Why is it that once you start talking about how the horse carries himself, people get all "different" about it? I'm so tired of Dressage Queens. They've been around for years. They are perfectly, mostly nice people. They can't ride their way out of a paper BAG. Sorry, Mugwumps always interests me, because of the typed training tips. It's been really cool, learning some more "classic" western. The topic of lead changes starts becoming, oh you ride english, or western, as if there is a huge difference in HOW the HORSE goes. The comment one DQ made, "The western horse is more comfortable, easier to sit." Yeah, right. Uh, huh. Betcha dollars to Donuts that DQ NEVER rode a good cuttin' harse. Or a Porsche Polo Pony. Betcha not. It's like once you're sitting on a giant WarmBlood, everything else goes out the window. A QH can deposit you more handily than a WB. Yes, I've ridden BOTH. There is one difference. Paltry. You cover more ground with each stride. There is a Gorgeous movement going on. SO?? What does the DQ do?? OMFG, please, work on the halt again. Theze DQ's are juuuust chicken. Berack, brack, brech. Forward, WHOA!! That skeered me. Where's my big-ass bit?
Grrr. The worst DQ's never, ever leave the arena. How the horse stays sane is again, a tribute to the equine kingdom. And of course, often, the horse is um, happy to get out. Eeeeeek. Let's work on some halts and turns on the forehand, REALLY annoy the horse. Round and Round and Round. Gah.
We've bred these incredibly athletic horses, and wonder why they are so powerful in their movements. "Hard to Ride??" What?? Helllooo?? Not really. They want to go forward, and jump. This is a GOOD thing. Why can't Anky halt her horse? (she won at 2008 olympic dressage, for those who don't know)
Funny, not many seem to be able to ride the darn things well. Belinda Trussell is brilliant, of course, I'm talking the lower levels. When did hauling on the mouth become so de rigeur... Anyway, DQ's get their leads, "flying changes" just like the QH's poop, same as ALL other breeds of horses.
It's the same. Only different, by breed. Jeeeesh.
Horses, Let them run and jump, or go home. The Driving Harses? That's another story, altogether. I've ridden them too, they're frickin' built to move that way, again I'd love a DQ to ride an ASB. B'bye:) I think you are pushed back, by them, it's the way they are built, in my humblest opinion.
Holy crap, where the heck did THAT come from? I will mention Bunny ain't No Kind of Riders blog, again, although she's disappeared. Cause she gets it, too. That's her pic of "Fabian" & Reiner Klimke. I hope, cause Steve didn't elect to answer my perviously blatherings.
Wow. (shakes head, off for dinner check)
Did I type this somewhere before? It sounds familiar.. TapeRecorder..
BOO! Did I scare ya? kestrel is the salt of my blog. FernValley, that's the cinnamon..
I'm hungry:)
20 comments:
I don't know much about dressage other than that kind of rigid control MUST need a release somewhere. But my theory about how a horse carries itself is simple, watch the horse at liberty and see how he wants to carry himself ,that is likely the most comfortable he/she will ever be to ride and will give you the best response . Sorry I don't know many that "natually travel lioke a dressage horse or any that move like they are looking for a lost dime either, but hey I have horses that travel comfortably and stay sound so ...call me crazy
The worst riders complicate the simple.
All horses pick up a lead the same way. ALL of them!
It's just the Great Divide, so similar to our dogs, but so different, too.
You must be crazy Fern:)
You make perfect sense.
To Rising Beef Prices!
And to a Rant in my very own sand box!
4achange:)
Why is it that humans turn joyous movement into torture and call it beauty? Ballerinas come to mind. When riding becomes all about the riding, instead of being about following our beloved horses in the dance, I cannot see beauty. I love watching wild children ride bonelessly, in maybe not proper form, but floating above a free hearted horse who is controlled by love.
I find no beauty in a miserable horse's performance in any dicipline, no matter how technically perfect the ride. I have watched DQ's fall off in perfect form all the way to the ground, yet isn't form defined by function? Logic should dictate that if you're falling off all the time you're not a very good rider at all. 1st rule is, stay up!
