Heroes, for more than one day

An article with pics of my hero, Bill Steinkraus..

I had a lot of heroes, growing up. Micky Dolenz notwithstanding..

The trainer/boss I worked for, Peter Stoeckel, rode with Randy Roy and Ian Millar and that whole group. Peter rode & trained with Michael Matz for awhile, and has a very similar riding style. They all knew George Morris. Peter always, ALWAYS was a stickler for clean and neat and tidy. Working hard every day. Grooming with (gasp) brushes and rub rags and lots of human sweat.

6 days on, one day off. Horses love a routine. Peter was a stickler for routines and slow work and hacking and change of venue. He never said much when he taught, not the greatest teacher.

He always told you exactly what was wrong though. The day he said, after an amazing round of fences out of Lightly and I, "That was good, Baaaaarb", I justabout died.

Watching him wasn't so much eye candy as learning how to ride smooth. The guy never moved. His hands were always soft and adjustable. Peter was a stickler for correct position.. And since he WAS always in the correct position, it was kinda hard not to take him seriously. I was riding the nicely nasty chestnut Jaimie mare (pictured above) one day over fences, and she was bullying me/rushing her jumps, mostly because of my tendency to yup, jump ahead. Over the last fence of a four jump gymnastic, I took a (light) feel of her mouth, in the air. Peter INSTANTLY said, "Leave her be in the air, Baaaarb. No need to take a feel when she's just airborne. You have to learn to wait."

It took forever, it seemed to me, to dump that habit. If my leg was a little too forward, I had to make a move to catch up. AHA! Lower leg too far back, is indeed, worst of the worst, but I didn't have that problem. I had a leg defensively forward, all the time.

The Heroes..
Here's an abbreviated list of my heroes. Rodney Jenkins (my first love, in my child mind), Kathy Kusner, Katie Monahan, Nick Skelton, John & Michael Whitaker (their nieces and cousins seem to ride beautifully too, it's genetic), Eddie Macken, Beezie Madden, our Ian Millar of course, Gail Greenough, Beth Underhill, george morris of courses, ummmm, Christilot Boylen, Michael Matz, Mac Cone, any rider that seems to become invisible, on horseback. Conrad, Joe Fargis..... Many many great riders, many still riding, still doing what they do best. Some three-day greats, Mark Todd, Ginny Leng, Ian Stark, Bruce Davidson....

Try to find a video of Beth Underhill riding Altair. There is a rider with an anchored lower leg. A rider who could stick a buck, in two-point. Beth can ride the worst stoppers, without being defensive, and these horses never looked like they ever even knew how to stop.



Just Starving, poor thing;)
Just had to feed the pack of canines. Speaking of dogs, there's just too much wrong here..

Your Lower Leg Position and Its' Consequences.
I know I'm obsessing, but I'm a nut for detail. JustaNuT. I heard a good line from another blogger, "Some riding guru says it's safer to ride with the weight of your body a little behind, and your lower leg a little forward, on greenies." Heck there's a lovely picture of Melanie Smith sitting like a quarterback on a lovely horse, in this month's Practical Horseman. She was never one of my heroes, though.

I just have to disagree. It's in my nature or something. I base this on (who else) GoLightly, a well-broke horse. And Tad Plaid, my deceased bright bay TB gelding, that I started from scratch, after GoLightly. I totally get that it's safer and more stable and blah, blah, blah. On a bad broke horse. Or a not moving forward horse, or a bucker, now that's defense. A horse you "think" might fall down, or go up. All of those are assumptions that can get to be completely inaccurate, simply because you ARE assuming the defensive position. It's heavier on the horse, less comfortable, is all I'm nagging on.

Tangent Alert.
I have decided that if the Horse Sport Magazine can come out against the Grand National Steeplechase, I can come out against rodeo. Hey, it's my blog!
Sorry. As long as we're doin' it for fun, it's just plain wrong, and a waste of the animal's time and stress.
No, I don't mean the cutting horses. I mean the rest of the crap you can see. I get totally enraged by gratuitous violence towards animals. It's part of why my rock is so attractive.
Tangent subsiding. I have GOT to stop watching SHARK videos. I know it's not ALL like that somewhere. I want to go live there. I don't agree with all of what this site is shrieking, but DANG..
It's time we started practicing what we seem to want to preach. Of course, I'm appalled by horse-tripping in other cultures. I am just as aghast by the Wild Horse Race so popular at rodeos. What is the difference? Where do you draw the terrible line?

Okay, back to lower legs.
There's a reason why the chair seat is sooo popular. To me, the chair seat is a lower leg jammed too far forward, and weight too far back. A tendency to grab mouth for balance. I'm talking for flat work and over fences work. If you keep your leg underneath you, the horse is more comfortable! That's all I'm saying! Oh, and I'm also reminded of my Tad, who ONLY attempted bucking when I sat back on him, and GoLightly, who would check what ever he was doing and wait for you to catch up. Don't be behind the motion, GoLightly would say. How can I go forward, if you're behind me? GoLightly was always right.

I think if you really want to get great, or better, or improve, you have to always TRY to emulate correct position. To strive for anything other than correct doesn't help the horse. To say "Oh, so-and-so does it incorrectly", means nothing to the horse. He's still uncomfortable.
What would happen here, , if the heel was ahead of the hips?
Yeah. Splat. Ouch.

Trrrrrot, On!! Legs long and deep, ladies, sit lightly, your horse will smile:)

and an extra Awwwwwwwww!!!