help!!!

[Jen]

not sure where to put this but heres as good as anywhere!!

even though i have been riding for about 4 years i can only really do basic walk, trot, canter, gallop, jump.

in our lesson today we were working on a circle and using our seats to slow down speed up our horses which i dont have a problem with i just cant seem to do it even though i know how. L kept yelling at me to slow my rising in order to slow shadow down but try as i might i couldnt rise slow enough for lindsay, i felt as though i had slowed my rising right down so i was barely moving but apparently there was no change at all in how shadow was going and how i was rising. its now making me think that i didnt actually slow my rising at all and that i was just imagining things.

something else we were asked to do was leg yeild onto a larger circle. i ahvent the foggiest idea how the heck to leg yeild but i didnt like to say as i was already in Ls bad books so just muddled along and let shadow follow storm when L wasnt looking.

i really dont know what to do. when i was at my old RS i was supposedly one of the best riders there but all we did in lessons was walk on each rein have one trot on each reian and have one canter on each rein maybe popping a jump at the end and that was pretty much it. we never did any dressage moves excpet 20m circles sometimes. even when i had some private lessons all we did was p7 over and over again (i can do that test upside down, back to front and in my sleep) people in the lower groups here at college are learning all of this stuff here but my group isnt and i dont know if it is because we are already expected to be able to do it. if this is the case should i be moving groups?

i dont know whether it would be worth reading my millions of horse encyclopedias and books etc and learning from them and try to practise in my lessons when we are allowed to work in open order.

what do you guys think???

[brigadier]

Jen,
I think you need to have a chat with your tutor and tell her everything you have said here. Try not to think of it as though you are showing yourself up or anything but more that you are at college to learn and at the moment you are confused so need things explaining. Everyone learns a different way and at different speeds, one day you'll think you are not getting something then the next you will have mastered it and its time to move on.
It will also be 'educational' for Lindsay as clearly her style of teaching isnt suiting you at the moment and she needs help to achieve a better balance of delivery.
It can be scarey challenging people like this but remember they get paid to teach and you are there to learn. Good luck with it and let us know how you get on. I will do a separate post on leg yield on a circle for you at the weekend but first have the chat!!!

[Jen]

thanks brig, i think i will ask annette in tomorrows lesson about the slow rising thing and explain what happened in todays lesson as she usually gives us something to work on in open order on a friday and hopefully it will help me to understand it better as well as it being more of a one on one kind of thing.

will let you know how it goes.

[kitcat]

I had an RI who would make us say the days of the week when trotting so the first sylabul was for rising and the 'day' bit for sitting. You can say them slower or faster depending if you are trying to slow or speed up the trot. You do feel a right twit trotting round going Mon-day, Tues-day, etc. It does work though.

[brigadier]

Ive used that one too kitkat and it does work- the other is to believe you are sitting on an egg- you must touch the saddle but ever so lightly but too fast and it will crack. But the seat must be supported by the legs to slow the rise otherwise the rider rises too big and throws themselves out of balance.

[racaille]

Poor Jen. She sounds like a bit of a number, your RI. All good advice above though. And don't worry about leg yielding n stuff, it's a lot simpler than people let on ;D and once a good RI shows you how you'll probably think it was all pretty much common sense. Chin up kiddo. Your RI shouldn't be shouting at you, she should be teaching you. That's what she's there for

[spotti]

*also has a problem with super-fast trotting and not being able to slow it down (without goign back to walk) so will be saying days of the week as we tootle up the road... *

You guys is cleverererer!!!!

[fleabitten]

I cant do the slow rising thing either! Or leg yeild - i think its like 'think of a wee hop to the side' and nudge your inside rein and guide with your hands. Although this doesnt really work for me - i did it once with princess though which was cool!