how I learned to relax and love the rein-back

Like I mentioned earlier I have been in a dressage training rut. The one coach I would really like to work with has no room for new students. I feel like in this stage I need a more experienced person on the ground to really progress. I don't want to ask Bodhi to do things I am not 100% solid in myself.

My boarding facility is mostly western. The owner of the stables is also the coach and trainer specializing in western riding and horsemanship. Because of all my blogger friends who ride western I have learned I am really missing out... so I took my first lesson in western tack in my life.

It was a bit frustrating. For the first time in over 15 years I did not know how to tighten my girth--I mean cinch! I did not know if my saddle placement was correct. Split reins? I fumbled with my reins like I did as a green rider! I think it illustrated to myself that I had a bit of an ego with my riding ability. I like people to think I am a good rider. It embarrasses me to feel inept. I think it was a well needed slice of humble pie.

Once I got over my rein problems (just tie them together dummy). We worked on freeing up the rib cage by having my calves swing with the motion of the rib cage, while my hips moved with the horses hips at the walk. It felt great! Bodhi's walk immediately improved as well. We then worked on three things I normally avoid (since Bodhi and I are still working on the basics and I have been told to leave these movements till later) Backing up, turn on the forehand, and turn on the haunches. How she wanted me to cue these movements was different than how I was taught in a dressage setting as well. So it took a bit of adjustment on my part but I really enjoyed the simplicity of it all.

I can see how these exercises are valuable in young horses to help them with their balance and transferring weight from the forehand to the hind end. I am going incorporate these into my schooling sessions.

She also pointed out that Bodhi did not like to stand still. I offered that it may be because I don't like to stand still. I like to keep moving and I guess I have never really worked on standing still for long periods of time in the middle of a schooling. She suggested I ask for more extended halts as rewards for Bodhi. I think that is great idea. I normally ask for a free walk down a diagonal as reward but now I will alternatively ask for a longer halt.

I am looking forward to learning more and taking more lessons.

What is your favorite "second" discipline?

A lesson at last!

Well I finally had a lesson with my favorite instructor. She has stopped riding and training due to an unrelated and unfortunate injury and now works in a different field. I really miss having her as an instructor. She is amazingly observant and well educated in both dressage, and the bio mechanics of horse and rider. She is also good at explaining her insights and observations to the rider. To top it all off she is positive and encouraging and I have accomplished more with her than any other instructor. I started training with her when I decided to switch over from hunters to dressage with that 2 year old haflinger I bought. She was there as my support during the initial training process and I don't think I could have done it without her sage advise at the key points in our training.

So yesterday she came out and gave me one last lesson for old times sake. I was nervous because I felt like I had gone back to a lot of my old habits and I also did not know what she would think of riding without a bit.

The lesson was amazing and afirming. She was really impressed with Bodhi's canter work-- it was much more balanced and off the forehand than last she saw. He also could not get his left lead last time so I was happy to show we now had both leads!

We worked on flying changes and lateral work at the canter. To my suprise Bodhi executed both of those tasks effortlessly. She says he looks very happy and balanced and forward in the new bridle but did admit she wished to see him a bit more round. So for the remainder of the lesson we worked on my position at the sitting trot to see if we could get a more round frame. Like magic when I fixed my position Bodhi was happy to give to the bitless! Yay! I am so happy that my trainer came out. She always pushes us just a little bit and shows me that Bodhi is always ready for more than I think he is.

I am having such a proud moment with recpect to Bodhi's training. No horse is finished but he is definitely close to where I wanted him to be to feel satisfied that he has the basics. He has a balanced walk, trot, and canter both directions with an abulity to regulate the tempo in each gate. He has a firm grasp on lateral movements and will stretch and collect his frame on cue. He works well in a snaffle and in a bitless bridle. He is now comfortable and balanced over fences. He is an amazing liberty partner. He is safe enough for children and beginners but is still a little squirt on the trail. I love that pony.

I am a different story of course... I have a lot to work on:

• Elbows! I need to keep my elbows bent and not throw my reins away in transitions
• not to drop my hip when asking for lateral movement
• Ask him to come to me into the bridle not go to him
• Keep my upper body still durring the canter and give through the pelivs
• Keep my shoulders open and upright
• Not lock the small of my back but support my upper bodyi instead with an engaged core.

