Feeling Forward in Mexico

So...I am back to the keyboard again. I feel like I should update you on whats happening....and what happened.
First, I have spent the last 9 months training Ronin the TB Gelding. I left Virginia a month ago and left him there. It was very difficulte for me to leave him as I enjoyed our time together very much...and am coming to grips with the fact that I will never find a horse like him: and we were perfect for each other! His program was just full of developing a rock steady foundation in basic Dressage. When I first started riding him he like to come behind the verticle, run and lose rhythm, and his trot was very flat. These things are common is a lot of horses. I spent many months riding him inside and working on getting him moving forward in a relaxed rhythm...and teaching him to go forward with balance from my leg-through my seat-and recieved by my steady and empathetic hand. Then we began to work outside...and when you go from inside to outside things change a little bit in the mind of the horse. I had to teach him all over again...to relax, go forward from my leg and into my hand. It takes less time of course because you are just reminding the horse of what he already knows...but there is much more mental challenge for horse and rider when riding outside. If I had to put a name on this phase both times repeated I would name it ¨adding confidence to the horse with your leg¨.  Because it is the closeness combined with lightness of your seat and leg and the ability to follow the motion that make the horse confident to abide you. A horse can be in complete panic and close to unraveling...and STILL abide you if you understand how to get to this phase.
So, we started working outside...cantering and trotting in the fields, trail riding through the woods, walking and trotting hills, and also working with the drop into water and bunkette jump (a bunkette as it is called in spanish is called a step and a drop in english...I prefer bunkette). All of them had their challenges...challenges that we overcame. Our typical work session comprised of beginning with a short walk outside down one hill and up the next (around one of the paddocks that is about 1 or 2 acres). Then walk inside about 10 minutes doing various circles, serpentines, and leg yields. Then on to trot...working serpentines...small circles...spirals in and out...and lengthenings and shortenings. Also...some of the newer exercises I was adding before my hand was injured and I was forced to ride one handed: Shoulder in and haunches in on the circle/down the longside and lengthenings and shortenings on the circle, transitions within the gait and from gait to gait. I would always reward a few steps of collection with a few moments of lengthening in a longer frame.
There were so many epiphanies I had in these last 9 months....or things I re-discovered or discovered. The path I followed with this horse was phenomenal.
 A few things I picked up on the path:
-The bit is neutral territory where neither the horse or the rider is allowed to pull. This means that your hand NEVER moves backwards against the movement in the head and neck of the horse. You maintain a soft elastic contact with your horse but at the same time if he pulls against you...you do not allow him to by maintaining steady hands and an elastic elbow attached to a proud and relaxed shoulder carriage. This allows the horse to ¨meet you at the end of the rein¨and he effectively half halts himself in a way. When he meets you at the end of the rein he realizes that you are not going to hurt his mouth nor will you carry him. He has to position himself underneath of you to learn to carry the riders weight. Now, I don´t recomme hadnd this technique for your riding if you don´t have an independent seat as it is unfair to the horse and can cause more problems.
-The careful language of going forward. I have began to understand exactly how to carry out lengthenings and shortenings to develop the different degrees of collection in the horse´s gait. Using your thigh gently and with different pressures to gain more collection or perform a half halt...using your thigh before touching the rein at all in a downward transition or half halt. And then, in an upward transition or lengthening gradually increasing my rein length as I am asking for the transition to allow the horses head and neck to stretch forward just an eensy weensy bit.
-I learned about rollkur finally and learned why it has no place in Classical training of the horse. (I will post the article later). This discovery...and the discovery that I had been riding this way on many of my ¨unsafe¨previous training horses has turned my riding in a new direction and higher quality. I would have to say that in general...unless your life is in danger and the horse is out of control...riding overflexed, overpositioned, behind the verticle, or in Rollkur are all bad examples of true horsemanship. I know lots of folks who use this method...and each to their own...but I would rather ride my horse above the verticle than behind it.
-I finally learned how to ride the hind legs...and influence my horse with just my imagination. It is an amazing feeling. I gained a priceless feel and ambidexterity in my body...one that I hope to develop even more.

I will have to continue this later....a trip to the local tack store is in demand!!
Until next time...

Be Careful,
Elise Marie Weber