Monday, September 30, 2013

Conversation with Kathy over the weekend re Scale of Training dvds etc

So glad that you are understanding more and recognizing what is being said or done, you've come a long way baby!!!! :-)  In Dressage training, you rarely use the stick on the butt.  In teaching Piaffe & Passage, the stick is occasionally used on top of the croup to encourage the horse to keep the tempo.  Using the stick behind the leg is done to reinforce the leg aides; if you use the stick behind & on the haunches it is telling the horse to yield the HQ as in disengagement or move the HQ laterally as in leg yield or turn on FH.
  
Often, when a horse is either trying to take control or dealing with emotion, the best thing the rider can do is become calm and not fall into the game or emotion the horse is sending to you.  So rather than have you get suckered into this, I had you quietly use figures to redirect and channel Try.  You do not want to get into an argument as it only increases the energy, so you redirect into bending lines &/or circles as they automatically help collect & slow the horse.  Because you repeat the bending lines & circles without getting emotionally involved, the horse is left to figure out that getting strong and rushing is getting them nowhere and they are working harder, getting nowhere fast and this is the wrong answer.  When the soften and slow down, you can allow the horse to move in a straight line, if they get quick and try to take over the game, back to circles - They figure it out fairly quickly and you haven't worked hard, the horse has.

Lynn had a similar problem with Little Foot, the mare didn't want to allow Lynn to direct her and was snatching on the reins, so I had Lynn hold the bend and just remain quiet & uninvolved.  We spent quite a while waiting for the horse to realize that she was working hard and Lynn was not getting into it with her.  The mare finally decided that she was working too hard and began to settle; Lynn was surprised at how little she was working and how the mare threw a lot of guff at her trying to distract her and get her into using her hands.  I've had times where I am passive aggressive in that I don't let the horse pull  me into an argument and I just use the "broken record" approach till the horse realizes they can not get me to fall into the trap they are setting or an argument, I just maintain the aides for what I asked them for originally.  Sometimes they are like children who try to wear you down so you either give in or get into an argument.  If the horse plays you, they win the battle, if you remain calm and focused...you win the war.
Me

---- Elizabeth Pope <ehpope@embarqmail.com> wrote:
> You inspired me to go back to the Scale of Training dvds w/Christoph > Hess. I started where I left off which was titled Contact but in the > 30 minutes I watched they didn't really talk about it. What was
> interesting was that the rider was Marion who rides with Linda Parelli > and is starting dressage from a Parelli perspective. I thought her > horse was so beautifully exuberant and I could understand the
> corrections that were being givin in way that would not have been possible for > me a year ago. He did seem to be pointing out what he saw as common > American misunderstandings i.e. using the crop--to take the thumb off > for greater flexibility in use and to use just behind the girth and on the shoulder and rarely on the butt??
>
> I loved the new technique for riding in the field with Try. I liked > the way you said Try was "taking over the game" instead of picking up > on the emotion from Try of wanting to go to the gate. We so match and
> mirror each other. So much better not to buy into that emotion and, > like you said, stay calm and relaxed so I could enjoy the fun of > circling and lovely swooping serpentines etc.

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