fabulous dressage articles

[cynthia]

http://members.xoom.com/_XOOM/kathyjohnson/articles.html

go here. read articles by the illustrious kathy johnson. learn things. :)

(seriously, though... kathy johnson has some very nice articles on her website that go over many of the basics and are extremely well-referenced and complete, but not terribly difficult to digest in terms of readability. overall, pretty cool.)

-cyn

[Heather]

HI Cyn,

Have had a brief look at Kathy Johnson's articles which for the most part are very good, and I agree with a lot of what she says. However, when advocating a lightened seat in downward transitions, which I fully agree with, she then goes on to reccommend sinking your seatbones down hard into the saddle to halt, because , she says, if someone were to drop their weight down onto your back you would stop! Too right, and hollow my back into the bargain. Halt is also a downward transition, so why should it need a heavier seat than any other? I cannot see the logic in such an idea. I use my seat aid to halt injust the same light way as for other downward transitions, and due to this the horse lifts and round his back onto halt, which he will not do if the rider sinks the weight down onto his back.

Also, the photos of shoulder-in are not at all good- horse is tilting his head and resistant- not the best photos to show!

Asaid much of it is good and very clearly explained, but just beware of a few things which could cause you, and worse still the horse, confusion.

Heather

[cynthia]

heather, thank you so much for your insight on these articles!

you know what, i *do* remember reading that bit about "pushing your seatbones down into the horse" and thinking "okay, clearly she *couldn't* have really meant that!"... it did sound very strange, and not particularly effectual. i remember thinking a few times that she might have been unnecessarily exaggerating her point for the sake of the vernacular, maybe.

at any rate, thanks for pointing it out and reminding me; i'm glad my instincts were in the right direction. :)

i'm just so ravenous about scouring the web for *anything* related to dressage, particularly articles and such (i'm really enjoying the writing of Karl Mikolka on the EquiResource pages... wish there was more of it!). i should probably just keep scouring bookstores for a copy of Enlightened Equitation, eh? ;)

take care; thanks again.

-cyn

[Rachel R]

Try this site:
www.freerein.com/guide/index.html (http://www.freerein.com/guide/index.html)

It is currently under construction, but there is some good info on basic lateral movements, such as leg yeild, turn on the forehand and shoulder in. There are also some great video clips of some of the movements.

[This message has been edited by Rachel R (edited 12 November 1999).]

[cynthia]

wow, video clips, too... excellent.

thanks, rachel! :)

-cyn

[Vicki]

Cyn and Rachel

Thank you very much for posting the web sites , they are both v interesting. Will print and show the horse and see if he can oblige with maybe a little help from me!

Vicki

[Rachel R]

Hi Vicki,

I like the idea. I tried showing my horse Heathers book, but apart form trying to eat it, he appeared totally uninterested in what she had to say. I hope that you have more luck than me.

However, whenever I take him jumping, he will stand there for hours and watch the other horses jump their rounds. He follows them round with his head and if they stop or refuse, so does his head. It ammuses us for hours. He gets completely transfixed. Perhaps I should try taking him to watch a Heather demo instead.