Bakersfield Dressage
  • Home
  • About
  • My Horses
    • Horses
    • Imperioso
    • G Ima Starr FA
    • Sunshine
    • Nakota and Gideon
    • Corky
    • Sassy
    • Montoya DSA
    • Mickey Dee
    • Sydney
  • Show Results
    • 2022
    • 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
    • 2016
    • 2015
    • 2014
    • 2013
    • 2012
    • 2011
    • 2010
  • Dressage Organizations
    • Dressage Organizations
    • Memberships
    • 2019 Dressage Tests
  • Local
    • Shopping List
  • Home

Not-So-Speedy Dressage

From Endurance to Dressage

10 (recent) AHAs! That Are Helping Me to Be a Better Rider

3/5/2012

 
So how am I dealing with the fear?  I need to get better.  It's that simple. 

This last week in my classroom, I was teaching a lesson on dependent and independent clauses.  MH, one of my students said, oh, when the sentence starts with a word like when and has a comma, that's a dependent clause!  There was no mistaking the look of perfect understanding on his face.  He got it and was clear in his understanding.

That's exactly how I felt after reading Beth Baumert's recent article in the February issue of Dressage Today.  I mentioned this yesterday.  The article is actually a modified transcript (I think) of a symposium given by Kyra Kyrklund, a Finnish Olympian and clinician.  I've read the article at least a half a dozen times.  She isn't saying anything new, she's just saying it at a time when I am ready to understand it.  The article isn't even about fear. But it is about how to become a better rider which will help me ride Sydney with less reason for fear.  If I can ride him more effectively, he won't need to escape, and I won't be fearful. 

I'm just going to share some of her quotes and how I connected with the ideas presented.

1. "... you should try to let the neck get longer not by throwing it away, but by feeling his mouth go forward." Brilliant.  Oh my gosh.  That makes perfect sense to me.  That's reaching!

2. "It's hard to lengthen the topline, but if you shorten the bottom line by asking the horse to tighten his tummy muscles, it becomes easier."  Finally, a way to achieve the lengthened topline.  And here's how:

3. "The lowest part of the rider's leg - the foot - "pumps up" the horse's rib cage.  It's like putting air in a balloon. [...]  If you don't put enough air into the balloon, then it sags down.  If there is too much air, then the balloon explodes."  This is a little like Val's (Memoirs of a Horse Girl) description of leg hugs.  And I can completely relate to the exploding balloon! 

4. "I collect his body without letting him run away, first by using the leg.  Then my rein is prepared to tell the horse not to go faster."  Yes, yes.  Go on.  This makes perfect sense.

5. "I keep contact with the outside rein and turn him with the inside rein and outside leg.  In this way I move the horse's shoulder, not the head, until he finds his own balance."  Oh boy, does that make sense!  And it worked wonders with Sydney.  Out of desperation, I will sometimes (no longer) try to move him over with the outside rein.  It doesn't work very well.  An effective, well positioned outside leg works much better.

6.  "Have the feeling that your horse's neck is going away from you, not that his nose is coming toward you. "On the bit" is not so much about keeping the nose on the vertical, but rather that the horse is carrying himself.  Stay heavy in your seat and feel that the transitions start with your horse's back."  Oh!  This is Speedy G exactly.  He likes to drop behind the vertical, but by feeling the transition coming from underneath me, we have really made some great progress.

7.  "If we ask novice riders how much of their focus is on the horse's head, most of them, if they are honest, might say 80 percent.  But the head is perhaps 10 percent of the horse's body, so be sure you are not using 80 percent of your focus on 10 percent of the horse.  Ride his body and influence it."  And there it is.  The nugget that proved to be another one of those Game Changers that I mentioned last week.  Ride his body and not his head.  JL is constantly telling me not worry about where his head is.  The part she left out was what to worry about instead.  Now I know.  During my last half dozen rides on both boys, I have focused on their bodies and not their heads.  What a total difference that concept has made.  Because you know what?  Of course you already do, but when you ride their body, the head puts itself where it's supposed to be.  Doh!

