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Post by Viv on Mar 12, 2009 15:07:58 GMT 1
Hope you have a wonderful day, so are you and Al twins ;D .
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Post by RuthE on Mar 12, 2009 17:26:13 GMT 1
Thank you ;D I decided to give myself a birthday treat today, and booked a day off work so that I can spend it relaxing (well gardening counts as relaxing for me!).
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Post by petdesigns on Mar 12, 2009 19:33:51 GMT 1
Hope you've had a lovely day gardening, Ruth! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
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Post by mysticalmidnight on Mar 12, 2009 20:27:16 GMT 1
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Post by WarriorNik on Mar 13, 2009 7:59:55 GMT 1
Happy belated birthday, Ruth. Hope your nags bought you pressies of nice clean stables and good behaviour? How did your dressage comp go?
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Post by RuthE on Mar 13, 2009 9:32:02 GMT 1
Happy belated birthday, Ruth. Hope your nags bought you pressies of nice clean stables and good behaviour? How did your dressage comp go? It went very well thanks despite having to warm up in 50mph winds and driving sleet ;D pony remembered he is not a lunatic racehorse, and got his best ever score at novice. Excuse the poor quality pic - it was captured from a video
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Post by WarriorNik on Mar 13, 2009 12:56:38 GMT 1
He looks to move really nicely, Ruth and has a lovely outline - but are you dropping your eyes/chin and looking down in the photo? (That's a bad habit that I have and am forever being nagged about it. ) When I get it right, it's surprising the difference it makes, really lightening the forehand. I've been having some lessons on a big old eventer that really knows her stuff, even at 15 years old. She's 16.2hh and, apparently, you and I are about the same height/weight so you can imagine how overhorsed I feel riding her, but she's taught me an awful lot. Not least of all how I'm better able to influence her with my seat/weight when I don't look down and the difference that makes to balance. How much more I'm able to get her to extend in trot. Last lesson I actually managed to get her to do three flying changes across the diagonal in a collected canter. Had visions of her falling over if I'd failed to get her back on the right leg in time before turning onto the track. Suspect she did more to put herself right than I did in the end. What a feeling she gives cross-country as well, although I'm not brave enough to tackle any big fences, even on her. Do you do much jumping with your pony?
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Post by petdesigns on Mar 13, 2009 18:56:50 GMT 1
Nice one, Ruth (You still haven't said if you are Al's twin?? ;D) Lovely pony!
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Post by Dead Man Walking on Mar 13, 2009 23:59:53 GMT 1
Glad you had a nice birthday, Ruth. Fancy some of this lot thinking you and Al are twins. There must be all of 21 years between you, and even I know humans only carry their sprogs 9 months. ;D ;D ;D Of course, you do share a name with Al's mother, aka the Oracle. I reckon Nik's right, btw - your lug's definitely ahead of the vertical in that shot. Lug, shoulder, hip bone, heel on the vertical and you'll get another inch or two's extension by improving your ability to drive forward with your seat - and be less stiff/tense in the shoulders/upper body. Smart little pony, though. Do you do much work without stirrups on him? One exercise I find useful with the girls working for me, is to have them working without stirrups through a set of bending poles or cones, but in a collected canter, not like a race. It helps them to really get deep into the saddle and use their seats, develops great balance and rhythm, and is a good suppling exercise for both horse and rider. Barrels set out as for a barrel race, and at the same pace is another fun exercise, too. What scores are you getting now in the competitions? Where do you feel you need to make most improvements?
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Post by petdesigns on Mar 14, 2009 19:48:31 GMT 1
Yes, that is a great exercise. I find work without stirrups very good as well. A bit of American "Western" style riding can also help to get deeper into the saddle and to use the 'seat'!
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Post by Old Dragon (Al) on Mar 15, 2009 0:17:05 GMT 1
An exercise we used to have to do when without stirrups and in canter, was reins in one hand and backwards arm circling with the inside arm, change the rein and repeat. Blooming exhausting, but impossible to do properly and stay in control if looking down or tilting the head. I think it might have been something from our one old instructor's Army days. Possibly from when he taught polo to raw recruits in the cavalry. (Or perhaps pig-sticking?) We called that instructor 'the galloping major', and he actually was a retired major. He owned a huge Irish hunter that he rode in an officer's military saddle. I got to exercise it a few time when he was on holiday and it was at livery at the stables where I was a working pupil. It was, to me, an awful, lazy horse to ride out on. Mind you, the major was around 70 years old at least then, so perhaps didn't want anything too lively at his age... I know the feeling! I've been offered the chance to ride/exercise the stallion on the next yard. He's only a three-years old, so just now being ridden away after breaking. Big, hairy-legged coloured cob type, and, I am told, very placid. I think he can't be far off 16hh now. The owners were busy making a mounting block the other day. ;D Something to look forward to once I feel up to it.
