Eventing Horse Question

[ClaireLV]

Dressage in Lightness is by Sylvia Loch, she's a fantastic author and rider. Yes she is British.

[Einstein]

Jennifer~My new hero

I can't agree more about the jumpers. I really don't care that Child A's Dad has more money then sense. A 10 year SHOULD NOT be doing the jumpers on Germany's last year Olympic mount. Just cause you can doesn't mean you SHOULD!!

OK, off my soap box, but I still go back if you can't jump in a loose ring (and I mean the jumpers, I have little to no eventing experience) then stay home, and learn to ride. I hate that for 2 years everyone rode in a pelham with 1 rein because Mclain Ward did it.

[Skye Pilot]

You guys rock!!!..... Johnnie can I move into your barn!!! Jennifer...I don't know where you live, but I want to move next to you too and ride.... My trainer worked my butt off yesterday.... I am actually really sore...... REALLY sore.... Red was awesome... It is just me...
You are saying the same thing my trainer is saying to me.... the just of it is I am not ready for competition..... I have a least a year if not more of learning what it is to ride a horse... do I get points for having heart? ;D

[Christina]

Claire - did you like the book too?

[ZenRider]

And here I thought I was the only one backwards (well from mainstream anyway) on the concepts of riding horses.

Michelle, you're kidding right? People rode their horses in a pelham one reined just because some other guy did? Sheesh, not listening to their horses are they?

Now I understand having lower jumps for beginners, riders and or horses, but yeah, you'd think the higher levels would be, um, higher?

[jennifer2]

are for heart. Horses know, and you know.

The single best thing to improve riding is TONS of visualization. PICTURE and FEEL your horse working the way you want him to work. Make the corrections in your mind. If, every time you get on you are thinking about what he did wrong last time he'll pick up on those images and form to them and do it all wrong again. Oth, if you get on and YOU have the picture and the feel of what he OUGHT to do he at least has a fighting chance to understand and do it. This is why experienced riders do so much better on green horses than green riders do on experienced horses...The experienced rider has a great image for the horse to model on. The experienced horse with a green rider needs to carry his own image and ignore the rider's.

There's a gajillion exercises on the ground that help.

I REALLY recommend sit-ups and stretches...recommend and do are not the same thing however ! (Oh I STRETCH all right, but SIT-UPS UGH!)

Anyhow, the wiggly leg AND floppy middle are both helped by sit-ups- even ten a day to start will show a difference w/in a week in your riding... whew- just did ten!...I'm SO OLD!

And toe raises- again, just start with ten a day, and really, upper body stuff too. I read an article about a study that showed that upper body conditioning improved RUNNERS times. I'm sure WE need it.

HEY obviously if ten is EASY do more, and more IS better, but who's really going to stick with a program like- "Start with fifty sit-ups, go to one-hundred toe raises on the stairs toes in, then one hundred toes out, then do bench presses and...."

OH and, get this, standing on one foot with your eyes closed is a great "easy" way to strengthen the support muscles in your ankles and feet-- try to count to ten at first . Really.

These are the rules- Something is better than nothing and Quit while you're ahead (or before you get farther behind if it comes to that- if it never does, then you're probably not getting ahead as fast as you can, if it ALWAYS comes to before you're too far behind then you're pushing too hard).

ALSO, remember that learning, both for you and your horse is a cyclical function- it's like a spiral-- and there HAVE to be regressions, that's the way we're all wired. It is biologically the way that learning takes place. It can't be helped.

Try to figure out how to use it, and when you do, please share!

And I really recommend Parelli videos and his book and LOTS of PARELLI type round-pen work--you don't have to have a pen- in fact in his book he refers to your equipment bag as the round pen-- the bag because it can be your focus point to make a circle- see, the "wall" can be a drawing factor on the INSIDE as well.

I can't explain his games on paper- he has little games that you play to get the horse to move up down back forward and side to side.

I can HONESTLY say that the most attitude and life changing horseman in print and video FOR ME is Pat Parelli. My relationship with my horses is through the roof. He opened up huge worlds of possibility.

[Christina]

We play some of the Parelli games too! I've added a few other things that we do, and it's helping to get him focused. Some tips from a John Lyon's type trainer have also helped, especially with his "nervousness."
You know...I'm really attracted to this eventing stuff. Although endurance seems pretty interesting also. Very different...I guess I'll just have to have a Rennaisance horse! (and a very good trainer to get me decent. I have no doubt that my horse could do these things...just know that I dont have the skill.)

