I poked poor Nic in the eye yesterday. She gave me her "What'd ya do that for?" look. She teared forever, I hope I didn't scratch her cornea. I don't think I did, but I'm keeping a watch on it. So, I guess she learned that dressage is better than a poke in the eye?
Bff Steph has been kind enough to help me with Nic pretty much daily. I upload video onto You Tube, she checks it out and answers any questions I might have about how to handle situations. She gives ideas about how to make Nic push more to use her hind end. (For the unititiated, the whole point of dressage is to make your horse more ridable by making it push with the back legs more. That's a simplistic definition, but essentially correct.) It's nice to have someone accessible, and I think she likes it because it lets her keep her hand in the teaching business without having to actually work as a trainer. Let's face it, horse trainers make diddly squat.
We have moments of real push, but currently they are moments, rather than a standard way of going. One thing that came to light since Trainer's exit stage left is that the horse really has no idea how to balance herself. How I let that slide in the past year, I don't know. Kids, this is how too much contact can hurt. Don't try this at home.
I have to say, that once I saw the videos I posted in my April 23rd entry "Two New Videos and a Challenge" (http://katrinathisreallysucks.blogspot.com/2007/04/i-have-two-new-video-clips-to-share.html), I began to really wonder what the hell was going on with this horse. Re-read the entry, take the challenge, ask yourself what the difference between the two videos is, and you will understand why.
"Our eyes are holden that we cannot see things that stare us in the face, until the hour arrives when the mind is ripened, - then we behold them, and the time when we saw them not is like a dream." So said our good buddy Ralph Waldo Emmerson, and so say I.
Last week, I spent the whole week making Nic trot on a long rein to sort out her balance, and to keep her rhythm regardless of rein length. It took a couple days before she got the concept - I would have her trot on the long rein, and she would blast around like the meat man was after her. I've taken up more contact now, but I'm making sure to include stretchy circles every so often to make sure the concept is still there.
Here's the results:
Bff Steph commented, when I began working Nic on a long rein, and making the horse sort out how to balance herself at a slower pace, that "the horse's head is probably swirling." I'd say that was probably an appropriate description of Nic's mental activity. The concept of a slow, but active swinging trot, was new.
We are trying the same in the canter, but aren't quite there yet. Lula May suggested her canter isn't as balanced as her trot because we've "worked the canter 1/20th of what we've worked the trot," so that is our focus now.
Lunging at the canter has helped; inititally Nic would bolt into the canter, and scramble like a puppy on a waxed floor. Now, she usually picks up the canter quietly. She still isn't balanced, but the transitions are quieter.
I poked poor Nic in the eye yesterday. She gave me her "What'd ya do that for?" look. She teared forever, I hope I didn't scratch her cornea. I don't think I did, but I'm keeping a watch on it. So, I guess she learned that dressage is better than a poke in the eye?
"Our eyes are holden that we cannot see things that stare us in the face, until the hour arrives when the mind is ripened, - then we behold them, and the time when we saw them not is like a dream." So said our good buddy Ralph Waldo Emmerson, and so say I.