a few questions...

[aniukas]

hi heather!

i have a couple of questions and i would really appreciate it if you took the time to answer them!:)

1)i've heard of two diferent ways of sitting the canter. first one says that one should be sliding back and forth in the saddle (swinging hips) and another one says that the rider should just sit up and relax and the horse's movement will do all the necessary opening and closing of the joints. i used to slide in the saddle, but no that i got a pair of full-seat breeches i can't do it anymore :) so i tried simply sitting deep and up at yesterday's practice and it was sooo much easier! the question is: is that the way canter should be ridden??

2)i'm able so sit the trot pretty well and don't have to grip with my legs or thighs or anything. everything seems pretty well exept from my hands: i just can't keep my hands quiet! is that because i haven't developed and independant seat yet? if so, what can i do to improve it?

3)how do u create impulsion? i only seem to feel like the horse has impulsion when he's hot or smth. apart from that how can one create that 'forwardness'?? or do u just need to keep giving leg aids all the time to keep the horse going? sounds like i'm trying to get out of work , uh?? :D

thanks in advance!

[floppy]

my names not heather but in your query about your moving hands..have you tried one of those straps ont eh front of the saddle ???
i have never used one personally but i have seen quite a few novices with unstable hands use them and it seems to help!...just a thought :)

[Maci]

But I think Heather's gone (she mentioned something about being away for a week or so) so this might take time to get Heather's responce.

Just Making You Aware!
Maci :)

[aniukas]

well, i sure got the time....:)

[Heather]

HI Aniukas,

Sliding the seat back and forth in the saddle, apart from warming up your bum on a cold day (!), will cause the seat to be heavy and the horse to hollow away from the pressure.

It is often the cause of sore backs in horses, especially when the rider is also loose and weak in the lower leg, so that all of the weight is shovelling down onto the horses back. When cantering correctly, the horse makes every stride like a little jump, lifting his back in the process. If the rider is shovelling downwards with the seat as if scooping ice cream out of a tub, the seat will be opposing the movement of the horse.

The seatbones should act like a pivot, so that they mirror the angles of the horses back as it rises and falls. If you are on horse that is less than well schooled and on it's forehand, the back end of the horse will flip up more, making it harder to sit to. The more 'uphill' the horses canter, the more it carries the rider, as if on the crest of a wave, making it far easier to sit to.

Have a look at my explanatjon of how to sit to the canter on the Kiner way to Ride pages. Unfortunately, 'Polishing the Saddle' as it is termed, is still commonly taught- there is a piece advocating it in this month's Your Horse magazine ( cringe) to the detriment of many horse's backs_ I will be contacting new Editor Amanda, as soon as I can get hold of her. I have been asked to write a couple of new series for YH, but I will be saying the exact opposite of what they have just advocated- pretty confusing for the poor reader!

Heather

[floppy]

hehe im glad i subscribe to horse and rider instead of YH

[Maci]

Anything wrong with that magazine, I should know about, or is it all good? I just sent away to subscribe to it.

Thanks!
Maci :)

[Heather]

HI Floppy,

H and R get it wrong to sometimes!They published two articles by leading Classical/remedial trainers in one issue, both, absurdly, dealing with the same issue, that of the corect seat. Each contradicted each other completely, resulting in a string of letters, and a debate in which 'yours truly' also became embroiled!

Your Horse has many good features, but it remains to be seen, with the departure of Lesley Bayley as editor, in which direction new Editor Amanda, takes it. I have known her for some years in a professional capacity and like her a lot, but Lesley has always the intersts of the horse paramount, not just the success of the magazine, so I wait to see what happens.


Heather

[floppy]

well im actually planning to suscribe to YH too because german horse magazines ramble on about things i dont get and it isnt easy reading..hehe i only suscribe to HR because it was £1.60 cheaper :D
as for the riding poistions i read those too but they havent effected the way i ride..and after a two month break form dressage lessons i rode my cousisn dressage horse last week and i was told i was riding extremely well as if i had been under constant training...but the only 'lesson' i have had has been reading your (heather) kinder way to ride..and even myself i notcie how i was sitting much better and how much better the horse was goign for me etc :)

[Edited by floppy on 13th May 2001 at 09:34 PM]

[Heather]

HI Floppy,

Glad you are not living up to your nickname then!!!! Pleased to know that the Kinder way to Ride is helping you. Whereabouts in Germany do you live?


