Getting more rubbish by the week!

[*toHorse&Away*]

Well, its over 2 years now since I restarted riding and maybe I am being hrsh on myself, I don't know, but I still feel rubbish.
I seem to have reached a plateau. I know if I look bakc I can do tons of stuff I never could before like turn on the forehand, leg yields, a bit of collection and extension, but I notice I have developed some really bad habits that I defintely never had before.
The worst of which I really need some advice on! As some of you know I only ride once a week (apart from a holiday now and again) and the RS horses bless em do seem to need an awful lot of leg and can be incredibly difficult to get into canter (I know its not entirely me as I got to ride my baby girl last week for the first time in over a year) and we did walk and halt to canter transitions.
So, with the other guys I seem to be in this horrible habit of sawing my entire body like I am rowing a boat as if that will magically get me into canter and keep it.
Oh help! How do I get canter and keep it on a reluctant horse wthout looking like a complete idiot????:mad: :eek: :confused:

Thank you

[Hallmarked]

You are probably being a bit harsh on yourself.

I think most riders get stuck on a plateau every now and then, I know I have several times. Sometimes you have to go backward in order to go forward again. Old Zen saying, 'the journey is as important as the goal'.

What I am trying to say is that it doesn't matter if you take a while to ingrain something, is it really life threatening if you don't master canter pirouettes and passage within the next six months? No thought not:) Relax and enjoy learning to ride.

But I know what you mean about riding school horses and canter transitions:rolleyes: . Sit up, shoulders back and down so you don't tip forward, don't hold your breath. Keep a steady contact through the reins, don't pull back or let them slide through your hands, this has the effect of pulling them up or dropping them as they are about to make the transition.

Most of all THINK canter, picture canter in your mind to use telephathy to talk to the horse. You can also say "... and canter" to the horse as you apply the aids, the "and" bit acts a bit like a half halt to get the horse's attention.

If that doesn't work a quick smack with your stick, if they buck, regain your position and ask again.

You probably rode your baby girl better because you are comfortable with her, use this more positive thinking on all the horse's you ride. I get told this by my instructor a lot:o .

As you only ride once a week, have you tried off horse excercises? They help build up your riding muscles and give you something to focus on between lessons. Mary Wanless Ride With Your Mind books all have a selection as well as Riding From The Inside Out by Lisa Champion and Pilates For The Dressage Rider by Janice Dulak. Or you could try a search on NR for threads containing off horse excercises

Good luck, I hope I have given you something useful to think about.

[Skib]

I have the most dreadful lessons. A lesson horse with an RI in the school is not condusive to communication between horse and rider. I couldnt steer my lesson horse in trot this week. But hacked out yesterday and did a lot of steering and transitions that probably wont materialise in a lesson. It is the quality on your own horse when left to yourself that is important.

I dont have problems going into canter but here are some thoughts in general about transitions.
1. The RS horse reads your mind. If you secretly dread canter or dread not getting canter, the horse picks up the tension and probably wont.
2. The transition to another gait is dependent on the quality of the preceding few steps. So before canter one needs to concentrate more on the energy of the walk or trot, and that care with the detail gets the horse listening to you, almost anticipating the aid to go into canter.
3. Although not approve by RIs, (mine prefers walkcanter transitions) I watched Michael Peace allow horses to trot on a free rein, getting them pretty fast, and just continue fast until they found their own way into canter. At first they offered a few steps only, but soon he had them cantering nicely. That way would help you relax too.
4. One can experiment with transitions Mark Rashid style by thinking of the change of beat from walk (4 time) to trot (2 time) to canter (3 time.) It involves reducing the kicking and body movement and relying on feeling the movement of the horse under you. Breathing long and deep too, with an exhale to cue the horse on the step before you actually ask for the transition.
5. RS horses often respond to voice. If my horse hesitates when I ask I use a voice command and say "Canter " to make it clear what I am asking for.
6. All these good transitions depend on context. The horse has to know what you are working on. e.g. with halt trot transitions you cant just start from cold. But if you have been doing trot transitions and then halt, the horse will take off in trot again just on a nudge because it knows that is what you are working on.
7. It is better (my choice) to use the whip to wake the horse up and get a good walk and then not use it in the actual trot or canter transition.
8. Finally an ideal bit of advice my young escort gave me when I got back to riding after my fall and found I couldnt make the horse go.
I said I had forgotten how to ride.
And she said, Nonsense, you can still ride but the mare doesnt know it is you. Riding school horses have lots of riders. Just show her it is you back rding her.
I did that and within six steps my beloved horse was moving for me again.
Now when my RI says that her mare knows with me she doesnt have to work, I correct that in my head.
No. I can ride. But her mare doesnt know it is me riding her. And with a difficult RS horse you may need to do that several times, even in one lesson.
If a lesson shows you you cant ride, and this happens more than three times, I suggest looking for another school or teacher - even if only for a short break. That is what I do.

