WhereTheWeight Is.

Finally have an answer to a great question by Dena. Where does your weight go, over fences?

I answered regarding where your weight goes, on the way up and the way down. I couldn't type-alize where it is in the air.
On the way to the jump and going up, your weight is in your heels, and the thrust of the horse's jump catapults you into the air. That power off the ground, from the horse's jump, will lift your weight up and off his back. While you're in the air, you are weightless, and your heel can and does slip up or back. Look hard at this picture. There is nothing wrong with it.

That's why you'll see many jumper riders with their lower legs swinging every which way, some more than others. These are the GreaT riders. They have the feel, they can let the horse's spring determine what their heel does. It's not enough of a form fault to be marked "down". If this rider's leg was out in front of him? This horse would have stopped. This horse was quite a stopper, and not the most enthusiastic about life and work and jumping. This is the "Eeyore" horse I got to ride, the same horse that was cheered up by chasing Ami around.

Peter, the rider, has a very slight roach in his back, a reminder that this horse could stop in a blink. This horse never gave you a tremendous "boot up the arse". This horse was ground-bound.

Well, duh. There ya go. Your weight, when you jump? It's in the air. I knew that. Jeeepers.

When you watch the great jumper riders, you will never see a lower leg jammed out in front of them. Never. Three-Day Riders will absolutely have to, when they are descending from large drops. But they will never have their lower legs ahead of them for an ascent, or an in-the-air. That equals weight, on the horses back, in the air. Not a good thing, for the horse.

Clear??


It just takes me awhile, as you know, by NoW.

Sorry it took so long Dena! I love thinking about questions, and building the answer in my mind. It just takes 4ever, it seems.

There's more, and there is a tie-in to pickles and butts, but it'll have to wait, until I've percolated some more. Without coffee. Hah!
Something to do with sticking a buck, even in two-point.
I learned, the hard way (as usual), how to do it. How not to do it, too.

OH, and my family went through some of dad's old pictures and stuff, found some reallY cool old pics! Yet another copy of my one claim to fame, but the whole page, and I can't believe I was on the same page as Kimmy Kirton & Minnie Mouse!

Thanks Dad!

FunnyPictures1956-1960

Why I am Grumpy.
Here I am, minding my own business on the right, wondering why I have a larger human beside me, in my crib. Big sister pissed me off, right from the beginning..


Dad took these pictures.
He did not (he says) encourage big sister to feed me chalk, which I dutifully did. I love Sister's worried look after daddy mentions baby sister maybe shouldn't eat the chalk. Big sister's first attempt to remove me from the planet. I am obviously resigned to my fate:)



Check it out! A picture of a yearling, it looks like, from 1958, discovered in my dad's old pictures. Dad has no idea who the horse or the people are. Anybody out there know?
:)


Me & Big Sister Playing in Fall leaves, in Oakville. I'm happy because I'm not in the darn crib with her. Big sister got all these cool toys, and I was forever trying to claim them. WW2 ensued, for the next 20 years. The next shot is my baby bro and me and Butch. Nice car, huh? 1960. GAWD, I am old..



I have a post percolating about pickles and butts, but it'll have to wait until big sister goes home to Surrey. Have a great weekend, all!

Jumping A Head

I'm 11.5-12 years years old in these first three pictures.


Scroll down for the beginner lesson. This is just jumper blather.

Did I tell you I got my first horse when I was 14 or so? My liver chestnut witch, Royal Gamble. Three quarter TB, one quarter who knows. Tried to kick my dad's head off, coming in from the field. Endearing trait. Related to ManO'War, like half the TB's on the planet. Got her as a green broke three year old, waited until she was four to jump her. Yeah, riding master, that was me. (not..) I taught her to buck by rubbing her neck when she was shaking her head playfully, and learned one day why that was such a bad idea. No, she didn't throw me, but wow, she did get serious about it.

