Didn't get up until 7pm. fed and scratched D for a while as I've often been in too much of a hurry to do this lately. Something else that got me thinking this week was s saying how much D loves kids grooming him. he doesn't love me grooming him and, if not tied up, will walk off! I was wondering what kids do differently to me and I think it's probably less pressure and speed. Now I know D doesn't mind a hard grooming as M bites him pretty hard when grooming so I'm going to focus on speed first and investigate whether slowing down makes a difference. The first indications tonight were positive. I don't really like grooming either whereas kids love it so I'm sure that rubs off too!
I led D up to the top field to put the cones out and he was positively keen to get up there! he was saddled and bridled. Lots of chomping on the bit again. Will see how he goes with this. He's in the myler recommended for RBEs and young horses but he may need to move to the higher ported one for RBIs sooner rather than later. Depends if the chomping is because he feels his tongue is being restricted or he's just getting used to the bit generally.
I led D round while I put the cones out then did the same pattern on the ground as last time; Walk, trot halt, back up, walk, halt, treat! He was quite grumpy again and dominant when trotting, head tossing and plunging his nose down to the ground. He's also quite reluctant to stop! I used to get a bit concerned abut this - as in not knowing what to do - but I just ignore it now. I'm sure, as he gets sweeter about what I'm asking him to do, these protests will disappear of their own accord.
After doing a circuit on each rein, I got on. I was going to mount from the offside but I'm so unco-ordinated with the saddle, I left it with a view to practicing it when S is around in case I get stuck or hit him on the bum and scare D! Strangely, I'm fine with the bareback pad so it's obviously just my neural pathways blocking me!
Well, what a great boy D was. He was not nappy at all. I felt him bulging towards the gate slightly once but it was nothing even worth reacting to. he was so willing and really forward going. The back-ups were fab with him really bringing his nose in and powering back. Funnily enough, with my saddle on, I'm not able to get my legs forward onto his shoulders a la Parelli. With my legs back, I found them moving on instinct to keep the back-up straight. At first I resisted my "old ways" but then I thought, "it's working so what are you doing?!" I found myself back in my comfort zone but this time, instead of castigating myself, I felt grateful for the knowledge I've gained and actually thought it would be wrong to deny what works for the horse just because I'm not sure if it's the Parelli way! It might be Finesse instead of Freestyle but Hey Ho!
I was able to concentrate again on how the seat influences forward stop and back-up. D is so responsive once he's on board emotionally, he was such a pleasure today. So here's what I think so far:
- Walk on - lift life, push seatbones slightly forward then start moving whole body as Linda teaches in fluidity, leg on last. (I had no need to use whip whap today).
- Halt - drop life - seatbones stay forward - REVELATION! I have never got that before as in "dressage", you are generally taught to keep the hindlegs coming forward by keeping your leg on whilst "dropping your weight" which I realise now made me too upright.
- Back-up - seatbones stay forward!!! Another Revelation!! I was taught to lift my seatbones so the horse could lift his back. In Parelli, having trained the horse on the ground to go back when you lift the rein with rhythm, that's all you need to do on top. I was actually able to barely lift the rein but D still went back because my seat was heavy but my legs were moving. Amazing!!
- A good back-up really is the key to a good halt. We need to go back, back, back. The Americans do it but we don't in the UK. I think we're worried about making our horses nappy but I can feel already that D's halt has improved in one session so we'll see.
- I surprised myself by how gently I could ride D. At the end, I did a few circles really using my body to turn him and he responded beautifully. He's even more responsive than Ollie.
D started off a bit grumpy again today but finished off totally motivated and not wanting to stop. I was tempted to trot today as he was so good and I want to "get on"! Stopped myself as I need to establish a positive attitude in walk first. I'm committed to at least 7 repeats of this pattern but, if D gets fed up or perfect, I will of course change it a bit - but not because I'm getting bored, LBE that I am, no, no, no!
As a result of the great progress made today, I'm definitely up for doing a walk and trot dressage test at Felbridge showground in the near future. I love a challenge to focus me and I've been thinking that dressage would be a great grounding for D because it's a calm atmosphere to meet lots of strange horses in rather than the showground where there's lots going on and horses galloping about. I'm not bothered how D "goes" in the test. My only aim will be for him to travel in the right direction and hopefully have fun!
No comments:
Post a Comment