[*toHorse&Away*]

Thank you both for your detailed replies - there is some really helpful information in there which I will give a lot of thought to before my lesson tomorrow.
I think you have both talked a lot of sense and perhaps I am sending the worng telepathic messages, as I now expect whats going to happen - a couple will motorbike the trot so fast they can't get into canter, another couple stand there waiting til they get the stick as last resort and then try and buck - hence the rowing boat impressions and the flapping arms (though why I think that is gonig to work lord only knows? :o )

You are probably being a bit harsh on yourself.

You probably rode your baby girl better because you are comfortable with her, use this more positive thinking on all the horse's you ride. I get told this by my instructor a lot:o .

.
Maybe - I just *know* she will go...:D


....If you secretly dread canter or dread not getting canter, the horse picks up the tension and probably wont.


O yes, dread not getting it! Nail on head here!!!
Also thanks for the exercise suggestions :)

[hannah:)]

I think we all have these moments when we just feel awful about our riding. Is there any way you can make a few changes? I found my confidence returned when I stopped taking lessons and started hacking - the lack of constant criticism and the fact that I was out and about dealing with my 'issues' (ie sheer bl**dy terror!) and overcoming scary problems like The Invisible Flashing Man (surely the only explanation for some of those spooks!) really boosted my confidence. I also found being run away with on open ground a confidence boost because look - I'm still here! I really do think that my riding has improved as a result of this change - and it's now fun again. I also now get canter when I ask for it because I expect nothing less and accept nothing less from the horses I ride. Perhaps a break from lessons and constant self criticism is what you need?

Now, if I could just get the brakes sorted I'd be fine:D

[*toHorse&Away*]

Now, if I could just get the brakes sorted I'd be fine:D

LOL!!! For that to be an issue - swap ya! ;)
Yes, hacking is good for soul I think.
We don;t really get out at our school, but I am looking forward to a hol at Murthwaite Green later this year and that will be tons of hacking!! Yippeeee!!!!:D

[notpoodle]

join the club :D i feel awful about my riding also :) why? cos i'm rubbish! i picked up so many bad bad habits over the years it's shocking :eek:

notoriously collapsed hips, i ride leaning to the side and can't help it. next 'pram-pusher' hands, a dubious rein contact, constant nagging with the leg (can't help that one either), toes merrily pointing outwards ....

:o

Julia
x

[hannah:)]

We don;t really get out at our school, but I am looking forward to a hol at Murthwaite Green later this year and that will be tons of hacking!! Yippeeee!!!!:D

Oooh I'm going to Murthwaite Green for the first week of June - I can't wait!!! My friend rang me at work yesterday to tell me the intinery and I was struggling to keep the huge excited grin off my face and remain looking professional:D

[*toHorse&Away*]

join the club :D i feel awful about my riding also :) why? cos i'm rubbish! i picked up so many bad bad habits over the years it's shocking :eek:

notoriously collapsed hips, i ride leaning to the side and can't help it. next 'pram-pusher' hands, a dubious rein contact, constant nagging with the leg (can't help that one either), toes merrily pointing outwards ....

:o

Julia
x

Maybe we should ask to start a rubbish rider section??? ;)
Bet I'm worse than yew!!!!:p

[*toHorse&Away*]

Oooh I'm going to Murthwaite Green for the first week of June - I can't wait!!! My friend rang me at work yesterday to tell me the intinery and I was struggling to keep the huge excited grin off my face and remain looking professional:D

Hope you will post and let us know how you got on!
Are you schooling, hacking or both?

