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which_chickDressage clinic with DLB was pretty even-tempered all things considered. I moderated my expectations and therefore mostly managed to hold it together. We had been working on (a) turns on the hindquarter with emphasis on reasonably straight spine and no sprawling of hq and no flailing of forehand and (b) our old friend leg yield zig zags both of which were ok. Posting on the whole is still a shitshow wherein I need to be more vertical and "land more towards the front of the saddle" and "land lighter and softer" and I am mostly not managing it. *sigh* Research continues. (The fact that almost everyone got this posting advice does not make me feel any better about having gotten it.)
Otherwise, I am working on getting my horse riding partner-in-crime back in the saddle after her second baby. The baby is nine months or so old, but it's a bit of a slog because she lost a lot of fitness during the pregnancy and baby time. Her horse's ordinary (he's like 12 now and has been doing this the whole time) habit of travelling around looking like a high-n-tight llama suddenly feels very unrideable to her, mostly because she's feeling less secure about her ability to physically deal with it these days. Her balance has changed, weight distribution has changed, yadda yadda yadda. The horse does not buck or rear or really DO anything but he's high and tight and llama and I think she's worried he MIGHT do something.
So, now the stuff that she laughed off or could ride through, in the pre-Bejamin (The baby's name is Benjamin) era is problematic and scary for her. This is not all bad. This is actually good because her horse should not be going through life in his llama posture with his dropped back and his trailing hind legs and his predisposition to booger at things. I uselessly spent like six years trying to get her to FIX that stuff about the horse... but she blew me off because he was fine. He wasn't fine. Anyway, now she's very motivated to fix that stuff because it's worrisome and scary for her. That's not at all bad. It's actually good for her and good for the horse, who in truth is not a bad sort and just needs more guidance on the correct way to be.
It is never too late to learn. So, Tin (who is frequently called Richard because he's a Dick) is learning to step under himself with his hind legs, to lower his neck and head, to lift his back, to engage, and to do sensible, relaxed transitions that are calm and smooth. How are we doing this? Lateral work. Seriously, that's the tool. (If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.) We're in the out and about. There isn't a ring. There's a big wide set of hayfields, a nervous mom, a llama gelding and then me and Da Bird to offer moral support. I'm using the tool we have to hand, which is lateral work. She knows how to do that stuff, her horse knows how to do that stuff, and it can be done anywhere.
Basically, if Tin travels along with his head down and his back up, in a nice calm flat walk with HIS HEAD lower than HER TITS, he's allowed to do that. He may enjoy the blessed and uncomplicated peace of the flat walk. If he drops his back and gets rigid and does the llama, if he even THINKS about being an asshole, then she is to break out the lateral work. Leg yield zig-zags, shoulder-in, haunches in, that style of thing. And it's constant. Leg yield left step, step, step, leg yield right, step step step, flip to shoulder-in, step step, back to leg yield. All of this is at the walk. After a reasonable interval, Tin is offered the opportunity to flat walk with his head down. If he can manage his emotions, he gets to stay there. If he can't... back to the laterals for a bit. He gets offered the opportunity to be in the relaxed flat walk, but if he can't do it, then he gets more work. There is no rest for the wicked. There is only peaceful walks for GOOD BOYS. The wicked get extra leg yields.
The quality of the lateral skills (which horse already sorta knew) is rapidly improving. So is the quality and duration of his flat walk with lowered head and soft, active back. He is getting better at managing his emotions. (To raise the difficulty level, he is no longer allowed to follow Bird anywhere. Bird still comes along, but he follows Tin. Tin has to be the leader. We also ride places that are not "the usual" place. He has to behave in strange parts of the hayfields AS WELL AS in our usual work area.)
At no point during this work does she thump on him. These are skills he ALREADY knew how to do and she just asks him to do them. There is no whip. There is no violence. There is either a politely flat walking horse who has a low head and an active back and who looks relaxed OR there is a llama-ing horse who is kept busy going some form of bent and sideways. And after about half an hour of that crap, he's done. He's tired and he doesn't want to be stupid anymore. He is thankful to have the peace and ease of the flat walk. So, we break out the trot sets. (These are for her fitness as well as for his mental stability.) Trot sets are to be a soft walk that gently and smoothly transitions into a soft relaxed jog and stays there, with head low and back lifted, nice steady rhythm, horse's head lower than rider's tits. And if he can't do that, out comes the lateral work. He hasn't needed to see lateral work at the trot for the last two outings. Walk, trot, walk, trot. His head lower than her tits. Back up, head down. Polite. Relaxed.
