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Post by fimacg on Jun 30, 2011 20:07:52 GMT
had a lesson today and had a comment thorwn at me that I am not going to forget in a hurry...
"stop looking at his ears, they are not going to fall off!"
every time I find myself watching his ears I am going to remember that.
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Post by rainbow on Jun 30, 2011 20:43:34 GMT
hehe i tend to look down her shoulder at her head.
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Post by solomon on Jul 1, 2011 9:18:36 GMT
Better to look at ears than the floor! I was told if you look down thats where you will end up! Where shoud you look?
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Post by spotti on Jul 1, 2011 9:33:37 GMT
I look at Faith's ears as they tend to be the first indicator that she's about to do something daft  . She's much better these days and no longer bolts off at the slightest wiff of something that might eat her (e.g. a brown leaf  ), but I guess the ears thing is a habit that to this day has saved our skins several times however I guess it's still something that I really will have to work on! (it's true about them not falling off though...it's like my driving instructor used to tell me about the white lines marking the end of a junction "what are you staring at the lines for? They're not going to run away!". Common sense really lol but until someone points things like that out to you, it's actually sense that isn't so common  ). Sol - I think you're supposed to look where you are going. Sounds obvious but wherever your head goes, your body follows, and since horses tend to be trained to respond to weight shifts in the riders seat, looking and having your body follow sort of does half the job of getting yourself coordinated and balanced for you  . I've recently been re-backing Faith (properly this time, not just starting work again like we have done previously) and in these past 2 months I've had so many light bulb moments - you know, when you sort of go "ooooohhhhhh, so THAT's how it's supposed to work!" - one of which was the looking and your body follows, the other is 'think dressage' and as if by magic you sit up taller, your legs are longer, your hands are gentle and...voila: fantastically-moving pony!!! Obviously we're still in the very early stage of everything but I really do notice the difference when I do things properly . |
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Post by fleabitten on Jul 1, 2011 10:53:40 GMT
I read somewhere that you should always look between your horses ears but it seems a bit silly really.
I had a lesson last year and the difference in the horse from me looking up and where i was going was unreal. Even with Kieran, it really helped with steering!
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Post by brigadier on Jul 5, 2011 18:46:46 GMT
Looking at the outside ear on a circle helps to straighten your head and body, surely then you just glance in the direction you are going then? Some people if they look to the inside of a circle allow their shoulders to drop and follow the gaze, putting weight on the shoulders and causing imbalance, so its important to look at a point that helps your position. Now for jumping or similar its a whole different approach.
I think dressage everytime I sit on a horse Spotti- trouble is he thinks otherwise! I might try writing him a letter!
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Post by spotti on Jul 5, 2011 20:18:16 GMT
Ha ha Faith does that too Brig. She'll be really good for a few minutes whilst I'm fully concentrating on my 'dressage' thoughts, but as soon as my mind wanders, we're back to slobbing along again . It's still helpful to 'think dressage' every so often to see how many bad habits you've picked up in between 'dressage' times - i.e. the more you have to change to 'think dressage', the worse you've gotten!! Sometimes I only need to tweak my lower leg position back a bit and voila, but other times...oh dear. |
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).
. I've recently been re-backing Faith (properly this time, not just starting work again like we have done previously) and in these past 2 months I've had so many light bulb moments - you know, when you sort of go "ooooohhhhhh, so THAT's how it's supposed to work!" - one of which was the looking and your body follows, the other is 'think dressage' and as if by magic you sit up taller, your legs are longer, your hands are gentle and...voila: fantastically-moving pony!!! Obviously we're still in the very early stage of everything but I really do notice the difference when I do things properly 
for so much hard work we thank ye!!