Trainers and our inner children

Confessions of a Struggling Dressage Rider had a post recently about losing her cool during a lesson which sent me off thinking about the relationship between rider and trainer. I have definitely been in the situation where I have lost my cool. It is amazing how the act of being coached can sometimes set back your mind set. I sometimes feel almost childlike. This is a good thing when my inner child is full of curiosity and wonder at the new things I am learning, it is not so fun when my inner child is scared or worse indignant!

My first riding instructor when I was a child was a very gruff "old school" type. The best you would ever hear from her was "that wasn't Horrible..." Her criticism was not very constructive either. I would often hear her yelling over the wind in my ears "DON'T FALL OFF" Needless to say she made a lot of young pupils cry. I do not remember especially losing it in front of her though I do remember coming home in a rage about her and my mom saying "you could just quit riding?"

That was never an option!

Honestly though I remember feeling mostly apathetic towards her, and her yelling. I never learned much from her, only from her horses, but she did not really get to me like she go to some of the others.

My next trainer(s) was another story. They were a pair of dressage rider twin sisters. My father worked with one of them and they saw my picture on the wall and asked if I wanted lessons... for free. My father jumped on the chance to get me free riding time and I jumped on the chance to learn something new.

They were quite different. They took the zen-master approach. No yelling but no praise just constant criticisms and corrections. They took my stirrups away and locked them in their truck for months. When I eventually got my stirrups back they tied my reins on the neck and I had to learn how to ride in a circle without reins before I would get my next lesson. I practiced in a large pasture so I spent a good deal of time in the woods before I managed to ride my circle. This brings me to my point about the extreme behavior that trainers can bring out of a person. They did not yell though they were brutally honest and still pretty gruff. I found my self filled with emotions sometimes during lessons and I was bewildered about where they came from and why? I didn't have that problem with the other trainer. Was it that these women were actually criticizing not just yelling, was it because I was growing up???

I was at a show and about to go in the ring for an over fences class. I had been warming up off and on and watching the competition. One of the twin trainers comes up and tells me to go warm up over fences. Instead of telling her I already had warmed up I go to pop my mare over the small vertical in the warm up arena just to appease. She chastises me harshly for being so careless to start to jump with out a warm up and I burst into tears. Both of us just sit there in stunned silence. I could not believe I was crying and she could not either! We never really recovered after that. I still don't know why that happened, or what it means. I was 14 at the time so still young but even now I can feel pretty overwhelmed during instruction. Why is that?

My current trainer is amazing. She really breaks things down and explains why things work. Two things I need in order to learn. She is also very positive. Quick to tell me when I do things right and open minded about my positive reinforcement training. I would consider us friends as well. We talk on the phone, and go out for coffee. We have still had a few humorous moments.

One time in particular that really sticks out was a lesson early on when Bodhi was very green, during one of our first dozen rides with the bit and out of the round pen. He was having a bad day. Being very fussy and nervous and I was getting frustrated. That was when Bodhi started stopping and standing there refusing to move. I figured he had to poop. As a baby it sometimes took him a while to actually get his business going. Also when Bodhi gets afraid or nervous he poops a lot. (Does this happen to anyone else by the way???

)My trainer tells me to get after him for his stubbornness and I tell her "No, he has to go!" She retorts that I am making excuses for him and that I need to be more firm.
"No he really has to go!"
"NO he is being difficult. Kick him. He has your number."
"No, I don't think so..." I can tell she is getting frustrated with me and she thinks I am being difficult. I feel horrible.
"Molly trust me on this one, he is being a brat. It should not take this long!"
"No I think your wrong, his back feels funny.. he has to go!" I kick him anyways and he takes a few tentative steps and then stops again. Before my trainer can say anything else he finally does his business. The tension is so high between us that we both start laughing hysterically.
It is amazing what lessons bring out of us. Trainers have a very special place in peoples psyche I think. Is it because they are telling us what to do? Is is because we are so used to having the relationship between just the two of us that adding a third party is weird? Is it just because of the fact they are challenging us and putting us out of our comfort zones? I think there is this special balance between trust and discipline without giving away your individual problem solving skills and integrity when riding with an instructor and maintaining that balance can get a little hairy.

So tell me folks what are your experiences with riding lessons? Have you lost your cool? Have you had some really bad trainers? Good ones? How are your relationships with them?