And that's the day. We are not to canter yet. I'd like to have the idea of soft and relaxed firmly cemented in his widdle bwain before we go canter.
Otherwise, I am working on getting my horse riding partner-in-crime back in the saddle after her second baby. The baby is nine months or so old, but it's a bit of a slog because she lost a lot of fitness during the pregnancy and baby time. Her horse's ordinary (he's like 12 now and has been doing this the whole time) habit of travelling around looking like a high-n-tight llama suddenly feels very unrideable to her, mostly because she's feeling less secure about her ability to physically deal with it these days. Her balance has changed, weight distribution has changed, yadda yadda yadda. The horse does not buck or rear or really DO anything but he's high and tight and llama and I think she's worried he MIGHT do something.
So, now the stuff that she laughed off or could ride through, in the pre-Bejamin (The baby's name is Benjamin) era is problematic and scary for her. This is not all bad. This is actually good because her horse should not be going through life in his llama posture with his dropped back and his trailing hind legs and his predisposition to booger at things. I uselessly spent like six years trying to get her to FIX that stuff about the horse... but she blew me off because he was fine. He wasn't fine. Anyway, now she's very motivated to fix that stuff because it's worrisome and scary for her. That's not at all bad. It's actually good for her and good for the horse, who in truth is not a bad sort and just needs more guidance on the correct way to be.
It is never too late to learn. So, Tin (who is frequently called Richard because he's a Dick) is learning to step under himself with his hind legs, to lower his neck and head, to lift his back, to engage, and to do sensible, relaxed transitions that are calm and smooth. How are we doing this? Lateral work. Seriously, that's the tool. (If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.) We're in the out and about. There isn't a ring. There's a big wide set of hayfields, a nervous mom, a llama gelding and then me and Da Bird to offer moral support. I'm using the tool we have to hand, which is lateral work. She knows how to do that stuff, her horse knows how to do that stuff, and it can be done anywhere.
Basically, if Tin travels along with his head down and his back up, in a nice calm flat walk with HIS HEAD lower than HER TITS, he's allowed to do that. He may enjoy the blessed and uncomplicated peace of the flat walk. If he drops his back and gets rigid and does the llama, if he even THINKS about being an asshole, then she is to break out the lateral work. Leg yield zig-zags, shoulder-in, haunches in, that style of thing. And it's constant. Leg yield left step, step, step, leg yield right, step step step, flip to shoulder-in, step step, back to leg yield. All of this is at the walk. After a reasonable interval, Tin is offered the opportunity to flat walk with his head down. If he can manage his emotions, he gets to stay there. If he can't... back to the laterals for a bit. He gets offered the opportunity to be in the relaxed flat walk, but if he can't do it, then he gets more work. There is no rest for the wicked. There is only peaceful walks for GOOD BOYS. The wicked get extra leg yields.
The quality of the lateral skills (which horse already sorta knew) is rapidly improving. So is the quality and duration of his flat walk with lowered head and soft, active back. He is getting better at managing his emotions. (To raise the difficulty level, he is no longer allowed to follow Bird anywhere. Bird still comes along, but he follows Tin. Tin has to be the leader. We also ride places that are not "the usual" place. He has to behave in strange parts of the hayfields AS WELL AS in our usual work area.)
At no point during this work does she thump on him. These are skills he ALREADY knew how to do and she just asks him to do them. There is no whip. There is no violence. There is either a politely flat walking horse who has a low head and an active back and who looks relaxed OR there is a llama-ing horse who is kept busy going some form of bent and sideways. And after about half an hour of that crap, he's done. He's tired and he doesn't want to be stupid anymore. He is thankful to have the peace and ease of the flat walk. So, we break out the trot sets. (These are for her fitness as well as for his mental stability.) Trot sets are to be a soft walk that gently and smoothly transitions into a soft relaxed jog and stays there, with head low and back lifted, nice steady rhythm, horse's head lower than rider's tits. And if he can't do that, out comes the lateral work. He hasn't needed to see lateral work at the trot for the last two outings. Walk, trot, walk, trot. His head lower than her tits. Back up, head down. Polite. Relaxed.
And that's the day. We are not to canter yet. I'd like to have the idea of soft and relaxed firmly cemented in his widdle bwain before we go canter.
no subject
Date: 2022-04-09 02:12 pm (UTC)Ha! Very funny. Best of luck!