Forward and SHOULDER IN

Today I had a chance to audit a dressage clinic at Trainer A's barn, given by Hokan Thorn. She's who I've taken a couple dressage lessons from last year and plan to return to once it's not ice in my trailer loading area. Auditing was free and I was all over it!

I arrived in the middle of Trainer A's first ride on her Grand Prix horse, Marco. The second rider was also at a Grand Prix level.

 I don't have a whole lot of media as my preference was to be watching to see if I could identify what was changing in the the horse's carriage as the rider corrected herself from the instruction from Hokan. I was also writing notes down.

I was hoping to see some riders with issues that were nearer to the ones that I face. I obviously wasn't going to relate as closely to advice given to people riding at GP. I will share it here, regardless.

• Collection is more power and more activity, but never slower
• Use shoulder in/shoulder fore to shorten the length of the neck and learn to carry more weight on the inside hind leg
• However you don't want them getting too high in the neck. Still want them to reach into contact
• Marco and Tango both had huge tantrums when they were asked to increase the activity in their hind end during passage and piaffe without also raising the front

I feel like Gwyn and I could do the exercise on the left. That's not out of our skill set currently and would be a good practice for eventual lead changes in the canter.

He had Tango's rider do the above exercise to warm up and school changes. He really wanted the emphasis on the feel of shoulder in as they were in the corner, right before the cue to canter and was really pleased when the horse was offering a spirited canter depart. He did NOT like the horses to be working in a flat gait at any point except when they were done. 

Practicing 1s on Marco

Tango's rider apparently had trouble with her 2s and 1s so she was schooling them a lot. Either her cues were muddled or the horse was anticipating the changes. She nailed 2s fairly easily but struggled on the 1st going all the way across the diagonal. The rhythm wasn't there. He wanted her to break it down and only do a set of 3. And then when they brought it back to a longer set, he had her think in terms of 2-3-2 going across the diagonal. I could see how mentally reframing it that way might help in the saddle. I'm not sure Gwyn and I will EVER be schooling something like that, however. Lofty goal ;)

Overall, I heard a LOT of FORWARD in a german/swedish accent being hollered across the arena. He did take some time to assist with half steps for piaffe to increase the action in the hind for both horses. Neither appreciated it. Both threw tantrums.

After that Alison brought out her up and coming gelding. In comparison to the hulky beefcake GP guys that had just been in the arena, this youngster was SO NARROW and gangly. He was a 4 year old who'd had a few health issues that he was still recuperating from and so his training was behind. He was definitely baby-minded and kind of adorable in his antics.

She started lunging him and getting him to accept contact in the side reins. He had a bunch of baby moments on the lunge line, including a lot of cross firing in his canter, which really made me sit forward and pay attention because that's similar to Gwyn and I was really hoping that this would be fruitful. And I do consider Gwyn very much equivalent to a baby dressage horse in that she's still learning to seek contact in the bridle.

• use a leading inside rein around corners with steady outside
• want to encourage forward, but not curling behind the bit (this gelding's favorite evasion)
• solution: lift hands to bap him to get him to push his nose out, steady, then push him forward
• don't want your leading rein to be restricting though
• always a forward connection when riding babies
• when turning with baby horses stick to basics (not the shoulder in/fore, it will only encourage more curling behind evasion)
• turn from the outside shoulder, they should feel the outside rein on their neck
• keep baby horses bodies straight
• think 2x4 from tail to the ears

So FORWARD!

Next up was a self admitted newer rider on a half andalusion. Very chunky mare. She was being ridden in a double bridle despite only schooling 4th because the mare had a habit of running away with the rider if she was just in a snaffle.
Hokan's advice: Ride 4 times in a row in the double, on the fifth day only do the snaffle and see what happens. Alternatively, use a straight driving bit loose ring with no bumpies for spanish breeds.

Rider also described not being able to really get the mare straight or even do the whole shoulder in/shoulder fore to get her working more in contact. 

The mare was very dull and flat to the aids and the rider was struggling to increase the engagement demanded by Hokan.
My notes for her:

• Lots of inside leg to outside rein plus FORWARD
• never let the inside leg fall to the inside
• active hind legs ALL the time (i.e. the feel the of forward even if working in collection)
• want the horse pushing and going by herself
• when you say "puff!" she better PUFF
• more transitions so the horse comes back without losing engagement.

I left before this rider was finished as it was nearly dinner and I'd promised I'd go grocery shopping.