Airplanes are beautiful because their form follows their function without corsets of artifice. A ride in my opinion should feel like that, and when it does any horse will float. Ever notice how many DQ's have horses that hate them?
kestrel said:
"following our beloved horses in the dance".
Yes, THAT is Riding.
YES!!
Thanks, k, eloquently put, as always.
There are DQ's, like my dear friend, an amateur guy, who knew enough to laugh at himself, and loved his horse to bits. His horse loved him right back. I'll bitch about the barn we were both at, another day. I'm still watching out for the bitchy DQ's over my shoulder.
Didja SEE, I have another follower!!
Hey, Blatant, glad you could stop by!
Yes! Yes! This really hit home for me. I have tried taking lessons at several barns, and I told each instructor that I mainly wanted to focus on developing an independent seat. This is especially important if the rider is blind. This is because there is no way for a horse to move comfortably if the rider doesn't have the balance and feel to allow the animal to maintain direction. In other words. a blind person can't worry about guiding a horse if they don't have the independent seat and the trust in the animal. I can't get my Arab to move straight because my seat isn't stable enough to apply the aids. However, I try to just get on with a wool blanket and an overgirth and let everything hang loose and allow her to move without atempting to influence her direction. It works well in a roundpen or arena, but it would be nice to have an eye from the ground.
Am I making any sense? Just to clarify; I very seldom fall off, it's just that I would like to learn to sit deeply with my legs draped. My hip joints are so locked, that I can't even sit loosely at the jog. I know i also need a stronger core.
AofG, are you on a wide barreled, big-bodied type horse? Then, whatever way you're sitting, as long as your legs fall um, naturally, is ok. Do you mean your legs stick out? If the horses body is doing that to your leg, it's ok. If your legs naturally don't stick to his sides, that's ok too. Relax, and enjoy. I learned to finally sit trot on a hackney, bareback, by leaning waaaay back and keeping my eyes closed. I used to dream of riding as a blind person.
You are halfway there girl!
Just relax and enjoy the feel of your hips and seat-bones following with your horse's own thrust forward. Just follow along, without forcing anything at all. Your horse will unlock you, just let him.
Don't worry about making the "perfect" picture in your mind. Feel what the horse is showing you to do. If his hips were locked, ya sure wouldn't get very far:)
Did that make sense??
Dance with your horse. It doesn't MATTER what it LOOKS like, as long as the two of you are happy and comfortable.
You'll find that the more you relax with the horse's motion, the more naturally better your position will be. I say natural. I mean natural.
Not the "Look". Trying to maintain someone else's "look", isn't natural. The Feel is Everything.
Going straight is a direction. A well-trained horse goes straight, but he still prefers bending a bit to either side. Like right and left handed. You have to be straight in your body too. It's REALLY hard to go dead straight. For Both of you. Keep asking for different things. Straight, bend, etc. You may be crooked, the horse may be crooked.
Can you send a pic?
Darn, I gotta go.
I sure hope that made a teeny bit of sense.
I get what you are saying. Tessa is round and short-backed. My hip joints have always been tight so I am learning some yoga poses to loosen them up. What is really interesting is that when Tessa trots and I let myself bounce, she goes better than when I try to hold myself still. Sometimes, she is really moving out by the time we are ready to quit. By this time I feel like a well-pounded schnitzel and I can hardly stand up when I dismount. I am sure that they must be forced loose by practicing sitting trot for at least 20 minutes. I am also learning to feel the placement of each foot. Don't have any pics, but will post some when I can take them.
Exactly, a wide horse is a wide horse. If you are narrow-hipped, ya just have to learn to fit each other as comfortably as you can. It might not win the big equitation classes, because you are fitting yourself to your horse, not the George Morris Perfect Horse/Rider thing. That becomes Stiff Equitation, and it's not pretty. Custom fitting takes time.