Go on...grin :D :D

[horseygirl123]

I think we all go through stages of 'I cant ride' but I think its important to look back on what we were able to do 6months or a year ago and compare that to what we can do now, that way there is no denying we have improved :D

Chin up girly, you're just on a 'low' at the moment, its only up,up,up from now on ;)

[hannah:)]

It's hacking all the way:D

I am a bit concerned for my friend - she has not sat on a horse for a year and we are looking at 4 hours a day in the saddle. We may have to get her a cushion, or possibly a bucket of ice, to sit on:eek:

[*toHorse&Away*]

Chin up girly, you're just on a 'low' at the moment, its only up,up,up from now on ;)

you're right, but its been more off off off at present :p

[sophie33]

Hi Hannah, I am going to Murthwaite Green the first week of June too! I'm am doing lessons and hacking, and am pretty novicey, so we probably won't be riding together - nice to say hi to a fellow NR though!

[*toHorse&Away*]

It's hacking all the way:D

I am a bit concerned for my friend - she has not sat on a horse for a year and we are looking at 4 hours a day in the saddle. We may have to get her a cushion, or possibly a bucket of ice, to sit on:eek:

oooh, see if they have any gel seat savers. I did those long rides in my hol the other year after about 6 months back in the saddle (weekly lessons) and though it was great - the seat saver really helped. Blooming legs killed though!!!:D

[LindaAd]

I have the most dreadful lessons. A lesson horse with an RI in the school is not condusive to communication between horse and rider. I couldnt steer my lesson horse in trot this week. But hacked out yesterday and did a lot of steering and transitions that probably wont materialise in a lesson. It is the quality on your own horse when left to yourself that is important.

I dont have problems going into canter but here are some thoughts in general about transitions.
.

I think the advice that Skib and Hallmarked have given you is brilliant - especially the bit about thinking canter, and about getting the horse to go forward before you ask for the canter. Canter transitions are always a problem with me, especially on a new horse; I get tense, and the horse doesn't know what to do.

But I'd add, don't let it go faster and faster in trot, then flop into canter - this works out on a hack (and it's a good idea to practise cantering on a hack first) but in the school it makes the horse unbalanced, and the canter will be uncomfortable and won't last long. The things I've found helpful are using both legs to ask for canter - some people say you should ask with the inside, some with the outside, and there's a lot of stuff about one being on the girth, the other behind the girth, but I find worrying about fine details of leg-position just makes me tense and twisted up. Shorten your reins (a lot of riding-school horses understand this as a canter aid), keep the energy up, and open your fingers when you ask for canter, so that you allow the horse to go forward. And just look outside the arena - this gets your body in the right position. I even found it helpful, when I first came back to riding, to put reins and stick into the outside hand and hold the saddle with the inside one - it gives you confidence, and it also puts you in the right position.

The clue came when I was struggling to get a canter from quite a willing horse, and the instructor, gentle soul, said "Stop faffing and fannying about and just canter" and I thought: shorten reins, open fingers, look to outside, legs, and it worked.

As for being a rubbish rider, well I'm so old now that it's like Dr Johnson said about a woman preaching being like a dog walking on its hind legs: it's not that they do it so well that's amazing, it's the fact that they do it at all!
:D :p :D

There's always going be someone worse than you and someone better than you, so you might as well not worry about it - just enjoy it.

[Hallmarked]

There's always going be someone worse than you and someone better than you, so you might as well not worry about it - just enjoy it.

Truely wize words there.
Nice to see you back again Linda, I've missed your posts the last six months or so.

If NR opened a rubbish rider section I think it would soon be full to bursting. Everyone wants to be perfect, but no one is sadly. Personally, I find that if I've think I'm starting to get the hang of this riding game, it all goes to pot again before I've even finished congratulating myself:rolleyes: But beating yourself up for being rubbish just seems to lead to a downward spiral:( .

[*toHorse&Away*]

I think the advice that Skib and Hallmarked have given you is brilliant Me too!!!!
I But I'd add, don't let it go faster and faster in trot, then flop into canter - this works out on a hack (and it's a good idea to practise cantering on a hack first) but in the school it makes the horse unbalanced, and the canter will be uncomfortable and won't last long. The things I've found helpful are using both legs to ask for canter - some people say you should ask with the inside, some with the outside, and there's a lot of stuff about one being on the girth, the other behind the girth, but I find worrying about fine details of leg-position just makes me tense and twisted up. Shorten your reins (a lot of riding-school horses understand this as a canter aid), keep the energy up, and open your fingers when you ask for canter, so that you allow the horse to go forward. And just look outside the arena - this gets your body in the right position. I even found it helpful, when I first came back to riding, to put reins and stick into the outside hand and hold the saddle with the inside one - it gives you confidence, and it also puts you in the right position.

