Third Level Friesian Gelding...Day 2...

****Connecting Half Halt****
Close both legs
Close outside fist
Twinkle, twinkle, twinkle the inside hand
Do all of this for 3 seconds

Do 3 supples then half halt (while thinking add, add, add); soften and let the neck fall down (ie use suppleness to improve the connection)

Too much flexion on inside is a sign of more focus on the inside rein, need to focus on the outside hand which is the connecting hand; you should still row the boat as you half halt

The outside hand captures, contains, and recycles the power

Your horse must be supple on the inside rein and connected through the outside rein

Inside/outside is not determined by the wall of the arena, but by the flexion and bend of the horse

Precede the opening of your fingers for a stretchy circle with a good connecting half halt
*Do the same thing with a test that asks you to loop the inside rein*

Training Level/First Level Warmblood...Day 2...

She had an extra long lesson because the amazing Hanoverian that was to follow had an injury. But it turned out to be good for the auditors and the rider because they were just at a breakthrough point when her ride was *supposed* to be over.

If you go +2 or -2 it's too easy for the horse to bend at the neck.

Coordinate closing of calf with turning the key, then in between be quiet

Crest of neck, left and right (flipping the nuchal ligament); try the flexing at the halt, you can see the crest flip, Conrad will start a lesson with this, do NOT wiggle the rein when you do this, just flip the wrist; then do it at the walk

If the horse tilts on a 10 meter circle of Shoulder In then it may be locked on one side of the poll-so supple it (can do it while in shoulder in as well as 10 meter circle or on a straight line)

The moment you get the +7 then release; if you hold him he breaks at the jaw

On a circle, the horse HAS to be on a +1 flexion, otherwise he's not straight; even through the transition

You don't go from stiff to supple in one fell swoop; it goes Stiff-->Less stiff-->A little stiff-->a little supple-->a little more supple-->supple

****Testing Suppleness****
1. When your horse is supple the weight of the horse on your hand stays the same when you supple because the horse just follows your hand around with his mouth

If you have a markedly one-sided horse spend 80% of the time suppleing that stiff side, you can track left and still work the right side of the body

2. When you take on the rein the horse lengthens and lowers his head toward the bit (as you supple)

3. If the horse stays straight on line of travel (doesn't swing its hindquarters)

If the horse swings you have to block the escape route by using passive non-suppleing side leg

****End Suppleness Tests****

Reiner Klimke would school a line of flying changes and then walk on a long rein plus pat his horse, then pick up the reins and do a pirouette, then lengthen reins and pat his horse, in other words-he spent more time walking on a long rein and patting his horse than drilling stuff

During a connecting half halt keep the leg on, don't pulse

Rober Dover-lots of bend, driving aids, and holding rein, on a 20 meter circle accelerate into a 6 meter circle within the 20 meter circle (at the walk), (using lots of bend, driving aids, and a holding rein)

When the horse steps through the closed outside fist the horse comes through and over its back

For this exercise, 20 m/6 m circles when walking, 20 m/10 m circles when trotting and cantering; think of it as if you're going to do a medium gait just before beginning the circle

Once the horse has it on a circle do the finished half halt on the circle

Think add, add, add as you do the half halt, then relax and the horse will round and come on the bit if it was right

Connecting half halt-aid to put your horse on the bit and make it straight

Unilateral half halt=Connecting Half Halt
1st Purpose=put the horse on the bit
2nd Purpose=make the horse even in the rein

If your horse is too heavy in the right rein then it is too light in the left rein

"Schooling is about fixing problems, competition is about hiding problems"

Make sure to add in a way that doesn't chase him out of his rhythm

Horse stiff on right, so go left, do counter -1 flexion, twinkle outside hand, close inside hand, close legs which equals a reverse half halt

Layer half halts like coats of paint, softening in between

If the horse gets behind the leg ask for a lengthening

In competition you wouldn't flex the horse to the outside, so reverse half halt is just for schooling

Some Kind of Record...

So I've posted three times today...shows how enthralling my homework is. But I posted before I went to the barn and was going to group tomorrow and today's post but decided I wanted to get today down before I forgot, since the whole point of this blog is to chronicle my training journey with Sophie.

We had another longe session today (surprise, surprise, but I did call Julie (the saddle fitter) and left a message, asking about my saddle). It went extremely well. We started on the non-mane side and initially Sophie was head up with her nose out, after a few half halts and some good girls and suddenly she was round and soft and looked like a Second Level horse. We worked on lots of trot/canter transitions and I even did some spiral circles (brought her down to 10 meters slowly, and then let her back out again). She really was excellent though, and it was with the side reins a touch longer than I'd been doing, which helped emphasize the effectiveness of half halts.

Then I gave her a break, let her stretch her neck out and walked for a few minutes. As I was doing it I was thinking that it was silly of me to have not done this before. During a lesson my horse always gets a walk break with long reins to stretch, sometimes three or four. Why not have one in the middle of a longe session? So we did, and it helped in keeping the surcingle from being pulled forward and messing up the adjustment of the side reins.

We restarted after our break and it was a little rougher than normal, without a break. But I'm not going to get rid of the break yet. We started out and things were going ok, I thought the inside rein was tight enough, and wanted to see if I could get her "on the bit" through half halts without just cranking her head down. So I checked the outside rein. It was very loose, so I tightened it a little and voila! She wasn't as good as the other direction, but possibly the best she's been in that direction. So even when longeing, the outside rein is *very* important. Her canter take off was very sloppy so we really worked on those for a while. Her halts were atrocious though. Last time and the first round today she was halting with just a "whoa", instantly. I hate it when she's slow to whoa because I don't want to end on an ignoring me whoa, so we have to try it a few more times to get it.

So, we'll see how she is tomorrow. She got to graze for 20 minutes today after her rinse off. That was after surviving the Bagged Pellets Monster sitting in the back of the farm truck. She also had a fit this morning, before coming for the day. Apparently the horses were brought in in a different order than normal and Sophie's pasture was last...so she and her friends were racing around until they were caught, and nice and sweaty as a result. I'm sure she was a little tired as a result, but I went ahead and worked her because if I had a show today I would have needed her to work. I have class tomorrow so I won't get out until the afternoon, giving her plenty of time to rest after whatever morning escapades she has in the morning.