You might do even better on a "narrower" horse. I was born with a "broad beam" as they say, I mean wide hips. I knew lots of great riders with very narrow hips. Just depends on how you and the horse "fit" together. If you don't perfectly fit the "look" who cares??
Not the horse, and not me:)
Hours and miles, hours and miles.
The ONLY thing I will pass forward from First/Worst.
Ya need hours and miles. Heck, everybody does! Try for patience, make like a buddha, in both of you.
Oh, I wish I could watch you!
That brief description also told me lots, when you "bounce", she's happier. Hmmmm. ??
If you were "bouncing" AGAINST her, she wouldn't be happy, unless her back is numb, I doubt it:) She's an Arab, right? Yeah, she wouldn't be happy. Her breed doesn't matter, any horse would be pissed at bouncing against her motion. Even GoLightly hated that, when I first started teaching his owner to ride him. I hadn't ridden him yet, and I felt so bad for him. He wasn't thrilled with being a beginner pony. He put up with it, but if you bounce against them hard enough, horses stop, because you're bothering them as they move. Or, they dump you, if they're smart:)
I think ya gotta stop "trying to hold still", and let the chips fall.
You are not still. You are on a moving sentient being. Tess is moving, why shouldn't you?
You may already be sitting as still as is possible with your mare's gaits. You're just dancing to her music. She may very well BE bouncy! That's OK!
It's hard work, the feel. If you can hardly stand, that's kinda normal. Depends on how often you ride. We only use our riding muscles when we're riding, at no other time do our riding muscles need to do this weird thing we ask them to do. When I wasn't riding much, I'd be sure to work the sore muscles harder, when I was off. Know what I mean? Posture, posture, posture, too. REALLY important. VERY VERY important. If you aren't straight, how will your horse know when you ask? Sit with shoulders back, pretending to feel someone pulling you up by the back of your head... Chin up, blah, blah, blah. The most important part of equitation is keeping your eyes up, and you should too. It just means have a path ahead of you, that you both are going to go along. Horses don't look down, except to eat, and oops, pull unsuspecting kids over their heads:)
(I knew a few like that)
Keep yer chin up, Lassie!
I found my old Christilot (Famous Canadian Dressage Rider) book, with her rider/dance exercises. She was a dancer first, did you know that? She's amazing:)
Och, I need a scanner!! I'll describe 'em as best I can soon. The exercises helped me stay fit when I was short riding time. I still do them, just in case:)
Maybe you are bouncing WITH her.
Follow that bounce!
Hmmm.
Pics, hah! I want video. Kidding, pics would be awesome. I do have e-mail. It's in my profile. Should I post it here?
LOL! I'm just thinking that Tess will teach you alot! Kudos to you, a short backed, close coupled horse is a little bit catty to ride. They can turn on a hair. Not really the easiest to sit, you know:) You do great!
as kestrel said, Dance!
I highly recommend yoga or any dance exercise that can bend and stretch and flex you, but don't do it if or until it hurts. Ease into any position.
Have you tried riding to music? Try to find (how do you spell??) rhythyms that suit your horses gaits. Ok, I don't remember how to spell it:(
Dance to the Music:)
uh, oh, I think you triggered a major blather:)
Trust, yes, trust yourself and the horse will trust you. Think, straight to your inner core, I/we/am/are going THIS way. Correct, with legs and seat, only if she wobbles, and then keep directing yourself forward! March!
Fly, girl, fly.
Have you had any time on the longe line, with an instructor you trust?
If yes, and you're tight as a tick, I think you're waaaay further along than you think you are.
Have Fun! Keep Going Forward!
and kudos again, To My Favourite First Follower. Great to hear from you!
That's just it!! I really need time on the lunge, but most instructors around here want you to fit an equitation mold and start showing ASAP. I love the little Scots interjections! i am a celtaphile, particularly taken with Scottish music and Scots Galic. I am reading the Outlander books for the third time, and a friend and I perform Celtic music around Kansas.
