she is actually reaching for the contact as sometimes she can collect the trot up but just back off the contact slightly, so when she does this I like to go rising and send her a bit more forwards down and out (FDO), before slowing and containing the trot again.
Then I decided I would do some walk to canter transitions today as she was feeling so good! I was so pleased with her efforts - she is still fallin in a bit and balancing on her inside shoulder but with the walk to canter trans she was able to maintain a slower canter and I was able to ask her for a few leg yield type steps on the circle to try and encourage her to get off the inside shoulder a bit more. Today she really rounded up her back and felt distinctly different and more controlled than I have felt her before :-) We did the same on the right rein, doing a couple of walk to collected trot first to get her off the leg and more forward into the contact as when she anticipates canter she can get above the contact to make the transition but then her back is very braced. As she isnt as strong on the right I didnt expect such a clean transition and accepted 1-2 very cadenced trot strides but I was happy with that as she did stay round and took off on the correct leg. The effect was still the same though and she was able to keep the canter much slower and controlled and again I really felt her lift her back. I clicked and treated and got straight off and made a big fuss of her.
I hope to get some more video soon as she does feel improved again since the last lot :-D
I think the rest has done us both good as Antsje felt very relaxed and supple and I seemed to be able to absorb the trot better the an normal too :-)
During the break I have been watchin my Bettina Drummond 'work in hand' videos and feel re-inspired to do more of this work so before riding I did 10 minutes of basic giravolta type work in hand, really asking for a stretch down and her stepping away from me with her shoulders as well as her hindquarters. We then moved onto leg yielding from the centre line to the long side and then into shoulder in, finishing with her circling around me in a stretch position as a reward. We did this on both reins. Then I did a little backing up and moving forwards and backing up again - really concentrating on her stretching her neck forward and down (FDO) throughout the exercise.
When I got on she immediately felt nice and soft and light and we did some nice large circles in a forward rising trot in a forward out and down (FDO) position, changing reins frequently and working on keeping the same rhythm throughout.
We then did some backing up exercises while mounted and this always really helps to supple her back as when we went back into trot, her back felt much stronger and 'up'.
So using this, I began to collect the trot up slightly and took sitting trot and worked on 10m circle going into a few steps of shoulder in and then back onto the 10m circle down the long side - we did this on both reins. I also did a bit of leg yield work concentrating on her keeping her hindquarters in line more as she does trail them somewhat esp on the right rein. The quality of her self carriage is becoming quite lovely on the left rein, although I do have to be mindful that she is actually reaching for the contact as sometimes she can collect the trot up but just back off the contact slightly, so when she does this I like to go rising and send her a bit more forwards down and out (FDO), before slowing and containing the trot again.
Then I decided I would do some walk to canter transitions today as she was feeling so good! I was so pleased with her efforts - she is still fallin in a bit and balancing on her inside shoulder but with the walk to canter trans she was able to maintain a slower canter and I was able to ask her for a few leg yield type steps on the circle to try and encourage her to get off the inside shoulder a bit more. Today she really rounded up her back and felt distinctly different and more controlled than I have felt her before :-) We did the same on the right rein, doing a couple of walk to collected trot first to get her off the leg and more forward into the contact as when she anticipates canter she can get above the contact to make the transition but then her back is very braced. As she isnt as strong on the right I didnt expect such a clean transition and accepted 1-2 very cadenced trot strides but I was happy with that as she did stay round and took off on the correct leg. The effect was still the same though and she was able to keep the canter much slower and controlled and again I really felt her lift her back. I clicked and treated and got straight off and made a big fuss of her.
I hope to get some more video soon as she does feel improved again since the last lot :-D
Monday, 4 January 2010
Antsje "The Guniea Pig"
Emily came over today to have a play with Antsje to give her some tips when working with her own young mare. Antsje was a superb guinea pig and Emily practised some in-hand work / lunging, clicker work and the ‘one handed riding’ to really get the concept of moving away from pressure both on the ground and ridden and also to understand the importance of the inside leg to outside rein concept when ridden.
I was really pleased with Antsje as I haven’t lunged her for several weeks but she demonstrated her lunging skills very well albeit a tad enthusiastically at times hahaha!!! But at least Emily could see how well the clicker worked to motivate and also for instant feedback when she did something well **smile**
Then I got on and was pleased to see she had still remembered yesterdays suppling work and was very light on the inside rein. I demonstrated the one handed work and also the girivolta type steps and then Emily had a go too.