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Post by RuthE on Mar 15, 2009 12:40:42 GMT 1
Looking down is something I will find very hard to crack. I spend most of my life staring at the ground! I also need to raise my hands just an inch or two to bring them into alignment, but they are a whole lot better than they used to be.
I do a little bit of jumping with Tali, but only at home. He is somewhat erractic at times, I recently had a jumping lesson for the first time since 2007 and found out that I don't like the taste of the surface of the school!!
We generally get in the low 60's at unaffiliated novice these days. I find we score more highly under listed judges than the unlisted ones (I think perhaps the unlisted ones are at times blinded by the flashy paces of the big warmbloods that tend to predominate in this area, whereas the listed judges can see through the flashiness). The main thing that loses us marks is me getting tense and nervous (after certain over-critical people I developed a fear of riding in front of others!), and therefore riding like some sort of muppet. At home I need to work on contact (not throwing it away!) and insisting on a response to every single leg aid so that I can in turn keep a better leg position. I also think I need a new right leg! I used to do a lot without stirrups, but haven't done as much in recent months. During the summer I also ride bareback from time to time (we have a 10 minute walk from the stables to the summer fields so much better to do this bareback apart from when he catches me out by whipping round at imaginary monsters!!).
16hh by 3 y.o? I reckon that cob is going to grow into a biggun!!!
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Post by Old Dragon (Al) on Mar 15, 2009 14:15:38 GMT 1
Looking down is something I will find very hard to crack. I spend most of my life staring at the ground! I also need to raise my hands just an inch or two to bring them into alignment, but they are a whole lot better than they used to be. Nik and I were talking about this very thing the other day and after she'd had her lesson on the old eventer, and looking down/head/hand position are interconnected. To illustrate the effects of this, I got Nik to straddle a rather wobbly office chair I have here. The seat on that is a swine to tilt forward and that makes my back ache if I don't sit up straight on it. Anyway, I had Nik assume her riding position when on it. Up straight with her hips, elbows, shoulders and ears in line and the chair seat stayed level, but as soon as she tilted her head and looked down, the seat pitched forward, lowering her hands and forcing her muscles to support that position. After only a few moments she could feel them and the tension that resulted in her spine, shoulders and neck. It was quite funny, in a way, because that chair is on castors, and by positioning its five legs in a certain way so that Nik could get her feet on the spiders legs, she was trying to use her seat to move the chair. Upright, and the chair could be made to inch forward on the carpet. When her head was tilted, the chair would almost tip up and actually moved backwards slightly! Nik is only around the same height and weight as you, so needs to be able to maximise her ability to use her seat/weight to influence her mounts. We also discussed the importance of 'play' when schooling and riding. Nik can take this all too seriously and felt that she was a bit too old and mature for mounted games, seeing those as things for the kids/youngsters, and that 'others' would laugh and criticise her negatively if she participated - but so what, if it helps? However, after her experiences on that office chair, and even getting it to move forward on the diagonal, she had to concede that doing similar things on a horse seemed slightly less comical - but the exercise was still valuable because it certainly illustrated the effect that minor adjustments in position and weight distribution can make. Also, how a bit of fun can reduce stress and muscle tension with beneficial effects. Nik has a little old pony that she rescued a few years ago, and that is really lazy. She often rides him bareback between the fields when checking horses, and has told me that she's even managed to get him leg yielding, lengthening his stride and walking out better by putting some of these suggestions tried on the office chair into practice. ;D She has noticed also that Bo (the lazy pony) is less inclined to hang in her hands and raises his head a little, putting him less on the forehand, when she doesn't look down and tilt her head. Like you, Nik's inclined to tense up a bit when jumping, but was persuaded to ride a very busy, bouncy little 13.2hh recently and belonging to a friend. The intention was for her to try and stop that pony from rushing its fences and keep it back on its hocks going into fences - or in that case, cavalletti, so nothing very large. The course, albeit tiny, was set up with lots of turns and direction changes, but even though the pony was very fast and forward going, Nik surprised herself by managing to keep it under control and said she had a lot of fun. That, in itself, helped her to relax. When asked if she'd consider doing a mini-clear round competition on it at a local RC show, and just for fun though, Nik's immediate first thought was 'no, she'd make a fool of herself!' Okay, so Nik's forty-something, but so what? No one had actually asked her to ride the pony at the show, only if she'd consider doing so. Pointed out, that gave her something to think about. When it was suggested that doing that with her own youngster, and as a schooling exercise, her response was, 'Oh, yes, I'd do that then.' The difference being, I assume, one had a serious purpose, but the other just for fun? To me, a bit of fun is often as educational as the more serious stuff, and to hell with those who have nothing better to do that criticise others. It's they who have the problem, and the only head I have to deal with is my own. I'd love to be fit and light enough to ride that little, bouncy pony around a clear round course for a laugh. Yes, that cob stallion's going to be a very big lad. He's the sort you see pulling those holiday gypsy caravans around the countryside, and probably part cart-horse. It's about all that will carry me these days.