Heather

[floppy]

South, in the Blackforest...45mins from Basel, Switzerland
and 1.5hrs from Zurich. :)
(i coem from england, essex orignally :) )

[JackiAH]

Heather- I used to know this 15 year old QH called Paco. He would canter in this extremely odd way, cantering with his front two legs, trotting with his back... You had to get him going in an extremely fast canter for him to actually canter with his back legs as well...

Is this some screwy thing in QHs, just him or something that could be fixed? I've always wondered...

Jacki

[Heather]

HI Floppy- whereabouts in Essex? I am also an Essex ex-pat living now in Devon. I grew up near Maldon, in the village of Great Totham. Small world!


Jackie,

I had a Highland pony that useed to do just the same- she was only young though and with schooling, once she got her legs in order, actually had a very nice canter! So, I don't think that it is just a QH thing.


Heather

[Mossy]

Heather
If you, Mike Peace, Kay Humphries, and a natural feeding and presentation expert [Am I alone in loathing "show condition"] plus assorted guest authors all got together to compile a quarterly magazine it would be worth all the monthlies put together. Oh I forgot to mention the extra three days in the week added in just for you to assemble it:D Only joking I know you are overworked as it is.
I too saw the item on polishing and wondered if I had gone mad.

[floppy]

in chelmsford..2 mins away from writtle (i was living back in england a couple of years back and wanted to do a horse course at an agriculture school in writtle)
I use to go to school in Danbury when i was a child :)

[Heather]

HI Jill (Mossy) you may not be as far wrong as you think re a magazine, well a newsletter at least. I am seriously thinking of starting an Enlightened Equitation membership based organisation, which would have a quarterly newsletter, (a bit like Linda Tellington-Joones does with her TTEam stuff) but including just the very sort of writers that you mention.

We would hold lecture demos etc, for which members would get a discount, have Enlightened Equitation tests, along the lines of Parelli Natural Horsemanship levels, to give you goals to work for, and hopefully many other benefits which are currently uunder discussion.

Anyone intersted?

Heather

[Heather]

Hi Floppy,

Small world eh? I was passing through Danbury only a few months ago, and I had several schoolmates who lived there.



Heather

[floppy]

yup..it is indeed a small world...

i would be interested in the newletter :)

[alexa]

Yes Heather, I would be interested in a newsletter.
regards

[Sarah]

Heather,

That would just be totally fanatastic if you could do a newsletter and just what I think we have all been waiting for in the horsey press world!! The idea of progressive training and tests is brilliant too, please put me down for them when you start them up

bye!

[Remmy]

The newsletter is a great idea. Something we can pin up in the tack room which might attract interest from others too.

Vicki

[Silvia]

A newsletter would be great!

[Heather]

Thanks folks-

I will write to Mike and ask him if we can get some feedback from the site re the viability of a newsletter/membership based organisation for EE. It would have to be on subscription, as the cost of for instance, even the Classical Riding Club newsletter is a very big expense, and Sylvai Loch subsidises it by getting sponsorship for each issue.

Anyway, it is interesting to see that there is some enthusiasm for it-

Keep you all posted-

Heather

[Silvia]

Maybe for a start an internet newsletter would be cheaper, you know - one of those you can receive via e-mail.

[Heather]

Had thought of that, Sylvia, but not everyone still has email.
There are still quite a few steadfastly refusing to enter the computer age- until four years ago, I was one of them! Thanks for the suggestion though-

Heather

[Fran_C]

I would be very very interested in a newsletterand progressive tests your methods really do work and it would encourage more people to try them

Also I was amazed at that article in YH, and I preferred their old look the new look is very bland and just like the other magazines. I am going to get Horse magazine instead it's cheaper and I never hear a complaint about it.....

[Danni]

Heather

What a great idea. I would definitely be interested in your newsletter. I think your "Enlightened Equitation" method is excellent both for the Horse and the Rider. I am so glad I discovered it (thanks to this site) at such and early stage in my riding hobby. I'm still very much a novice after just two years, but I love every minute of it. Will the newsletter be available overseas? I live in Ireland and would be willing to subscribe whatever it takes.