I was really impressed how good Antsje was at ‘teaching’ – lord knows why! She has been teaching ME for years HA!!!
I was really pleased with Antsje as I haven’t lunged her for several weeks but she demonstrated her lunging skills very well albeit a tad enthusiastically at times hahaha!!! But at least Emily could see how well the clicker worked to motivate and also for instant feedback when she did something well **smile**
Then I got on and was pleased to see she had still remembered yesterdays suppling work and was very light on the inside rein. I demonstrated the one handed work and also the girivolta type steps and then Emily had a go too.
I was really impressed how good Antsje was at ‘teaching’ – lord knows why! She has been teaching ME for years HA!!!
Tuesday, 16 June 2009
Its all in the mind....................
Hers and mine!! Focus and calm.............Focus and calm.............
Another couple of good sessions!
Saturday we rode in the outside school as there was lessons in the indoor – there was also a lesson in the outdoor!! But it was a good opportunity to work on Antsje’s focus as we had a double whammy of outdoor school and lots of horses!!!
In fairness, on the whole she worked well. We did similar exercises as I have been working on in hand to get her attention on me and my seat aids. This consisted of balanced and submissive walk / halt transitions then moving onto walk / reinback / walk / halt transitions. She was very ‘sticky’ in reinback on the right rein to start with, but one great thing about reinback I have found is that it really does seem to unblock her and release her back and neck after a few goes. We then moved onto Shoulder-in in walk and really focussed on getting the postioning from my seat. If she started rushing, we were back to the walk / halt / reinback transitions which now we have been using for a few weeks seem to serve as a good cue for her re-focussing on me.
By the time we had done all this, she felt really nice and loose and supple and we moved up to trot. I am still concentrating on walk / trot / walk and then halt / trot / halt transitions. She has NEVER had any problems trotting round and round so I don’t think this work is going to cause any problems with her forward thinking lol!! But what I hope it will achieve is better balance and better focus on my seat aids, which has always been a bugbear of mine. I really do think that downward transitions are a real indication of engagement and balance, moreso than upward transitions! Antsje is actually quite good at soft balanced upward transitions now, but it is interesting for me to realise that she looses this balance quite quickly once in trot, and when I ask her to come back down to walk, she is not sufficiently balanced / engaged / on my aids to make a nice soft transition and often collapses into walk – as do I!! **blush** so I must also be sufficiently balanced / engaged / and ‘with her’ when making a downward transition.
This was very apparent in the work as when we were on a circle and doing lots of quick transitions, my seat was better, and Antsjes balance and engagaemnt was better – but as soon as we came off the circle and rode the long side, I could feel her start to ‘tram’ again and I lost that lovely feeling of ‘togetherness’ as we became out of sync with our tempo. I am almost positive it is mainly a strength issue and that she is just not ‘there’ yet on straight lines and she misses the support of the circle. I do also think she looses ‘focus’ mentally on a straight line too and becomes more ‘gawpy’ and we get moment of the Friesian Full Alert high neck / tense back / pogo steps lol!! Still I do think it is crucial to keep mixing the two together and keep extending the length of ‘straight’ line she can do without loosing the balance / focus.
This morning we did in-hand work in the indoor school and she is really ‘getting’ the focus work now. We only had one ‘walk through me halt’ and it was the first one we did. After a quick reprimand and backing up, she was perfect for the rest of the session. Her reinbacks were also a lot less resistant right from the start although they can still be a bit faltering and not diagonal at times. Im wondering how do I encourage diagonal movement in reinback or will it just improve the stronger and more confident she gets? I will have to do a bit of reading and see what I come up with! So after the same walk /halt / reinback transitions we did some girivolta work and the leg yielding to the long side and then shoulder-in up the long side, into a circle and giravolta again on both reins. She is getting much better at staying with me through all of this now, and I with her. I can now feel the beginnings of the ‘rushing’ before we actually get it and can therefore rebalance before she gets to the point of ‘lala land’ hahahaha!
We then finished with a little bit of lunging work with very short transitions between walk / trot / canter. I was very pleased with this as her reactions on the downward transitions were very good, particularly the trot to walk. After she had cantered a few times I had to get her to re-focus again on trot to walk but it only took a couple of attempts for her to become calm again which was very good considering how exciting she finds canter!!
