Less than two weeks to Texas Rose Dressage Classic

Clair and I are going for our second-level bronze scores in Tyler April 7-9. I'm feeling fairly optimistic. Unless Clair acts very different at the show, we should be able to squeak out a couple 60%s. Trainer Holly will be debuting at fourth level! She's bringing a couple of her students so we'll have a group to hang out with. My only real concern is day one, Friday, when I may not have a reader for my tests. I have second-one memorized and know that I can do the same with second-two, but my brain is also famous for fizzling out under pressure. That would be embarrassing.

I liked Clair's work today in spite of her being little miss spooky. I can't really blame her -- the West Texas winds were howling, causing lots of strange buzzing and banging in the arena. We have a clinic with Suzanne next weekend so we can work out any kinks.

Dakota the wonder horse

R was out of town for four days (wedding planning!) so I rode Dakota four days in a row. It was wonderful. I know I sound like a broken record, but R has done a superb job bringing him along. And as a bonus, he's just a smart, sweet, willing boy. He's starting to really grasp leg yield and shoulder in in trot. His canter departs are getting better and better, and the canter itself is showing a slower, more balanced cadence. He's fun to ride because he never tunes you out. Sometimes he overreacts, but it's always honest.

Dressage truth bomb from Suzanne: leg yield!

Sorry about the random order of these, but that is how they seem to present themselves in lessons. This time it was leg-yielding: a movement, along with turn on forehand, taught early on in the horse's training. It is done with lateral aids ("baby aids") which are same leg, same rein, same side, as opposed to diagonal aids which are inside leg to outside rein. These movements are very rudimentary and have but one real goal which is to teach the horse to move away from the leg. The rein helps the leg on one side because whichever rein the rider pulls on, the haunches move the other direction. The rider sits in the middle of the saddle. It is not seat-yielding or weight-yielding. It is LEG-yielding. While the goal is to keep the horse relatively straight and parallel to the long side, it is still a movement bent opposite of the way the horse is travelling. This is a very important detail! It is precisely why the rider should NOT sit to the inside of the bend in leg-yield. Basics are the foundation upon which all future progress up the levels depends. We have all seen and heard stories of riders "hitting a brick wall" and not being able to move up the levels because of something done incorrectly in their basics. This is one of those things. It might help in the moment, but it will wreak havoc later when half-pass and other movements bent in the direction of movement are expected. The horse is totally confused when a rider first asks it to move away from seat and weight, and then expects it to move under the seat and weight in the much more advanced collecting exercises. Those exercises, if accomplished at all, become stilted and lack reach. Also, leg-yielding, done incorrectly, teaches the horse to "escape to the outside."

It is best to do it right in the first place and not use "tricks" to get it done. Don't use seat and weight to "push" a horse where you want it to go! That is not LEG-yielding. This has other consequences as well. Rider position suffers. And if I had a nickel for how many times a rider thumps on their horse and says it's because it won't listen to their leg. Well........?!?! I am aware that horses don't always cooperate, but could it be poor leg-yielding, perhaps? In a yielding to the leg, the inside leg and hand work together with the inside leg back. The seat is even and level and makes sure the horse gains the same amount forward as it does sideways. It is in half-pass (traversal) that the inside leg is forward, the outside leg is back and the weight is more into the inside heel without leaning or collapsing. The bend is in the direction of movement, and the aids are diagonal (inside leg to outside rein). It is a much more sophisticated movement. These two movements are very dissimilar even though they both go sideways and forward. Don't make more out of leg-yielding than it is. It is for controlling the haunches of young or green or messed up horses. Period.

Dressage truth bomb from Suzanne: hands!

This was an especially good one for me because I tend to overvalue harmony when I ride. I have to remember that sometimes you have to sacrifice harmony to generate some improvement in the horse's way of going.

Hands get a bad rap. It's ironic because so many riders "hand ride" anyway. All the fiddling with the reins (or even a death grip) without the proper support of the seat and legs is incorrect and ineffective. Yes, we must ride with our seat and legs, back to front. However, hands play a very, very important role. They "catch" the resulting impulsion and help shape the horse and facilitate balance. That is not to say they "hold" it. They must give for the horse to demonstrate self-carriage. Hold too long and the horse either resists above the aids or curls or has a fake "head set". Give too long, however, (especially early on in the training process) and the horse is back on the forehand. Their natural balance is more forward, and they push, rather than carry, behind. It is all about degrees, and these degrees vary from time to time and as the horse's training progresses. We all want to look good and not be too "busy". Many riders look especially good on a horse, but aren't really riding - not getting the best result from the horse. Others get a lot done but look as if they are working too hard. The sweet spot is hard to achieve. It makes sense, though, that the better the horse goes in training, the easier it will be to look good in competition. That is why Wolf often said that competition interfered with training. It is what it is, though! Competition tells us how the training is going. Another thing that Wolf often said was "from nothing comes nothing"! A rider must use all the aids at their disposal. None are inherently "bad". We have to remember, too, that horses don't often come to us without the baggage of some bad riding/training. Correcting this has it's own set of obstacles to overcome. The rider's scores in "Collective Remarks" include not only seat and position and harmony, but also effectiveness and use of the aids - ALL of the aids!