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Post by Old Dragon (Al) on Mar 15, 2009 16:25:13 GMT 1
For any members curious to know more about what dressage is, and what we are talking about, there's a simple explanation about it at this link: Dressage explained.After reading an email query from a member, saying it was all a matter of physics, and the laws of motion, I had to chuckle when they confessed to having been shuffling their own office chair around their room, and claiming to have mastered a canter on it! All I can say to that is that I can get a foot of rein-back per seat push on my chair - as long as it doesn't connect with the hole in the carpet, that is. ;D I wonder if riding around the room on the chair will help me lose weight and supple up my spine? ;D Go on, I dare any members reading this to try it and to post how they get on here. If we haven't sent Ruth a birthday present, we can at least send her some laughs, and a bit of fun. I am currently doing quite well getting the chair to circle left, but it's not so responsive to the right, making me think that the damage to my lower right back may well have more impact on my riding/seat than I realised. Whatever, it must burn off some calories, and certainly increases my heart rate! ;D
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Post by petdesigns on Mar 16, 2009 10:48:06 GMT 1
Sorry, I don't dare moving my office chair around like that - a) the nicest springer spaniel on earth is lying behind me (good excuse, eh? ) and b) on Friday at work on reception, me sitting on an office chair, feet (my feet aren't exactly small...) on the spider legs of chair. Booking in a patient - suddenly I go down nearly on the floor, my right foot having touched the pedal thingy to lower the chair. It was quite a cheerful reception for a while My old horseriding teacher (a good 30 years ago) made us ride without stirrups and holding a coin to the saddle with each knee (I mean a coin between each knee and saddle). We also had to do low jumps without stirrups and without reins, spreading the arms out. Funnily enough - he was an old military man, too. (My orthopaedic surgeon and the physio both are sure that I got back to walking so relatively quickly because the horseriding and especially dressage is so good for the lower back and pelvic muscles! There are some exercises female dressage riders don't have to do....)
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Post by petdesigns on Mar 16, 2009 10:50:46 GMT 1
Ruth, I know that feeling only too well! AND I tend to look on the ground as well! (That's why I know it's not helpful when trying to ride really well)
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Post by Old Dragon (Al) on Mar 16, 2009 13:00:23 GMT 1
Yes, I recall those coins under the knees - and I'm going back 40 years, Jutta! The Major was some sort of 'guest instructor' at the stables where I trained. He was a friend of the yard owners and, I think, had an arrangement to teach a few of his own private and semi-private clients there inthe indoor school. Occasionally I'd be asked/told to join in his lessons. On one such occasion he had a middle-aged couple to teach. The man was quite tall and lean, the woman quite the opposite, and she sat very perched and on top of her horse, bouncing around in a very unstable position. Frustrated by her lack of progress and ability to grasp what was required, one day Major Rose suddenly yelled at the top of his voice, 'For God's sake woman, open your blasted buttocks and sit into the bugger!' The woman was riding just ahead of me at the time and always wore her hair up under her riding hat, and I watched as her neck turned beetroot red at that. The couple didn't return again. I don't think the Major liked women at all. He certainly detested women drivers. The drive to the stables was very narrow and had a wire fence along one side. One day he had to pull over to allow a woman client to pass, or perhaps him to pass her as he reckoned she couldn't reverse her car back to the yard. Anyway, he ended up scratching his little black car on the wire and arrived at the ayrd furious! It was his pride and joy, and probably cost him a fortne in polish! He used to wipe the dust off it as soon as he'd parked it, and with a handkerchief! He also used to inspect the horses and tack that he'd been allocated, and I used to dread that. He had a cocktail stick that he'd poke into the buckle holes and woe betide the stable staff if he found the slightest trace of saddlesoap or grease there, or if the buckles hadn't been polished. He also insisted the seats of the saddles were polished with boot polish, so you can imagine how slippery those were! (Not to mention the hell that resulted if the polish residue stained a client's britches! ) The yard manager/chief instructor didn't seem to like him much either, and used to make himself scarce, usually leaving me to listen to all his criticisms. He could find fault with anything, and yet, looking back, that yard was probably the smartest, and had the highest standards, of any I've worked at.
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