[jennifer2]

event horse wouldn't be able to do endurance.

What specific Lyons thing helped with the nervousness? Do share.

[Christina]

The credit for the nervousness thing goes to a woman names Cheryl Sutor, (www.equusite.com) who, it appears, does John Lyon's based training. This was on her article on leading. Her thing was about teaching the horse to lower it's head on command. No, it doesnt stop him from "thinking" nervous thoughts, but it DOES stop him from panicking, and they will try to process instead of fling around, which was my problem with Grace whenever he thought he saw something scary. It also helps with getting him to focus on what we're doing.
To teach him to lower his head, I just say "put your head down", or "head down" and lay my hand on his poll. If he popped his head up I just kept my hand there. By the way, I did this first where I was uphill because he's too tall for me to reach. The moment he even relaxed those muscles, I cupped my hand to take the pressure of my hand off of him. Then I just kept upping the ante. His head had to go down a little further for the release. The same thing for having him lower it from halter pressure. She says a lb of pressure straight downward, but I know I used less. Again, the smallest response and I lightened up. However.... I see a lot of people do what I think is a mistake. They whip the hand up dramatically, and the horse dramatically raises his head back to where he has it before. Big deal.
He's lowered his head but hasnt relaxed. If I want his head to go lower and lower, I just keep my hand at the lowest point, so when he raises it I tell him "head down" and repeat.
Then you keep adding distractions, etc. On his back I can do it by puting my hands on his withers, but I suppose the same thing could be done by using a crop or something if you train him to that. I would just make sure that your seat stays as stable as possible so you dont inadvertently cue him that way.
By doing this, eventually, you begin to sense BEFORE he freaks out, because there are all kinds of muscle cues that they give off. Then you cue him head down BEFORE he begins to freak.
Horse really fights and does all kinds of fancy evasive maneuvers? Make sure that you're not using TOO much pressure, and do NOT remove your stimulus until you get something at least close to what you want. Better to start with very light pressure and increase rather than start with more and decrease.
I also returned him to EXACTLY the same spot he was in before he started dancing around. I've found that if he evaded it was because of too much pressure or that he was already committed to the movement - I was too slow in cueing.
Horse puts his head down but then turns it in or tries to bump you? I had him "accidently" run in to my elbow. I made NO response to him bumping his head, just pretended it didnt happen. Only took a couple of times.
This is long winded, but I've seen people do this, and they dont have the same results - mainly because they dont realize they're miscuing.
It must be consistent, but they learn it very easily. Then it seems that they "forget", so you remind, even if you have to start over, but they remember much quicker and soon it's just in their heads.

[ClaireLV]

Christina - yes I really like Sylvia Loch's stuff, I wish we could get her videos here.

Jennifer - hehehe my instructor 'prescribed' sit-ups for me, and you are right, they do make a difference.

[jennifer2]

for each post- now I'm behind!

[Einstein]

Zen~Not just ANY rider, Mclain Ward, son of the imfamous Barny Ward, and a very good grand prix rider (I'm pretty sure he'll be at World Cup). BUT...that still doesn't make a pelham right for everyone/horse!

[ZenRider]

hehehe, I have an idea of who McLain Ward is, but still not a good reason to do as he does with one horse. Mostly as I bet he doesn't ride all his horses that way. Does he? Of course he doesn't, but people are silly I guess.

[Einstein]

Zen, you are so right, but us H/J loff to do what someone else that's winning does, wether it works for us or not!

That's why there are so many fads in the A circuit show world ;D

Sadly, I will admit, I am a fashion slave, BUT, none of my boys would ever be shown in more then a snaffle. I might have on the leopard skin belt, but they will always go with what works for them, not a GP rider ;D

[ZenRider]

Yup me too, though I do feel silly riding Flynn in a broken pelham, especially with the western saddle. But it is what he goes best on. Though I will throw on the hackamore from time to time. Especially when it's cold outside and I don't want to warm up a bit.

Luckily, Zen seems quite happy with the eggbutt snaffle I've been riding him in. Tried a Dr. Bristol on someone's recommendation, but he hated it, so on eBay it went.