I was still a non-practitioner of two-point, boarding & teaching & riding other peoples horses at a dressage/jumper barn, with a German Not-So-Masterful. I'd already ridden hundreds of times, over fences, badly. Like the above picture, taken in 1966,when I was 11 or so. Hey, I won ribbons at this show!! I still have them, they were my first ribbons, ever. Keepers.

I sucked. My mare pointed this out to me, early on. She gave me the same fall Christopher Reeve suffered, only at slow-motion speed. Sliding down a horse's neck as the horse stops before a jump, is just about the most undignified position on this earth.
The most dangerous, if you are galloping, which I wasn't, thank those lucky stars. I was jumping ahead. Or, really, jumping the horse's head. That's the worst form fault out there, and the hardest to remove. It's part of the defensive fetal/monkey position we tend to assume. And how we are started. And what we watch others do, successfully, as in not dying. Horses are so good to us.

Brief Tangent
Some horses never "want" to jump. Some horses look for things to jump. Some don't care either way. Some get jumped to death.

I was going to post other pictures of HeadJumping I've found, but realized the story is told best in my own pictures, anyway. It's easy to ride from the ground. Way harder once you're up there.



Even in this picture, I'm dangerous. It "looks" okay, until you realize that all my weight is now on the horse's neck, not in my heels, which have drifted way back. My lower leg isn't anchored. If the horse had ever stopped, which bless him, he never did, I would have been hurt. Maybe badly. So many riders end up in this ignominious position. It all starts with an non-anchored lower leg.

I'm riding about two or even three holes too long. My leg angle is too open, and my worst habit, lying on the neck, or ducking, is horrifical.


1984 or so, GoLightly & Peter schooling me.


That's why this picture ended up in the family album. I wasn't very happy with it. I'm still lying on his neck, and wtf with my gorilla arms? Stupid crest release, GoLightly is thinking to himself, why not keep a little contact on my mouth? GoLightly is just leaving the ground in this shot, and I'm happy that I finally have the ball of my foot in the stirrup. I'm happy that my butt isn't ahead of the pommel, a HORRible habit. I just wish I wasn't ducking. At least, I am not jumping ahead as badly. I don't get quite the same strong impression of droppage if GoLightly was to stop, which he never did either. I'd ridden many stoppers by then, and I knew how to stay on for those, but it wasn't pretty. My first horse did teach me that:) You have to wait for them to leave the ground. It takes timing and feel and a supple upper body, ready to allow closure of the hip angle by the thrust of the horse's jump, ONLY when you're airborne.

If I'd waited longer with my upper body, I'd be further away from his neck,
My stirrup isn't quite perpendicular, but way better than the previous pics. So that's good:) But I'm ducking. Oh, well. My leg is tighter, and more anchored. No stirrups on a big smart horse will do that.
Things improved as GoLightly continued schooling me.

to be continued..

Beginner Time!
I am going to shamelessly plug my brilliant commenters, for CutNJumps' warm-up exercises, when you first clamber on your beast. I added some two-point, of course, but I am sadistical. It's crucial to let any tension out of your system, before you start. Loosen up, relax, and smile for a sec. I'm waiting on permission from CCC for something else...

Here they are. They are exactly what I'd ask my students to do, after mounting. It only takes a few minutes, and it's good to let your horse just walk around & relax for a minute, anyway. This assumes, of course, that your horse doesn't mind you moving around a bit up there. These exercises are Not recommended for hot/fresh/green horses:)

CNJ said
"Lots of large circles at the walk on a loose rein and no stirrups. Deep steady relaxed breathing on my part. No squinting allowed either, just relax everything and let it fall into place.
My arms straight out to the side, hands at shoulder height. Then I twist to one side, one hand over the poll, one over the butt. Hold it for a few strides, then twist around to the other side.
Keeping my chin up & my own jaw relaxed is tough to remember.
Then my hands go straight up as I stretch them to the skies. First one arm, then the other, then both. Holding each for a few strides.