There are things that I want to work on with Gwyn. I know that when I remember how to actually do the whole inside leg to outside rein I have a horse in a much nicer frame. I'm hoping that tomorrow, with temperatures in the high 20s, my arena won't be a sheet of ice and I can actually sit on my horse safely.

There's a dressage schooling show at the end of this month about an hour away. I really REALLY want to go and ride Intro A/B for the miles in the dressage ring. But I need to actually ride between now and then.

Dressage Lesson! Recap so I'll remember my notes

I had my second dressage lesson today. I happily skipped out of work early, which made my drive SO much nicer to get home, picked up grain since I was low, and got home and got ready. I'd already packed the trailer the night before. The only thing I needed to load was the horse. I was super nervous, for some reason. I'm not sure why. Gwyn loaded well and we were off!

She was really calm at the farm and we were greeted enthusiastically by the GP horse who was still coming off his rehab. All the horses were in (at 4:15pm) but he has a window out and lords over his domain. I groomed and tacked up at the trailer, rather than in the cross ties with all the new horses. The weather was SUPER NICE.  Low 80s and not humid with a breeze.

On our way to the lesson

We started in the outdoor arena with lots of bending to get her to reach into contact and to work on me making sure that I was supporting her correctly and riding more off my seat and getting into a steady, one-two rhythm. She really wanted to rush around so my first plan of attack was getting into less of a rushed movement and more of a dressage quality trot (lol) that wasn't so much on the forehand. And for that I did a LOT of circles and serpentines focusing on her bend.

Her walk is excellent. She's a loosey goosey horse and that translates to a swinging walk. We just need to contain the loosey goosey-ness in trot and canter.

Trainer wants me working on the inner track, rather than the outer track, even at home, so not right at the rail, which gives me room to move her body and bend. I should keep my whip in my right hand since that's the side she likes to blow through and think about turning her shoulders. It's almost like I want her to neck rein. So if she feels the right rein on her neck she's turning left.  My hands need to be low to block her right shoulder from having an out and I need to have strong right leg as well. My tendency is to raise my right rein and that leaves her shoulder open for her to wiggle through. This holds for all gaits but  especially at the trot and canter. If she ignores those aids in a turn left, tap the shoulder with the whip. I want to create almost a hypersensitivity to moving her off those aids. Think spinning western reiner.

Dressage court with no sides. Challenging for exactly the right reasons!

With the canter, again keeping her on the inner track to give her room to bend and be pushed out, start with a quality trot before asking for canter. Circle to really connect the outside rein. Ask quietly. I ask quietly on the trail and on xcountry, I should be doing the same in the arena. Gwyn is a forward horse already, I don't need to add to the forwardness. And with that, outside leg back and inside leg pushes her out into the outside rein. Tap with the whip. She does MUCH better if I let her use the long side (I notice this at home as well) because she can balance in the straight away instead of feeling like she's falling in (because she is) on a circle.

I feel like I really just need a giant arena to do HUGE canter loops in to practice this. I should see if that exists anywhere. Otherwise I should be practicing asking for the canter on the trail and in fields and making sure I'm getting both leads. She is better balanced when on the right lead and will prefer the right lead even if we're going left. At this point, don't worry about leads when asking, reward for a quiet transition or attempt.

The cantering wore her out though, lol, so we finished by working on some stretchy trot (more serpentines!) back in the outside court. Again, not on the outer track, but the inner, and then if she's not reaching into the contact as I switch bend through the large serpentine, to circle and get that contact back. I really wish my arena at home was big enough for a large three loop serpentine. I can get a figure 8 at best. It's so short :/

Tuckered Goober Pony ready to go home and get a bath.

Anyway, did I mention riding her shoulders and body, not her head? I think I did, but I'm saying it again because I think it's pretty key to getting the feel in my head of how I should be riding her which translates to my body doing it correctly, lol.

And I really need to figure out exercises off horse to strengthen my legs. Are exercise ball squeezes a thing? Is there a resistance ball I can squeeze with my whole leg?

Anyway, I untacked and loaded her quickly. Since we're not far from home I figured I'd get the sweat and grime off there. She got a hosing and then a liniment bath since I think her SI was starting to bother her by the end. Trainer noticed that she was starting to short stride when we moved back out to the deep sand court. So we will need another adjustment and I'll keep up with her adequan doses until the course is finished (only 2 more). Chiro is likely going to become another regular expense until she can build up the muscling to protect that joint.

Hugs for Saffron, bestest donkey ever