8. This one might well be my absolute favorite and is yet another Game Changer, "The rider's knee is like an arrow.  It gives the horse direction by showing him where to go.  The two knees make a corridor, and the energy of the horse flows through the corridor."  Hello!  I've heard the energy flowing through the corridor thingy before, but it didn't really make any sense.  What energy?  Using your knees to tell your horse where to go?  Now that's helpful.  It's like my dad telling me to point my index finger when I throw the Frisbee.  It will go where you point.  This knee pointing idea explains why when the horse is drifting out that you might slightly open the inside leg and add outside leg.  You're giving the horse a place to move to while pushing him there with your outside leg.  Brilliant!  (And it works!)

9.  "Feel the contact in your elbow, not in your hand.  Then almost feel that you do the rein aids with the elbow so the hand can stay soft."  I kid you not.  I almost fell out of my chair when I read that.  Instead of just telling me to bend my elbow, this gives a total purpose for that idea.  Game Changer!  All week I worked on that concept.  The first thing it did was to actually help me bend my elbows.  It also kept me from "breaking" my wrists.  Since the aide was coming from my elbow (in my mind anyway), I felt my hands straighten up.

10. "Horses learn by pressure and release.  You apply pressure, they respond, and you must release the pressure.  If you don't release - for example, if you don't let the rein loose - you can't use it again."  Hmmm ... this seemed to suggest a cause to Sydney's rearing and bolting.  Is Sydney not getting the release?  This is something I thought a lot about over the week and applied whenever I could.

Tomorrow ... How I applied these ideas to my riding!
Kelly RGF link
3/5/2012 02:11:11 am

Those are great! Thanks for sharing - they're going to be useful for me, too :). I remember reading Kyra's dressage book (Dressage with Kyra) when I was a kid and it made a big impression then. Probably would help me to re-read it now haha.

I'm so excited that things are connecting for you!

Karen
3/5/2012 10:18:56 am

Thanks, Kelly. I love reading dressage articles and books because you can take as long as you need to ponder. And if you go back and reread, you always catch something new. :0)

Sarah link
3/5/2012 08:09:59 am

Love love love! Thanks so much for sharing - I'm definitely connecting with some of them, and others I will need to meditate on so I can "get" them too. And by the way "Every horse I've had has sent me to the ER" - Oh my gosh!!!

Karen
3/5/2012 10:32:10 am

It was a great article. I wanted to scan the whole thing to post, but I assumed "Dressage Today" wouldn't be too happy about that. Copy write infringement and all that. I am glad some of it resonated with you, too.

And the ER stuff? Hubby took that job over from my dad who was no doubt thrilled to pass it on. The first ER visit was in my early teens: serious concussion (no helmets back then) with SERIOUS amnesia. I've been to the ER for non-horsey incidents as well. A year or so ago I bent down while shopping at Kohl's and dislocated my knee! Holy crap ... Doctor said my quads were just so darn strong they literally pulled the knee cap out of place. Compliment? Who knows? :0)

Karen


Comments are closed.

    About the Writer and Rider

    ​I am a lifelong rider. 
    I began endurance riding in 1996 where I ultimately completed five, one-day 100 mile races, the 200-mile Death Valley Encounter, and numerous other 50, 65, and 75 mile races. I began showing dressage in 2010.
    ​Welcome to my dressage journey.
    Picture
    Photo by Lori Ovanessian

    About Speedy G

    ​Speedy went from endurance horse to dressage horse. After helping me earn a USDF Bronze medal in the summer of 2020, he is now semi-retired. Speedy is a 2004, 15'1 hand, purebred Arabian gelding. His Arabian Horse Registry name is G Ima Starr FA.
    Picture
    July 2020 (PC AJSK Photography)

    About Izzy

    Izzy was started as a four-year old and then spent the next 18 months in pasture growing up. I bought him as a six-year old, and together, we are showing at the lower levels. He is a 2008, 16'3 hand warmblood gelding. His Rheinland Pfalz-saar International (RPSI) name is Imperioso.
    Picture
    March 2021 (PC Tess Michelle Photography)

