Not-So-Speedy Dressage

California Dressage Society's Adult Amateur Clinic - Day 2

6/26/2014

When I started my warm-up on day two, I could feel that Speedy was already more forward. I can't believe how much more aware of my riding I was after just 30 minutes with Marisa. She really got into my head, which I love!

Just cruising around ...

I felt no pressure when I started my second ride. Marisa is so kind and supportive that I was ready to just let it all hang out. As we were schooling the sitting trot to canter (the latter half of the video), I gave up worrying what anyone thought about my horrible position. I just dug in and kept at it. It never got good, but I didn't let that discourage me. I used all of my 30 minutes to grab onto every good feeling that I could so that I could take them home with me.

I will forever hear Marisa telling me to to close my fist and keep my thumb up!

After I watched day two's video (down below), I was somewhat disappointed. I had wanted it to reveal that all my goofs had miraculously fixed themselves over a good night's sleep. Instead, I got to see what I need to work on.

Keep those elbows bent and at my sides.
DO NOT let Speedy take those reins away. I love how Marisa said it's okay that I keep him there; he's actually pulling on me, not the other way around.
I need to do a million posting to sitting trot exercises. I started on Tuesday.
I need to keep Speedy round in the canter departure. I learned how to do it on Sydney, now I need to apply that feeling to Speedy.
I need to differentiate my trot and canter cues: both legs for trot, outside leg only for canter. I started that on Monday.
When he gets behind the bit, it means that I need to shorten my reins. See the second bullet.

It's a long video (around 30 minutes), but you can hear Marisa very clearly. She offers quite a few really good suggestions about the trot to canter departure. This is the best video I've had to really study my riding. Now that I can see it all so clearly, you can bet I know what I'll be doing for the rest of the summer!

Mia link

6/26/2014 12:17:57 am

Thank you for posting the video! I always learn a ton watching other people ride in clinics. The first video was a bit hard to hear, but the second one was clear. Very good clinician.

You two have really improved! And Speedy's trot has gotten so much freer, bigger, and loftier. What an awesome horse.

Austen link

6/26/2014 01:55:42 am

Canter departs!! Ba humbug! We've been working on these too, from the collected walk. They were murder until we got all of our cues sorted out! ;)

I watched your video, but at work (so I couldn't listen to sound, and am not sure what the clinician was saying). You guys really put in some great work!

What I notice with the canter depart, in regards to roundness, is that your weight is on your right seatbone (in both directions). That means that to the right, Speedy has to toss you up in order to step under with his inside right leg and kick off the canter. To the left, however, you're lighter on the inside and you've given him a place to step under with his inside hind and bounce into the canter. Does that make sense? You might think about stepping your weight down into your left stirrup and lifting up on the back of your right seatbone as you ask for the canter. You want your outside leg involved in asking, but not to tip you inside.

Speedy is super off your leg, and really listening to you. All those transitions really opened him up and gave him a lot of bounce! Is he as fun to ride as he looks? :)

6/26/2014 01:56:25 am

Whoops! Didn't mean to reply to Mia!

Bakersfield Dressage link

6/26/2014 05:43:09 am

I wish Speedy was a better listener! I had to really whack him with the whip today while doing a leg yield left. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll try to think more about my weight aids as I ask for the canter.

I don't know if he is particularly fun to ride, but he does try very hard (sometimes he tries to do his own thing) and he is VERY safe. His goofiness is usually funny. :0)

6/26/2014 05:46:08 am

Oops - wanted to add this … Sydney is getting REALLY good at the canter depart from collected walk (to the left). He finds it easy. We're still getting him confident and balanced to the right, but that should come very soon. What I love about the walk to canter transition is how uphill his canter is from the very first stride.

I've tried the walk to canter transition with Speedy, but he's a long way from that point. Hopefully, I'll have it well in hand on Sydney so that when Speedy is ready, I'll be able to help him! :0)

6/26/2014 05:35:01 am

Mia, you always so kind and generous in your comments. My comments always suck, which is why I rarely ever comment. When I watch EVERYONE ELSE IN THE WORLD ride, I think, "Wow. I wish I rode that well." I can't think of anything constructive to say because I am so busy admiring what they're doing.

