Arena geometry
Ok, so. It was a good lesson last night. Michele says now that my position is stronger, I’m really able to start riding now. Now that I think of it, she didn’t have to remind me so much about my hands, in fact, she was telling me that she liked how my hands were. Mostly, it was my weaker left leg and still leaning slightly forward with my upper body that I heard about.
I’m more in the habit of saying negative shit about myself, but for once I can say I did actually feel more correct and able to ride more accurately from that position. Katja is a much larger horse than Clover and Mico, and though she is sensitive to the aids, if they’re not given correctly, there’s no response, and therefore she is less maneuverable. Because I never learned how to ride effectively from a correct position, and use light aids, it’s taken me–it will take me–some time to learn how to fine tune it. No more hand riding. Now that I’m not tugging and yanking, my shoulders and arms are starting to relax, and that’s what Michele was referring to last night when she talked about the “quality of contact” and my hands.
It’s hard to describe; you can’t be taught feel, you only know it when you feel it, when the horse responds to it. You get it for a second, and you spend the rest of your life trying to recreate it, only, the more you try to recreate it, the more you fuss and the farther away it gets from you. Talk about elusive. But when you get it, and the horse is there with you–I won’t say it’s like zen meditation, but it is pretty transcendental. Because, in effect, you’re communicating with a horse through your hands, and the bit is the telephone. So, DON’T YANK!
So, now that I’m not a bastard bit yanker anymore, my accuracy has gone down, and after warming up, Michele had me doing three loop serpentines, turns up the quarter lines, 15 meter circles off the long sides of the quarter lines, 20 meter circles on the short ends of the arena–all in quick succession. That’s the kind of schooling I need to do on my own. Perfect practice … what’s that saying? “Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.”
We finished up with some canter work, starting with spiraling/leg yielding in and out of a 20 meter circle at the trot. This time, Michele had me do a little sitting trot at the smallest part of the circle, which isn’t easy on a big strided mare like Katja. The canter work to the left went well, but I had a hard time cantering to the right. Because my left leg is weaker, I don’t trust my outside aids to contain the canter, so I’m concerned I’ll completely lose all accuracy. After several false starts, Michele had me come in onto a smaller circle, as I was getting caught up in the corners on the short side of the arena. It worked! Having to focus on a small circle stopped me from riding off my hands, and got the rest of my body coordinated. We finished with a good canter to the right and my confidence restored.
Hopefully I can continue the work on Clover and Mico this week and not backslide into oblivion.
I’m more in the habit of saying negative shit about myself, but for once I can say I did actually feel more correct and able to ride more accurately from that position. Katja is a much larger horse than Clover and Mico, and though she is sensitive to the aids, if they’re not given correctly, there’s no response, and therefore she is less maneuverable. Because I never learned how to ride effectively from a correct position, and use light aids, it’s taken me–it will take me–some time to learn how to fine tune it. No more hand riding. Now that I’m not tugging and yanking, my shoulders and arms are starting to relax, and that’s what Michele was referring to last night when she talked about the “quality of contact” and my hands.
It’s hard to describe; you can’t be taught feel, you only know it when you feel it, when the horse responds to it. You get it for a second, and you spend the rest of your life trying to recreate it, only, the more you try to recreate it, the more you fuss and the farther away it gets from you. Talk about elusive. But when you get it, and the horse is there with you–I won’t say it’s like zen meditation, but it is pretty transcendental. Because, in effect, you’re communicating with a horse through your hands, and the bit is the telephone. So, DON’T YANK!
So, now that I’m not a bastard bit yanker anymore, my accuracy has gone down, and after warming up, Michele had me doing three loop serpentines, turns up the quarter lines, 15 meter circles off the long sides of the quarter lines, 20 meter circles on the short ends of the arena–all in quick succession. That’s the kind of schooling I need to do on my own. Perfect practice … what’s that saying? “Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.”
We finished up with some canter work, starting with spiraling/leg yielding in and out of a 20 meter circle at the trot. This time, Michele had me do a little sitting trot at the smallest part of the circle, which isn’t easy on a big strided mare like Katja. The canter work to the left went well, but I had a hard time cantering to the right. Because my left leg is weaker, I don’t trust my outside aids to contain the canter, so I’m concerned I’ll completely lose all accuracy. After several false starts, Michele had me come in onto a smaller circle, as I was getting caught up in the corners on the short side of the arena. It worked! Having to focus on a small circle stopped me from riding off my hands, and got the rest of my body coordinated. We finished with a good canter to the right and my confidence restored.
Hopefully I can continue the work on Clover and Mico this week and not backslide into oblivion.
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