This was a very common theme throughout the day, Jane also emphasized that it is *very* important not to skip any steps!
1. Make a vow to give light aids and make the horse respond
2. If the horse doesn't respond, correct it, correct it with 3 kicks, 3 smacks with the whip, etc (if you use just one hard kick the horse thinks that a hard kick is the aid for going faster, and doesn't realize it was a correction/punishment)
3. You must retest with another light aid, otherwise you just taught your horse to be dull
4. If the next words out of your mouth are "well, that was better" then correct the horse again and test again
5. Praise the horse a lot when he does it right
***End Exercise***
Both Legs=transition (walk-trot, working trot-lenghtened trot, etc)
Inside Leg=activity/engagement (fixes if the horse is subpower)
Never end a forward question with a correction, go back and retest
"The horse doesn't come out of the womb knowing what the driving aids mean"
If you're not sure it was good enough, it wasn't.
When you give one cluck the horse should brighten his gait just like when you put your inside leg on him
Make sure you kick 3 times or more, so that the horse doesn't confuse the correction with an aid
Stilled seat or retarded seat-when you sit up and tighten your tummy muscles
Driving seat is to activate the gait you're in
It's not important to use your seat the same way as your instructor, just be consistent with how you use it
Visualizations for a driving seat:
Make a swing go higher
Push the back of the saddle to the front
Push the saddle forward on the horse
In the beginning the horse should be rewarded for doing too much
Use an opening rein (hand straight away from the horse's neck) to smack the horse with the whip as a driving aid, then you hit the barrel of the horse with the whip parallel to your calf; make sure you don't pull the rein *back* to do it
The horse should stay in the same gait FOREVER, or as we say in Vermont, "until the cow's come home"
1 comment:
Wow, great advice. I have always had a problem with use of whip not changing my contact. That's a good tip. Also, seat advice.
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