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Sept. Ryan Clinic

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Last weekend I rode in my monthly clinic with Ryan. As usual, he worked his magic in his quiet, methodical way.

I have been working on getting Gadget rounder over the topline, but I have been worrying that I am just dumping him on his forehand. (After this weekend, I'm quite sure that's exactly what I have been doing.)

Ryan had me warm Gadget up in his working frame where he is round and fairly level. To the right, I tend to overbend. I have been told this by so many trainers, yet it's a habit that is hard to kill. Ryan had me actually think of slight renver in the trot to move Gadget's shoulder's in front of his quarters. The key seems to be thinking of moving the shoulder and not necessarily moving the neck. Genius.
I could see the difference instantly on the video.

We went back to our "quick leg" exercise, which requires me to be very quiet with my aids and then get Gadget to get quicker from my legs. The goal is to get power from a quick hindleg, not just running. We did this at the trot, and Gadget naturally started to become lighter an more up in his shoulders and frame.

After the round warm-up canter, the next canter involved the same "quick leg" concept. This time, I was to collect, collect, collect from the outside rein, then ask for "quick leg" reaction in the canter -- really get him to jump. The key is to not ask for too much, and to not help him maintain either collection or activity. Gadget broke to trot 3 or 4 times to the right in the collected canter. He never breaks! So I think this exercise really made him work! Ryan said to quietly re-organize and go back to the canter, but to not get upset about the mistakes. The mistakes will make this work better as Gadget figures out how to maintain the collection without my help.



In the right lead, Gadget tended to brace in the collection. Ryan said not to worry about Gadget coming above the bit in the collection, but to focus on keeping the hindlegs moving.

After the collected work, Ryan had me trot Gadget low, deep, and round. He recognized that Gadget gets tight in his back, so its necessary to take him lower and rounder to loosen his back again.

Summary:
 1. ride straighter to the right; don't overbend.
 2. use "quick legs" to activate canter then collect
 3. after collecting, ride deeper in trot to loosen
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