Sitting properly makes my right 'problem' shoulder come back where it belongs, instead of slunching over to hide my chest. It keeps me from twisting when I post, and dropping my shoulder when asking for a canter depart.
Then I work on my legs. Toes pointing down, then up, in, then out. Knees up and forward (think close together over the pommel) then legs long and down. Then I bring my heels back and up towards my butt, then back down and long.
It only takes a few minutes but helps me deepen my seat, lengthen and stretch my legs and regain proper upper body posture.
Once I am done with me, then I find my stirrups, gather my reins and begin working on 'stretchy' exercises for my horse."

Then, if you were in a lesson with me, I'd have gotten some more ups and downs out of your legs. I'd let you take your stirrups for a few minutes, and you'd show me some two-point, without any falling back into the tack or hanging on the mouth. Then I'd take your stirrups away again, and ask for a titch more two-point. It's very tough on your leg muscles.
Quit whining:)

To be continued, the rumbling from my reader for a new post was reaching a quiet mew.

ExtinctionaryPractices&Alignment, or

When The Wheels Fall Off.

This is the very last of the pictures I have of GoLightly. It's a typically horrific example of the problem that had taken me the rest of my riding life to "cure". I learned improperly the very first time... Bad training, early. It's driving me grumpy, how cavalier the attitude is nowadays, to the instant gratification expected of riding. Everybody wants everything yesterday, as cheaply and as quickly as inhumanly possible.

When you want something, it better be Wal-Mart ready. Horses are SO not instant.
Our societal eco-system is struggling mightily under our own ignorance. Oh, we need collective smarts Back. If we've ever had them..
Sustainable. It's a word. I think the horse industry isn't sustainable, thanks to the myriad of ways instant knowledge is taught. Badly, incorrectly. But it really has to start right back at the beginning. Where we are right now, in the animal world, needs ripped up, thrown out, and reworked.
By ME.

Kidding. Blathering is about all I do, anyway. Riding/training/anything you are interested in, at least in my mind, needs learned properly first. I think the days of kids roaring around on ponies out in the back 40 of Farmer Pat's fields need to be resurrected, too. That's where you learn balance & intelligence, as a child. Safety is a learned behaviour. Nature is kinda tough on us that way. Nature is tough.

I don't think it's feasible of course, as I can't see much of Farmer John's fields around Toronto anymore. Heck, Sunnybrook Park Riding School would be litigated to the ends of the earth, if they let their school kids loose on the soccer fields. No fun in that!
There are many ways schools with little access to "wide open spaces" can still teach balance and strength. Gymkanas, silly games of fun, give the younger riders confidence and focus.

For the older folks first starting out, or starting over again, the realities are a little tougher. You need to stay on, so you can pay the bills tomorrow. That's where a safely, kindly, well-trained horse is an absolute necessity, in order to turn out confident older riders. The terrible accidents and needless injury we've all read about, shouldn't be allowed to happen. Horses are dangerous creatures to the uninformed and frightened. As well as the best masters in the world.

Memory Tangent..
The black horse behind us is "Dusty", a 16.3 hand gelding, about as long as a train, and much less flexible. Dusty was owned by a really wonderful family, Michelle was the owner/rider. They were SUCH nice people! They bought Dusty from a well-respected trainer cheap, as Dusty had a problem with jumping gates. As in, he would not. Peter tried riding him, but after dumping Peter at Cheltenham Horse Show, he finally gave up in disgust. I inherited the honours of schooling Dusty and teaching Michelle.
Dusty was great at forward and straight. He just couldn't turn or leave the ground, in his own weird little mind. Dusty was a train.