In any case, yes, she was a great clinician, and I learned a lot from her. I know Speedy and I have shown improvement, but its' been really slow. For the first year, I had an excuse - I didn't even know how to tell which diagonal I was on. But now, four years later, I keep telling myself to get with the program, sister!

Sydney has almost caught up with Speedy and is poised to pass him up! Speedy is as difficult to ride as Sydney, just in a new can of worms kind of way!

Sarah link

6/26/2014 03:22:59 am

I thought canter cues should be from seat (inside hip forward, heavy outside hip down and back), with outside leg only to back it up if needed. Thoughts?

6/26/2014 04:28:17 am

Canter cues can vary widely by discipline. Typically in hunters, you cue mainly with the outside leg (sliding it back and on, and keeping the inside leg steady to maintain bend).

In dressage, you want the canter cue to be mostly from the seat, but you have to work up to it. Unless you have some sort of miracle seat and your horse is a mind reader, you're going to have to do some sort of training off the leg to get there. You have the cues right; though, I would weight the outside hip and lighten the inside and put on my inside leg, rather than outside, to get that "jump".

In western, god only knows. I rode a western horse once in a IHSAA hunt seat class once. To get him to canter you turned him towards the wall. It was weird. I hope that's not right ...

The problems come in when you have a horse that was previously trained to canter on different cues (like an h/j trained horse who picks up the canter from an outside cue), or you or your horse is crooked (like my horse and I, who would really prefer to use the right leg to get the canter in both directions. Wtf, self? Get it straightened out!)

The neat thing about dressage is that, when it comes to something that has particular "cues" like canter leads and changes, it's very much a "training" issue. Think of it as similar to teaching your dog to sit when you touch the base of his tail. With repetition and reward, you can pretty much teach a horse to canter when you do anything, like snap your fingers. The "dressage cues" just help you get out of the horse's way so they can use themselves freely and keep their backs and abs engaged and round during the transitions.

At least, that's how I understand it. Anyone else any ideas?

6/26/2014 05:40:23 am

Austen - I wish you could have heard Marisa because one thing she was asking me to do was to ONLY cue with the outside leg. For Speedy, using the inside leg was too similar to the trot cue which is why he keeps trying to hop into the canter before I ask. The other thing she was asking me to do is to REALLY push him forward which will make the hop into the canter easier. Since we don't have enough impulsion from behind, he wants to "hoist' himself (her words) into the canter with his front end.

I've heard many trainers say to ask for the canter with the inside leg and others who say it comes from the outside leg. I think it has a lot to do with each horse and where they need more support. I am just not schooled enough myself to be able to say which is better.

6/26/2014 07:29:52 am

I think Austen and Sarah were saying the same thing in different ways. :)

I was taught inside hip forward, which shifts your weight to the inside. The outside leg sliding back cues the canter for the early stages of training. As the horse becomes more educated about the seat, the the cue becomes a soft skip motion of the rider hips.

For the longest time I was pretty sure I was the only person too uncordinated to get that to work.

6/26/2014 12:33:20 pm

So you weight the inside, Mia? Austen is suggesting weighting the outside. I think I am going to try sitting evenly. Maybe that will help. :0) I also find pushing the right hip forward REALLY hard. Even when I am just sitting around the house, my left hip is always forward. I do a morning stretch that works on my hip flexors, and getting my right hip forward KILLS me. I guess I need to do more of them! :0)

6/26/2014 10:53:32 pm

This is such an interesting conversation!! You guys are awesome!

I weight the outside pretty heavily (mainly the left side) because my horse is awfully crooked and doesn't like to step up with his right hind. He requires me to yell a little bit with that cue. However, I think the process of shifting the hips (Mia, I LOVE that idea of "skipping" the hip. That's perfect!) for the canter cue lightens the inside slightly quieter than I have to with Guinness. ;)

Karen, I also have hip flexibility issues. It totally sucks!!

6/29/2014 10:02:57 am

Something interesting … saddle fttter was out over the weekend. The left side of my saddle's flocking was more compressed than the right and the saddle was pitching forward. She's been coming once a year since I bought this saddle so the compression and pitching are just from this past year's riding. Darn that right hip! Need to try weighting my right seat bone more. :0)

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California Dressage Society's Adult Amateur Clinic - Day 2

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