The clue came when I was struggling to get a canter from quite a willing horse, and the instructor, gentle soul, said "Stop faffing and fannying about and just canter" and I thought: shorten reins, open fingers, look to outside, legs, and it worked.
I will remember this for tomorrow - I don't think I do the outside looking thing!!!

As for being a rubbish rider, well I'm so old now that it's like Dr Johnson said about a woman preaching being like a dog walking on its hind legs: it's not that they do it so well that's amazing, it's the fact that they do it at all!
:D :p :D

There's always going be someone worse than you and someone better than you, so you might as well not worry about it - just enjoy it.


Remember that quote - and yes. I will try ot stop worrying and getting frustrated with it - I know it doesn't help!!!

Thank you

[*toHorse&Away*]

If NR opened a rubbish rider section I think it would soon be full to bursting. Everyone wants to be perfect, but no one is sadly. Personally, I find that if I've think I'm starting to get the hang of this riding game, it all goes to pot again before I've even finished congratulating myself:rolleyes: But beating yourself up for being rubbish just seems to lead to a downward spiral:( .

Yup! Wise words from a lot of you. Now to get the mindset for tomorrow - to horse and awaaaaay!!!!:D :D :D

[MrDCBags]

I too was a boat rower!! and I am in recovery. my secret is this.

Go see a chriopractor. I knew I collapsed through a hip as suffer back ache on the other side etc. After 1 session there was an obvious difference after 2 my body got it!! All the tension and muscle shortening had been released allowing me to naturally sit deeper - its amazing. I am due another session in 2 weeks and I am beginning to notice it- I have left it 6 weeks so the chiropractor and I can work out what is a happy medium. It really has made a difference to my riding.

The other thing to do is remember to "smile" with you shoulders. imagine that you are trying to smile using your shoulders and chest. They automatically come back without force or too much and your chest lifts up. even walking around try and do this it makes a huge difference with your posture.

[eml]

Often we are our own worst enemies. I have a lady who like you is struggling to get canter, she is very analytical and wants to know 'rules' for doing everything. (not saying you are just setting scene!!) My RS horses as those who have ridden them will agree are sharp and provided asked correctly happily pop into canter off a squeeze, many even from halt.

I got so frustrated the other day having spent a lesson on transitions, some good some awful and then she just lost the ability to make the horse canter at all so I shouted (I seldom do more than talk loudly so probably scared the wits out of her)..."for goodness sake just get the horse cantering and stop thinking".

Result several perfect canter transitions on each rein.

Moral ...sometimes we just need to believe we can do it and stop analysing :D

[LindaAd]

[QUOTE=MrDCBags;1264335

The other thing to do is remember to "smile" with you shoulders. imagine that you are trying to smile using your shoulders and chest. They automatically come back without force or too much and your chest lifts up. even walking around try and do this it makes a huge difference with your posture.[/QUOTE]

I remember reading something like that somewhere - was it Heather Moffett? Whoever it was said "imagine you have headlights on your chest", and it worked, not only riding, but fighting my way through hordes of teenagers in school - if you're confident enough,they just melt out of your way.

Linda

[*toHorse&Away*]

I thank you all for the great advice on this thread...putting it into practise is. I know, down to me! I will let you know how it goes this afternoon:D



The other thing to do is remember to "smile" with you shoulders. imagine that you are trying to smile using your shoulders and chest. They automatically come back without force or too much and your chest lifts up. even walking around try and do this it makes a huge difference with your posture.


Oooh, I lke this! I don't think I have any back issues but maybe there is tension there, or bad posture with too much craning over desks at work??? Interesting thought

[*toHorse&Away*]

Often we are our own worst enemies....
I got so frustrated the other day having spent a lesson on transitions, some good some awful and then she just lost the ability to make the horse canter at all so I shouted (I seldom do more than talk loudly so probably scared the wits out of her)..."for goodness sake just get the horse cantering and stop thinking".

Result several perfect canter transitions on each rein.

Moral ...sometimes we just need to believe we can do it and stop analysing :D

I love this! :D
How true - I get in an even worse knot trying to remember everything in the right order for jumping rathter than just getting on with it - brain overload!!! Result: pants!!!

[*toHorse&Away*]

IWhoever it was said "imagine you have headlights on your chest", and it worked, not only riding, but fighting my way through hordes of teenagers in school - if you're confident enough,they just melt out of your way.

Linda

Brings a lovely picure to mind LindaAd :)