Anyway, this little Arab of mine can really move! I love her shoulder, and I hope she can make the best of her conformation while I am riding her. I will build an html link with a pic of her. She's my girl.
here she is.
When my friend and I get finished recording, I will share our interpretation of traditional Celtic music.
Hey, great pics, thanks!!
I am Scottish, as I think you already knew. I LOVE bag-pipes!! After my Mom died, the sound of bag-pipes just, well, there aren't words for that feeling. I LOVE all things Celtic, too cool. At a folk festival up here, the summer my mom had passed, I discovered a "Rockin'Bag-pipes" Band called Rare Air. OMG, they were amazing!!
Sadly, for most people, it seems to be an acquired taste. I still have the Rare Air tapes. The Band split up, darn it. The head pipers name was Greer, how Scottish is THAT! Another band I loved, also split up. "Bourne & McLeod", they also did the rock bagpipes. I love the sound of the pipes, my heart just seems to swell, and my toes start to tap!
Haven't read the Outlander Series, I just haven't gotten around to it.
A Scottish friend of mine loves them.
Sean Connery is my IDOL. Too bad he's gotten so old, but hey, so am I!
ANYway, your mare is lovely, with a naturally high head carriage, eh?
I'll bet she can move, she does have a lovely shoulder. That broad belly of hers will make it harder to "wrap your legs" around her. How tall are you? How tall is she? 15 hands or so?
I'll also bet she doesn't have the smoothest gaits. I rode Arabs with that build, they move much more like TB's, IMO. LOL, or do I mean TB's that move like Arabs. Och, ne'er MIND:)
Can you ride loose in the round pen, with someone else there to keep her out on the track?
Don't be in a hurry to "equitate", you are very wise to want to feel secure, first.
Darn, I have to work. Sorry I disappeared last night, I had to sleeep.
Oh, this is something I used with beginners, if you've done this exercise before, ignore it. With two fingers, no more, slip them under the front of your bareback pad at the "pommel", and pull yourself to the point that is comfortably the farthest forward you can sit. If you are traveling left, hold on with your left hand, leave your right hand free. Relax your legs, and stretch them down, let them flop. You aren't worried about them right now. Then, at the walk and trot, do the leaning waaay back thing, and let your hips reeeelaaax "into" the horse's back and her movements. Stretch UP with your upper body, and even try doing circles with your straight right arm, up, and back, and out to the side.. (make sure you do this both directions, of course) You are trying to "part out" your body, so each part becomes more independent of every other part. Do you know what ambidextrous means? I'll bet you do. It's an art that riders should be more aware of. Challenge your weak side, do stuff with it, that you don't normally do.
Longe Line type exercises can be done in a round pen, if you have some help to keep your mare on the rail. Just be careful!
I HAVE to work, darn it!
I'll be baaaack.
hope I make sense!
I am 5/4 and she is 14.3. I haven't been riding lately because my endocrine system is going haywire. I have been battling major fatigue and struggling with weight gain. However, my doc and I are trying to get to the bottom of it, and I am altering my diet and working toward more exercise. She goes great in the roundpen or on the lunge. Her tummy isn't so round anymore now that she is off pasture. I will definitely try your riding exercise as it sounds like it will benefit me greatly.
Oh, dear, I hope you can figure that out. My thyroid is all crazy, which keeps me skinny/scrawny, but still easily tired.
Get your thyroid checked!
ALL women, get those thyroid levels checked! My problem is much more common than most doctors realize, IMO. Took too LONG a time to figure out my hyper-thyroid condition.
Yeah, so you're a tiny smidgen tall on her? I bet your legs "break" at her barrel? You can brush her elbows with your feet?
You'll get it figured out, custom fitting takes time.
Oh, I quickly re-read what I blathered. It's kinda hard to stretch up with your upper body when you're leaning back:)
Don't slouch! (bossy, aren't I??)
Just keep your posture as straight and true as possible.
Horses have excellent posture:)
Take care, gotta fly, wish I was there to help you more.