Dusty was the first horse I tried food on, simply because he'd have a nervous breakdown if he even saw a gate. Duffy had gotten hung up on one with the previous trainer. Dusty was a beautiful mover, a pretty but flat jumper, and no desire whatsoever to bend. You had to be really careful putting him back in his stall. Dusty was so long and straight and stiff, he'd whack his hip on the way in, if you were foolish enough to let him go in by himself. Dusty eventually (through patience and steady reinforcements) jumped gates again, and went on to a nice career in dressage. His owners knew what they had, and gave him what he could do well. He was fine at working past dressage thingy-dingies. Dusty ate a LOT of carrots around them;)

Throughout the time this picture was taken, both Dusty and another horse I rode called "Revel" benefited from my learning on GoLightly. They were understood more quickly by me, as I had the "lodestone" of GoLightly to fall back on.

Where Dusty was long and fixed and flat, Revel, a conformation hunter with a clubby foot, was short, and twisted, and bouncy. Revel would not bend to the right when I started with him.

Revel was a dark bay TB, 16.2, perfect dishy head, huge eyes, and the nastiest disposition in his stall. It was all bluff, but he really enjoyed scaring you first thing in the morning, as his stall was the first you saw upon opening the barn door. If I wasn't awake, he'd make me startle. I'd pretend I was surprised, and he'd stop, ears pricked perfectly innocently, pleased with his fierceness. I'd feed him first, anyway. Life was easier as long as you stood up to his bluff. Oh, the evil expressions he'd flash, the gnashing and rasping of his incisors on the bars of his stall! Alligator horse. Revel would kick out, but never hit his stall walls, while he was eating. Looked pretty silly. He could snake his head like an eel and do a galloping full charge at you, in his stall. Funny horse.

Revel's level of crookedness was so easy to feel, after riding GoLightly. Revel would lock his neck into a left flexed position, and set his jaw against your hand. His right side would be iron hard against your leg. I would just send him forward more, which would straighten him, much to his annoyance. Much swishing of tail in our first few rides together. I wasn't playing the game to his way of thinking.

I worked on his balance equally off of both hing legs, and slowly, gently, firmly, and yes, with draw reins, showed him how he could indeed bend to the right. Revel would INSTANTLY be allowed to to go forward and relaxed and straight. Little bend? Excellent! Every microsecond he flexed his body to the right was instantly rewarded by forward and relaxed. He'd been "forced" into his flexions, and brutalized by a previous trainer. (not Peter)
Revel loathed men, which is why I got the ride on him.

Revel was very sour when I got him. His owner was amazed by our progress, but I told her it was GoLightly that really did it. I wouldn't have known what to do without him.
You have to have a feel for the right thing, otherwise, how will you know how to ride it? By straightening myself, Revel followed much more easily, into a body posture that felt comfortable to both of us. Revel's owner had always ridden him very crookedly. The more I schooled him, the straighter she became too.
Revel, who had lived in draw reins most of his life, never needed them again, when I was done.
It was a ripple effect. The end result was a happier, more comfortable horse AnD rider.

The Boringly Difficult Part.
It's physically impossible to slouch, and ride well, according to the horse.
But, according to some, I've read in disgust, it's no big deal. An affectation, is all poor posture is. It reallY doesn't affect anything.

The horse and I would beg to differ.
He might not ever say anything, but they are incredibly stoic creatures. It's easy to pick up any affectation, of course, which is why so many ride so poorly, I guess.
There isn't a horse alive that doesn't appreciate a straight shouldered rider. Pointy elbows are not exactly pretty to look at, but they do NOT impact the horse's carriage. Poor posture DOES. Legs in front of the vertical, does. It's cowboy defense style, is what it is. Horse is then afraid you are going to kill him.. Your posture implies his actions!

Does not.
Does Too. Study the greats, really study the greats. I can't think of one who doesn't have a good posture. Name me one, please. In all my years watching the greats, their position remains. Their balance remains. They didn't get to be masters by skipping the pain of those diabolical previous exercises I posted. Accomplished in the tack, and on the ground, by always, ALWAYS being aware of your body posture.

Body posture is spoken of by Cesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer Guy, and it's utterly true in all species interactions. More important than anyone realizes. Body posture. How does the horse carry himself? As the rider does. How does the dog react to his handler? As the handler does.
Okay, that was the LONGEST bloody tangent, EVER.

