Another epic 'I love my horse' lesson report - pics and vids

[pboy]

Indio and I had our second lesson with Tom Graham today. It was fab! I told Tom that Indio has improved in trot but our right canter is still awful (three weeks ago we were even struggling to strike off on the right leg) so we focused on improving the 'thoroughness' of the trot then on canter strike-offs.

We did a lot of work on the right rein, which is the one Indio finds harder. We did a lot of renvers then changing the bend to shoulder-in, then trot-walk-trot transitions within the renvers. Both were tricky as Indio would tend to 'drop' me when we transitioned from renvers to shoulder-in so I really had to focus on not losing the left shoulder or the left contact. In the trot-walk-trot I had to try to keep the same angle and bend, again so I was forced to 'ride the outside' of Indio and keep him even.

Then we went onto a circle and to start with I had to do a big turn-on-the-forehand in walk, again to get the feeling of 'riding the outside' by pushing his quarters out and then maintain this feeling in trot. We did some renvers on the circles then straight into a canter transition...which didn't work initially as we went onto the wrong leg. Tried it again and got the right leg, and by the third transition we had a semi-decent transition! If you'd seen our previous right canter transitions, you'd know what a massive achievement this was



Then we changed rein. On the left, Indio is more comfortable but tends to 'run' so we did some half-transitions from trot to walk then straight into trot again. Then canter, making sure he didn't get 'stuck' in one rhythm. Then a very tricky exercise (especially given how bad our right strike-offs have been!) - go large and alternate between left and right leg canter on the long sides. We were allowed to do a shallow loop to help us get the counter-canter but it was a real test of the canter aids and we definitely failed at first



Tom's focus was on giving me lots of 'tools' to work with and I definitely feel like we achieved that. I probably wouldn't use them all in one session but I really feel that I can now pick a few each time and work on it. Having someone to video was great too as on watching it back I can see a million things that I want to work on in my position!!!

[brigadier]

What a great report! You are so honest in your approach to riding- its really refreshing. I could see a definite improvement in the trot and how he is using his shoulder. He found the right canter really hard but he is trying so much, he appears really genuine? you can see his relief when you go onto the left rein and he is certainly more relaxed through his length- on the right rein he carries his tail a touch awkwardly and this is the rein he tilts his head more- can you see that?
Videos are such a great tool- I always find mine too embarrassing to watch for long!!

[pboy]

Watching videos is very cringe-inducing! But helpful

He used to be very crooked on the right through his whole body, he's improved massively but it's still very much a work in progress. The head-tilting is his big issue following a (suspected) neck injury two years ago but it's far far better now. Even on Wednesday he was banana-ing to the left and flinging me the same way in the canter transition. But you're right, he's incredibly genuine. You can really feel him working things out and when you start a session you can usually pick up where you finished the last one as he remembers so well. He's always very quiet / snoozy after schooling, as if he's meditating on the session!

Oddly he's always carried his tail to the right, even before the injury, and I noticed on the video that it's a lot straighter now and pretty much central on the left rein.

I just remembered a great line from Tom from early in the session when Indio was finding straightness particularly difficult - "Don't let him give up!"

[racaille]

Wow that's a great report - and so much I can take from it! it's almost like having a lesson myself! There are certain similarities between Indio and Paco - noticeably the difficulty with canter on one rein , left in P's case) and like Indio, Paco benefits from a lot of trot work. But Indio seems to really be trying to work it out. What is renvers? I'll probably feel like a fool as no doubt it's French but I think it might be what down here we call epaule en dedans (shoulder in)?

Lucky you having a video chum!

[pboy]

It really helps me to write it all down so I'm glad it helps you too Rac!

Renvers is travers but the other way around. A bit hard to explain but the hindquarters are on the track and shoulders into the arena and you're bending towards the direction of travel. So a renvers to shoulder-in transition means keeping the same positioning but changing the bend. Does that make any sense at all?!

Here's a nice explanation of travers / renvers / shoulder-in that hopefully makes more sense! straightnesstraining.com/straightness-training-exercises/renvers/

[brigadier]

How do you find Renvers Pboy? I detest it as it seems by far the harder exercise, I think its because the horse wants to carry its bum away from the side and it wants to flex to the inside as thats what we are always telling them to do.

[pboy]

I found renvers on the right rein very useful - in correcting the flexion issue and working on getting Indio to flex right, he's started to fall out through the left shoulder and I don't do enough to correct him as I'm worried about causing the head-tilt to return. Renvers helped to shift his balance more over the right shoulder, then it was easier to maintain that balance as we transitioned to shoulder-in.

It's not as easy as travers but Indio loves to wiggle his bum around so he found it quite easy! He's also a very obliging horse so he does try to understand what you want rather than anticipating. I think it would be much harder on a 'normal' horse!

[brigadier]

I think I ask too much initially and then it just seems really hard- I might start with shoulder in and then change the flexion but keep on three tracks just to get that feel of bum in/head other way. ha ha I say this but I dont currently ride the horse that can do all this but I suppose its something to work towards with Harriet and Floss. I suspect Harriet will be the easiest as she is unsullied. Im looking forward to progress vids for Indio- will inspire me!

[pboy]

I have the opposite challenge with Indio (he's a bit special ) as he'll tend to offer too much angle in travers / renvers, which I think is an evasion as he almost goes so far that he disengages his back end instead of engaging it. He's a 'less is more' horse in many ways!