So I am feeling quite positive about the progress at the moment. Yes, we have a LOT to do, and we are still doing such very basic stuff – but until this is completely confirmed, I know from experience there is little point of doing anything else ;-)
I am now thinking it might be a good idea to do this ‘in – hand’ focussing work in the outdoor school. I wonder how much of it is the indoor school ‘confinement’ and how much of it is her now being mentally in the zone when she works in here. It will be interesting to find out.
Another couple of good sessions!
Saturday we rode in the outside school as there was lessons in the indoor – there was also a lesson in the outdoor!! But it was a good opportunity to work on Antsje’s focus as we had a double whammy of outdoor school and lots of horses!!!
In fairness, on the whole she worked well. We did similar exercises as I have been working on in hand to get her attention on me and my seat aids. This consisted of balanced and submissive walk / halt transitions then moving onto walk / reinback / walk / halt transitions. She was very ‘sticky’ in reinback on the right rein to start with, but one great thing about reinback I have found is that it really does seem to unblock her and release her back and neck after a few goes. We then moved onto Shoulder-in in walk and really focussed on getting the postioning from my seat. If she started rushing, we were back to the walk / halt / reinback transitions which now we have been using for a few weeks seem to serve as a good cue for her re-focussing on me.
By the time we had done all this, she felt really nice and loose and supple and we moved up to trot. I am still concentrating on walk / trot / walk and then halt / trot / halt transitions. She has NEVER had any problems trotting round and round so I don’t think this work is going to cause any problems with her forward thinking lol!! But what I hope it will achieve is better balance and better focus on my seat aids, which has always been a bugbear of mine. I really do think that downward transitions are a real indication of engagement and balance, moreso than upward transitions! Antsje is actually quite good at soft balanced upward transitions now, but it is interesting for me to realise that she looses this balance quite quickly once in trot, and when I ask her to come back down to walk, she is not sufficiently balanced / engaged / on my aids to make a nice soft transition and often collapses into walk – as do I!! **blush** so I must also be sufficiently balanced / engaged / and ‘with her’ when making a downward transition.
This was very apparent in the work as when we were on a circle and doing lots of quick transitions, my seat was better, and Antsjes balance and engagaemnt was better – but as soon as we came off the circle and rode the long side, I could feel her start to ‘tram’ again and I lost that lovely feeling of ‘togetherness’ as we became out of sync with our tempo. I am almost positive it is mainly a strength issue and that she is just not ‘there’ yet on straight lines and she misses the support of the circle. I do also think she looses ‘focus’ mentally on a straight line too and becomes more ‘gawpy’ and we get moment of the Friesian Full Alert high neck / tense back / pogo steps lol!! Still I do think it is crucial to keep mixing the two together and keep extending the length of ‘straight’ line she can do without loosing the balance / focus.
This morning we did in-hand work in the indoor school and she is really ‘getting’ the focus work now. We only had one ‘walk through me halt’ and it was the first one we did. After a quick reprimand and backing up, she was perfect for the rest of the session. Her reinbacks were also a lot less resistant right from the start although they can still be a bit faltering and not diagonal at times. Im wondering how do I encourage diagonal movement in reinback or will it just improve the stronger and more confident she gets? I will have to do a bit of reading and see what I come up with! So after the same walk /halt / reinback transitions we did some girivolta work and the leg yielding to the long side and then shoulder-in up the long side, into a circle and giravolta again on both reins. She is getting much better at staying with me through all of this now, and I with her. I can now feel the beginnings of the ‘rushing’ before we actually get it and can therefore rebalance before she gets to the point of ‘lala land’ hahahaha!
We then finished with a little bit of lunging work with very short transitions between walk / trot / canter. I was very pleased with this as her reactions on the downward transitions were very good, particularly the trot to walk. After she had cantered a few times I had to get her to re-focus again on trot to walk but it only took a couple of attempts for her to become calm again which was very good considering how exciting she finds canter!!
So I am feeling quite positive about the progress at the moment. Yes, we have a LOT to do, and we are still doing such very basic stuff – but until this is completely confirmed, I know from experience there is little point of doing anything else ;-)
I am now thinking it might be a good idea to do this ‘in – hand’ focussing work in the outdoor school. I wonder how much of it is the indoor school ‘confinement’ and how much of it is her now being mentally in the zone when she works in here. It will be interesting to find out.
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