And I did have another point, but it evaporated. aGain.
Oh, right, I'll rip apart my equitation next time.

Relevant in my own old cranky mentalpausal mind, and out.


justasunflower:)


and a VERY proud Blaze..


Some of my favourite rocks. Most came from the Sudbury Mines, some from the Rock Shop. Two from "our" back 40, one is a marker I sandblasted for a deceased dog. The owner left it behind, along with his ashes, which we STILL haven't buried. RIP, Old Jake. Your owner couldn't bear the thought. Which she really should have.

Some of my rocks have a highly polished surface, which I wouldn't dream of touching with an electric sander. The thickness of the polish, is about the same as the thickness of the periople. Bye, bye:(

See this post, if you don't know what the heck I'm talking about.

How to..

Butch was so happy with his de-blinging, he raised his head! I'm sorry I decapitated him. I was thinking perky ears might be his new look. But one is kinda, um, flat. Okay, they BOTH are...




Bracing The Back.

Easy peasy.., in a way. Shoulder/hip/heel starts with good posture.


Posting Exercise. Left is wrong way, right is right way, and yes, you "post" on the ground. Ow, ow, ow. Shoulder/hip/heel.



Whole Body Exercise. Yes, it's the way you can sit the horse the most effectively.
Shoulder over hip over heel. Scream, if ya want. It hurts like hell.


I said I'd scan them one day. Scanned from "Canadian Entry" by Christilot Hanson, 1966, Clarke Irwin. It's out of print, Christilot wouldn't mind. She's all for correct riding.
Practice them, and cry.. Or laugh. I watch TV, and dream of the days...
With Horses.




For NCC, a Sidesaddle Swoon.

Social Ineptitude,Patience

This is the Blathery Part.
My Blaze puppy is socially inept. I am so embarrassed. You know how animals will take on the personality of their owners? (I haven't had a puppy, since I was an idiotic 18 year old. Poor guy. Sorry, Pooh. Wrong name to give him, too.)

ANYway. Blaze has inherited my lack of social skills with my own kind. She's an idiot, with other dogs. People? Fine. Dogs? I'm still figuring out how I warped her little mind. Guilt? Oh, just shoot me. I felt so badly for her on holiday Monday.

Cathy G., my artist buddy and fellow blogger, is also a pet-sitter. Here's her web-site, which she hasn't learned to link to, on her blog. Darned artists:)
Web-Site

So, Flip and Blaze got three canines for company on Monday. Cathy brought her own "Jade", a TALL hound/lab? cross female, "Wilson" a fat yellow lab male, and "Pluto" the most adorable old black spaniel male. He likes to swim. Not for very long. He's a bit senile. Oh, well, BOY dogs!!

Jade had a little tiff with Blaze last time they were here. (Jade was rescued from Mexico, not by Cathy, and is missing one half of one ear. Jade's been around.)
Jade!

Blaze was annoying her, and Jade finally had to roar "Enough, you stupid puppy!" Jade scratched Blaze's back. Cathy sez Jade has gotten better with puppies. Trouble is, Blaze is kinda too old to be forgiven this puppy behaviour. I threw Blaze in the pond several times, (i.e. I threw FrisBee) to wear her out before the old farts got here. Blaze's annoyingly young.. My baybeeee.

Blaze just zoomed around the rest of us like a danged electron. Totally obsessed with herding Wilson. She ignored Jade, and it was mutual. Blaze kept her evil little snarl face on, whenever she could, like when she was stalking Wilson. Then, she'd zoom around again. Like an orbiting electron, pinging.

Blaze wasn't into sharing, but Wilson, the big lab just laughed at her. I only own half the dog toys in southern Ontario. Wilson did NOT want to go home. Poor Blaze, she has no friends her own age..
Pluto is 13 this year, the dear old spaniel, he didn't do much:) He always wades into the pond, for one swim, then he's done. Pluto is quite aromatic.
Jade,the hound/lab/who knows what she is, likes to patrol the pond edge for critters.

