Well it's either feast or famine. Today I had both Ellen and Anja (apparent head working student and assistant stable manager, preparing for her exam) instructing me simultaneously and could not manage to keep up with the barrage of instructions coming my way.
Fortunately I had heard them all before, if not directed at me, then at someone else here, so I got the general drift of what I needed to accomplish. However, those particular to me were as follows: I sit too far to the right, my hands need to be QUIET, my legs need to be QUIET, my hips need to be more following and my horse needs to move more forward (he apparently is still sleeping). In addition, I need NOT to release the rein so quickly or completely, and I need NOT to bend the horse's neck so much-let's see, anything else? Oh yes, the connection to the bit from my arm should be like a side-rein, and my hand should be the rubber donut. No problem!
In all seriousness, it is getting better, and the horse is going better by all accounts, so there is improvement, I keep telling myself, though you couldn't convince my aching back! My little stallion friend is a patient teacher and doesn't try to hurt me while he waits for me to get it right, and for that I am deeply grateful, although Anja says that much of the time he is joking with me and could be a little more honest in his responses. So many of these concepts are familiar to me, but in the context of the impulsion and forward motion that they would like to see here, I find that they are far more difficult to employ on big-moving horses. I console myself with the knowledge that I will know exactly what my students are going through when I employ this knowledge in their behalf.
Really, I am delighted to plug the remaining gaps in my basic education and think what an enormous difference it will make with my horses at home. There are some exercises for the more educated horses that I haven't seen employed before, and as I notice them, I think that they would be interesting and perhaps useful to pass along. Ellen will frequently warm a horse up first with a 10-15 minute period of walking and suppling, and then work the rising trot with many curved lines and changes of directions, continuing to supple the horse all the while. Then she will add many trot-canter-trot transitions, all forward and active.
Next are often transitions within the gait, including counter canter lengthenings on the long side, and also counter canter- counter bend. Almost all work is done in a shoulder-fore position initially, until you come to the tempi-changes, piaffe, passage where straightness is paramount. When the horse is sufficiently warmed up, she will then go to the work with what the horse most needs that day.
One of the more unique and difficult exercises is the half-pass to X to counter canter 10 meter circle to pirouette at X and then continue half-pass in the same direction. Now try that and keep the correct rhythm, bend, impulsion, in both directions and you have a supple horse. This same exercise is done at the trot as well minus the pirouette, and both are modified to suit the ability of the horse. Also, to increase activity behind, the medium trot down the long side to a half turn on haunches to medium trot down the same long side to half turn on the haunches several times over and soon the horses fairly levitate down the long side. Often with the more advanced horses, this exercise is used as a preparation for the energy and engagement needed for passage and piaffe work. Although with horses that are very elastic and engaged like Silvano and Champion, Ellen can run through these exercises in nothing flat because the horse will often execute them very well after one or two attempts. Amazing to watch.
Well, tomorrow I go horse shopping for some folks at home. That should prove interesting! |