    Picture
    Bakersfield Dressage approved!
    Picture
    My favorite breeches!
    Picture
    FOR THE SMALLER EQUINE ATHLETE
    Picture
    I love her stuff!
    Picture
    Watercolor Artist and Friend

    National Rider Awards

    Picture
    USDF Bronze Medal - 2020
    Picture
    USDF Second Level Rider Performance Award - 2018
    Picture
    USDF First Level Rider Performance Award - 2015
    Picture
    USDF Training Level Rider Performance Award - 2013

    State Rider Awards
    Picture
    CDS Ruby Rider Award - 2018

    State Horse Awards
    Picture
    Speedy G - 3rd Level Horse Performance Award - 2020
    Picture
    Speedy G - 2nd Level Horse Performance Award - 2018

    Working Towards:

    CDS Sapphire Rider Award
    Third Level: 63.514%
    Third Level: 62.105%
    Fourth Level:
    Fourth Level:

    2023 Show Season

    Show Rating
    (***) CDS/USDF/USEF 
    (*) CDS
    (s) Schooling
    (c) Clinic
    (r) Ride-a-Test Clinic
    2023 Show Schedule
    TBD

    ​2023 Completed …
    Pending

    2023 Qualifying Scores 

    Regional Adult Amateur Competition (RAAC)  
    Qualifying Training Level
    3 Scores/2 Judges/60%:
    Score 1:
    Score 2:
    Score 3:

    Archives
    ​By Topic

    All
    Abscess
    Art
    Arthritis
    Awards
    Books
    Cabin
    California Barn Life
    Captain Awesome
    CDL Class A License
    Centerlinescores
    Championships
    Chiropractor
    Clinics
    Clothing
    Cushing's Disease
    Defeating The Demon
    DIY
    Dogs
    Double Bridle
    Dressage On The Trail
    EHV-1
    Endurance Photos
    Farrier
    Find Your Joy
    First Level
    Fluphenazine
    Flying Changes
    Fourth Level
    Fox Hunting
    Freedom Feeder
    Frustration
    Gizmos
    Grooming
    Half Pass
    Headshaking
    Horse Maintenance
    Horses Are Expensive
    Horses Are Expensive 3.0
    Horses Are Expensive II
    Hunter/jumper Stuff
    Imperioso
    Introductory Level
    Izzys Leg
    Just For Fun
    Lessons With Chemaine
    Lessons With Lois
    Lessons With STC Dressage
    Local Stuff
    M.A.R.E.
    Memberships
    Micklem Bridle
    Mt. Self Doubt
    Musings
    My 5 Things
    My Horses
    Nesting
    On The Levels
    Photos
    Pivo Pod
    Platinum Performance
    Poles
    Polls
    Pulley Rein
    Raac
    Retirement?
    Rider Fitness
    Riding Figures
    Right Lead Canter
    Road ID
    Saddle Fitting
    Schooling
    Score Sheets
    Second Level
    Shopping
    Show Costs
    Showing
    Sitting Trot
    Sliding Side Reins
    Soldier
    Speedy's Leg
    Tack
    The Elephants
    The Jar
    The Warm Up Ring
    Third
    Third Level
    Tips From A Pro
    Toys
    Trailering
    Training
    Travel
    Ulcers
    Vet Care
    Video
    Videos
    Weird But True
    Year In Review


    Archives
    ​By Date

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011


Site Designed and Managed by: Karen Sweaney

Among other things, Karen is a Wife, Friend, Reader, Writer, Rider, Traveler, and Dog Lover
Contact her at bakersfielddressage@gmail.com
  • Home
  • About
  • My Horses
    • Horses
    • Imperioso
    • G Ima Starr FA
    • Sunshine
    • Nakota and Gideon
    • Corky
    • Sassy
    • Montoya DSA
    • Mickey Dee
    • Sydney
  • Show Results
    • 2022
    • 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
    • 2016
    • 2015
    • 2014
    • 2013
    • 2012
    • 2011
    • 2010
  • Dressage Organizations
    • Dressage Organizations
    • Memberships
    • 2019 Dressage Tests
  • Local
    • Shopping List
  • Home