Flip, as usual, didn't do much either, other than yell at us to throw FrisBee in the water, just far enough that she could wade, and get filthy:) Her life's work.

Wilson!



Wilson was hysterical. Lab/WATER mindmeld, he broadjumped the WIDEST part of my canoe, from a standstill, scared the crap out of me. JollyBalls, large and medium, made him so hahppy! Wilson chased the medium JB all the way across the pond the first time, Blaze in hot pursuit..
Right after this, Cathy looked away, and the broad jump happened.

Nice hippie hair, eh?

Blaze would NOT retrieve anything, except FrisBee, once, the rest of the time she herded Wilson. She was a total nutbar, and I feel guilty about that.

Wilson has the crookedest legs, like a StBernard. berry bow legged. 8 years old, looks fat, but isn't? Lots of skin, very big all over. Not tall, but broad. A swimming/retrieving/loving fool.

This is the important part.
Sorry for the completely canine content, but it does (really) have a point, which extends to all animal training.

Where does my guilt come from? Because it's only my own training (and lack thereof) that has caused this problem for Blaze. Just as with any animal, routine/schedule/"normal" is crucial for them. If "normal" for them is never seeing another dog on their property, the situation changing can be a shocker. The converse is also true.

My Flip, when she first arrived from her kennel/sheep farm environment, was completely unglued by each new "normal", which included meeting people on our first walk on my property. The next-door neighbour kids dropped by, and completely freaked her out. She'd NEVER met people on walks, out in her remote part of the country. Flip adores people, adores kids even more. But not in that situation, it was strange to her. Flip can get along with any dog, she'd been around dogs all her life. Flip was freaked out by the fact she was only dog, when we first got her. Seeing Millie helped her out a lot..

My Blaze has not been around dogs. I did my best, but I know it isn't enough. I was frankly too nervous of using dog parks in the city. Her first encounter with another strange dog, (I can hear Cesar Milan saying "Live in the moment" and he's right), as a puppy, was in a big-box hardware store. This gigantic GSD, ancient, barked her poor ears off.
Strike one. I wish Flip had been there.

Blaze's first encounter at dog park, still as a (slightly older) puppy, involved my foolishly letting her go loose, (Flip and sister's dog Millie were there) and she was surrounded and skeered shitless by the pack of already there dogs. Blaze was badly introduced to dogs.
Strike two.

This scared her owner.
Strike three.

Blaze also went aggressively "after" a puppy she'd just met, at Sega's shop. Right around strike one time. I'd mentioned the "attack" to my dog "trainer" at the time, and she'd immediately shown me how to make Blaze scream in pain. Blaze never went near the trainer for the rest of the course. Neither did I. See, I was at dog "training" school, to show her other places and situations and dogs. The emphasis was placed FAR too firmly on no interactions between the dogs, at all. Like none. Frustration=aggression=all kinds of interesting behaviours.

tangent.. Horses and their buddies..

So, in ANY new situation, you have to be ready, but not braced for the worst to happen. It usually does, if you anticipate it.

Blaze has the same face with new dogs as she did with that giant old GSD, a nervously excited snarl. She's just like me. I don't snarl, though. But I'm ready..

We far too often expect our animals to instantly adapt to anything not normal that happens. We assume because we "know" that the situation is safe, that the animal will, too.

Animals/people cannot adapt instantly, but they can all learn.

That's where patience comes in, and the awareness of what the animal is experiencing. Is it normal?

The REALLY IMPORTANT PART.
You have to keep changing up the normal. Otherwise, you get stuck in a rut of behaviour, which will only dig itself deeper.


Whoah. That's enough blather. I am not even sure if it makes sense. Nothing new, there..

I have NO good current pictures of my two girls, in the same shot.
This usually happens.
We're listening!!


What was That??