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Not-So-Speedy Dressage

From Endurance to Dressage

Raising the Roof

7/22/2014

 
According to my trainer, I have now earned the right to work the inside rein when tracking right. I know that sounds stupid, but it is a huge deal. She also announced that it is because I now have an established outside, left rein, and I know how to use it.

So what does all of this mean and why should anyone care? Well, really, no one besides Sydney and I probably care, but what it means is that we are starting to really get this ball rolling.

My number one goal for this summer has been to get a consistent, right lead canter departure. I can check that off my list. I've moved on to maintain a consistently, round and balanced right lead canter. We're rock solid to the left so that was never even a factor in my whole goal-setting agenda. To the right, we are not quite there, but we are looking mighty fine.

I've been writing about this "chute" exercise. I circle at "A" on a right lead canter (not really as we don't have a dressage court, but you get the idea), and then canter down the long side which is a narrow chute between the fence and the jumps. At Monday's lesson, we cantered it on the right lead without any drama. Can you see me raising the roof?
Picture
Sydney is really crooked to the right. To the left, he's balanced and forgiving of my own imbalances. But to the right, I have to do the work for both of us. What JL has been able to do is teach me how to balance Sydney so that he can feel confident and safe in the right lead canter.

The first step is to get his haunches behind his shoulders and his nose on the rail. This feels horribly wrong and crooked, but it has become my new normal. JL assures me that when I ride him this way, he is actually quite straight. Once he is "straight," I can then work the inside rein for some bend and flexion. JL points out that to the right, I have to actually ride outside leg to inside hand. Very non-traditional, I know, but it works.

As long as he is straight, I can ask almost anything of him, and he is happy to try. In order to come out of a turn and canter the long side on the right lead, I have to:
  1. maintain that straightness by keeping my outside leg back to keep his haunches from falling out;
  2. hold that outside rein very firm and steady;
  3. encourage him to step away from the rail;
  4. add inside leg to keep him going forward;
  5. and finally, work the inside rein to remind him that I want to stay on the right lead. If he gets long in his neck or gets his nose to the outside of his haunches, he falls into a trot and swaps leads.
To see this all taking place, you would think that Sydney is quite lazy and slow. It took a massive amount of leg and rein on my part to get him out of the turn and down the long side. But once we passed the point where he could have continued on the circle, his stride got freerer and he let go through is neck.

The greatest part to all of this is that Sydney is still a difficult horse to ride. He's reactive, a bit spooky, and wants to bolt, but now that I can keep him between my aids, his moments of anxiety are getting shorter and shorter and are over with as soon as I sit back and give a strong half halt. I no longer have any Oh, sh*t! moments (although I am sure that I just jinxed myself).
Picture
I am so excited by what we're doing together. There is a schooling show in two weeks, and I am really hoping that we can go. There are still some questions about trainer availability, show location, and over-nighting that I have to clear up first, but if all of that works out, Sydney and I are primed to actually put together a decent dressage test. 

I hope.
Austen link
7/21/2014 11:47:34 pm

Yes! Yesyesyes! That outside leg to inside hand thing! Yes! That is us, but to the left! You guys are doing so fabulously, and I love reading about your Sydney-horse. I'll be interested to see if his tension is the same at a show, especially after all the clinics and things you have done with him recently!

(Also, I tried thinking more about aligning shoulders with haunches during my ride last night and it was lovely. I have a tendency to let Pig fishtail a bit instead of hold a steady line with his haunches. Though he didn't want to, staying steady and lined up really helped him. Thanks for the idea!)

Bakersfield Dressage link
7/22/2014 03:33:52 am

We are coming along, but then there are days like today! :0)

Our right lead canter departure started to fall apart, and I had a moment of frustration before I thought to go back to the basics. I pushed his haunches back in and quit asking for any inside flexion and finally got some decent canter departures. While the first two strides might have been funky, I was able to help him re-organize and the canter got nice and round and balanced.

Funny you should mention "fishtailing" because that is exactly what my trainer calls it. :0) I think that's what was happening to Sydney today; he was a bit crooked which caused him to be tense. When I really got him STRAIGHT, I started to get some better work from him.

I normally have a lesson on Wednesday, which would have been perfect timing for me, but we're going out of town so I won't have my next lesson until Monday. It's tough to have a frustrating ride so far away from a lesson. :0/

Austen link
7/22/2014 11:50:38 pm

Ugh! That I completely understand. I usually have a week of frustrating rides right after my trainer leaves as I try to assimilate all the changes and knowledge she left me into my daily riding and forget to just ride the horse I have that day! Then, as the weeks go by, I figure out how to make the changes she showed me AND be an effective rider. Finally a month after the lesson my trainer comes back and we do it all again!

Deborah link
7/24/2014 03:24:49 am

wow that's a lot going on! i'm still relatively new to riding but the horse i ride has a major imbalance on the right and apparently i do too! so sometimes, we both get on this out of control imbalance act on the right side and i struggle the entire lesson trying to get her straight again. but, it's reassuring to see that there is hope!

Bakersfield Dressage link
7/24/2014 10:28:55 pm

That's where I was with Sydney for a long time. He was so unbalanced to the right that he would not only run off on the front end, but he would also roll over to the right. It was pretty scary for both of us. My trainer taught me to slow the front end down (but keep the hind end active) and square him up by moving his haunches behind his shoulders. We also rode a lot of squares with no bend to teach him to lift his inside shoulder. Best of luck - with some work, you'll get there. :0)


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    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.
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    ​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.
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    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.
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Among other things, Karen is a Wife, Friend, Reader, Writer, Rider, Traveler, and Dog Lover
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  • Home
  • About
  • My Horses
    • Horses
    • Imperioso
    • G Ima Starr FA
    • Sunshine
    • Nakota and Gideon
    • Corky
    • Sassy
    • Montoya DSA
    • Mickey Dee
    • Sydney
  • Show Results
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    • 2021
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    • 2016
    • 2015
    • 2014
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    • 2012
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    • 2010
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