Nimbus65
7th Feb 2008, 11:32 AM
I just had a great lesson, but on the way home I worried that maybe I hadn't done the right thing.
Some context.
I rode Rocky. He was lame over the weekend and has been on box rest with limited turnout since then. I was the first client to get on him in a week. I know and trust Rocky but he is a stresshead. My instructor was schooling a pony while she was teaching me and we were in the indoor school . . . two circumstances that make Rocky a little more stressy anyway (other horses + indoors). Rocky is about 19, he's about 16.1hh, thoroughbred crossed w/ something warmblood-ish and did alot of showjumping in his youth. He can be very stiff through his shoulders which makes him very short and choppy and when he's stressed he rushes, which unbalances him, which makes him rush more. He goes in a Market Harborough to counteract his giraffe tendencies and when he feels tense (or the rider pulls) he comes back at you and hollows. He also has a tendency to pull the rider forward by leaning on their hands, which means the rider is loading his shoulder, which makes him rush.
I got him and began to work him in and found straight away that he was very forward/on his toes and was rushing and unbalanced in both the walk and the trot (and very stiff on the right rein - so probably through his right shoulder). I cantered him both ways and found he was worse in canter - very strong and positively running away from my leg. Giving and taking the rein made a slight difference, but not much and I had to really sit up in all three paces to make sure he didn't pull me forward. We had said that as we had Rocky, we'd work on canter transitions, but I felt that if he wasn't listening to me or balanced or soft in walk and trot, then asking him for those things in canter would be counterproductive so while my instructor was schooling the pony, I started working on the walk and the trot to get him relaxed - lots of half halts, half stops, soft hands, give and take, changes of bend and then I tried to free his shoulder by doing a few strides of shoulder fore down the long side. My idea was to improve his walk and trot and get him relaxed and listening to me and then we could work on the canter. It really seemed to work . . . I got some lovely soft work out of him by the end . . . he was salivating nicely, not pulling, keeping his own rhythm and I worked hard on bringing him back to me with my seat rather than with my hands (a fault of mine). I even felt his back soften underneath me.
My instructor and I did talk about this . . . and she encouraged me to work on the walk, trot and right bend . . . but in the car on the way home, I wondered if I should have persevered with the canter in the beginning. It was a fabulous feeling to get on a horse, feel how it was going and then think about how to improve it/work with it . . . and I haven't been able to do that very often in the past (different instructor). I think I subconsciouly took advantage of the fact that my instructor was schooling a horse while she was teaching me and thought for myself. And I think my plan was a sound one. I just wonder if my instructor felt like I hijacked the lesson . . . or if I had done what we'd planned at the start and worked on the canter, he'd have come right anyway.
Does that make sense?
N
Some context.
I rode Rocky. He was lame over the weekend and has been on box rest with limited turnout since then. I was the first client to get on him in a week. I know and trust Rocky but he is a stresshead. My instructor was schooling a pony while she was teaching me and we were in the indoor school . . . two circumstances that make Rocky a little more stressy anyway (other horses + indoors). Rocky is about 19, he's about 16.1hh, thoroughbred crossed w/ something warmblood-ish and did alot of showjumping in his youth. He can be very stiff through his shoulders which makes him very short and choppy and when he's stressed he rushes, which unbalances him, which makes him rush more. He goes in a Market Harborough to counteract his giraffe tendencies and when he feels tense (or the rider pulls) he comes back at you and hollows. He also has a tendency to pull the rider forward by leaning on their hands, which means the rider is loading his shoulder, which makes him rush.
I got him and began to work him in and found straight away that he was very forward/on his toes and was rushing and unbalanced in both the walk and the trot (and very stiff on the right rein - so probably through his right shoulder). I cantered him both ways and found he was worse in canter - very strong and positively running away from my leg. Giving and taking the rein made a slight difference, but not much and I had to really sit up in all three paces to make sure he didn't pull me forward. We had said that as we had Rocky, we'd work on canter transitions, but I felt that if he wasn't listening to me or balanced or soft in walk and trot, then asking him for those things in canter would be counterproductive so while my instructor was schooling the pony, I started working on the walk and the trot to get him relaxed - lots of half halts, half stops, soft hands, give and take, changes of bend and then I tried to free his shoulder by doing a few strides of shoulder fore down the long side. My idea was to improve his walk and trot and get him relaxed and listening to me and then we could work on the canter. It really seemed to work . . . I got some lovely soft work out of him by the end . . . he was salivating nicely, not pulling, keeping his own rhythm and I worked hard on bringing him back to me with my seat rather than with my hands (a fault of mine). I even felt his back soften underneath me.
My instructor and I did talk about this . . . and she encouraged me to work on the walk, trot and right bend . . . but in the car on the way home, I wondered if I should have persevered with the canter in the beginning. It was a fabulous feeling to get on a horse, feel how it was going and then think about how to improve it/work with it . . . and I haven't been able to do that very often in the past (different instructor). I think I subconsciouly took advantage of the fact that my instructor was schooling a horse while she was teaching me and thought for myself. And I think my plan was a sound one. I just wonder if my instructor felt like I hijacked the lesson . . . or if I had done what we'd planned at the start and worked on the canter, he'd have come right anyway.
Does that make sense?
N