I am a bit leggy, but her barrel seems to take up most of the length. It feels like I am leaning back when she trots, but people say that if I feel like I am sitting straight then i am leaning forward. So, it may help to feel like I am leaning back a bit.
An exercise that also may help is to relax your leg until you can feel the horse's barrel sway. Her back will actually lift on one side as her hind leg swings forward and she moves her barrel over to allow room for her leg to fit under her. Think like a belly dancer, and allow your own hip to actually lift to follow the motion.
It's splitting your body into five parts. Upper arm movements may include pressure on one rein as you release the other rein, leading with your shoulder.
Yout head weighs about 15 pounds, so keep it balanced in the center of the stalk of your neck.
Lower body parts must follow the horse in a relaxed manner, each leg independent of the other, and your lower back must be very flexible. The horse moves forward by swinging from side to side and also up and down. Imagine your pelvic girdle sitting on the horse, and allow it to move in sequence with the horse's motion. At each footfall each side of her back will change. It takes an incredible amount of motion to give the impression of a quiet ride. I have a long waisted running QH who's hips will drop and raise over 2 1/2 inches at each stride! Yikes! Hope this helps!
I'm back:)
Where are your feet? Could you touch her elbows, with your toes, if you wanted to? Are your feet below the point of her elbow? Sorry for all the questions, it just helps build a picture for me..
Oh, and George Morris is a truly amazing horseman. I learned a ton from his books, and Practical Horseman ragazine. (I don't want him flaming me:)))))
Sure, as if.
I just get tired of the poses that people will hold at all cost, because it looks right, but isn't quite right for that particular horse rider combo.
I'm tall, and when I rode that type, I couldn't have equitated to save my soul. How could I? My form wasn't built for that type. By bending my legs at an uncomfortable, un-natural position, so my calf is on the horse half way to my ankle, only.
No, thanks.
I like to think of tiny riders, who excel at their sport. How do they do it? Feel.
Jockeys:)
Hey, just for fun, and under supervision, crank yer stirrups up 6 holes. Just relax your legs, and ** edited** try to do the jockey crouch. Just try to keep your butt off the saddle, for seconds, it'll be hard, don't be surprised. Jockeys are the fittest people on earth. That's heeels down! Yes, you should keep straight lines through heel/hip shoulder, balancing above Tess's centre for you, behind her withers, you'll find it, or you'll sit down. You'll just be bent like an accordion, hmm, like a Z. I'll get those books out, oops FEED Dogs!! Bye, be back.
Walk, trot if you're comfy/happy as a jockey. Then, take your feet out, and feel where your legs fall. That's where they should be, forever, on tess horse. Yes, you can put your heels down. I practice heels down every day. Stairs, ball of your foot, stretch!
But, it is NOT the most important part of your position. It Looks Pretty, and help to stretch your leg down, to help you fit Tess!
You're lucky to be leggy, girl:)
Applause to AofG, for riding Tess, catty little bright bay Arab Mare!
Riding is kinda like walking, once you "get" it, you're good to go. Getting it takes time.
My dogs are starving, better feed.
Oh, yeah, thanks for the picture links, embedded right into your post. Show-Off! You and AMM, you techie-philes...
I do not know how to do that. How do you do that??
Duh. I'm so old.
I edited, because I saw I didn't make sense. Jockeys do not lean back! It's fun to try different positions, and see if you can follow Tess's motion through all of them.
Thanks, k. That's a great (less long-winded than me, natch) explanation too. I like your line "It takes an incredible amount of motion to give the impression of a quiet ride."
Brilliantly said. So True.
I better get some sleep, dogs are already there!
Hey, kestrel! I had a great idea again. Then whoops, where did it go?? How do I write stuff down when I can't remember it that fast!
My dogs do demand attention, which they deserve. Writing, interrupted by life:)
Thanks, Kestrel. This is exactly what I feel when I am warmed up and she is really walking forward. Hopefully, I will be back on her soon.
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