Skip to main content

Sept. Ryan Clinic

By
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
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When old becomes new - update to my old Pikeur Diana!

By
Here is the finished product! It was a plain black jacket so I added white and light blue trim with RHINESTONES! It's very sparkly! Here's a closeup of the collar, which looks better than the pocket. Now I am going to try to add coordinating trim (minus the rhinestones) to the saddle pad.
Post a Comment
Read more

May 1-2, 2015 Lessons with Kristin

By
Had another weekend of very insightful lessons. I rode Isaac Friday night briefly and he showed me how hard it is for me to keep my body aligned, because he quickly went crooked when I did. Big takeaways from lessons on Gadget: 1. "Keep your basket to the outside." Kristin tells me to pretend I am pushing or holding a basket on my hands. In my mind, my basket is squarish. She will often tell me to take my basket to the outside and it helps me take both hands one direction. I really ride with too much bend to the inside and I need to learn this new feeling of straightness that feels almost counter bent. 2. "Look at the outside ear." This keeps me from twisting my chest to the inside. It's actually shocking how well it worked. 3. "Go and whoa." This is how I have to ride the canter. Quiet seat. Left hand up, not holding. This keeps him off his left shoulder. Right hand maintains connection. I have to go from leg and quickly put him togeth...
Post a Comment
Read more

PRE-SHOW NOTES

By
I leave for Mid Ohio Dressage Classic in less than a week, and today Hani vidoed my ride. I had so many break- throughs!! For right trot halfpass, do not put outside leg too far back ! This results in breaking to the canter! Keep leg at girth and move haunches. Left trot halfpass -- start in shoulder-fore, then keep shoulders to right , and add haunches. For left canter halfpass , ride canter with very following hands . Gadget will bend around inside leg and flow sideways. If you hold too much in reins, the canter falls apart. Turn on the haunches -- soft hands , strongly hold haunches to inside , then ride shoulders around like cow pony , only half-halting between steps to keep rhythm. Stay soft/following in the hands to keep Gadget soft in the neck/back.
Post a Comment
Read more