Keeping them Relaxed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX0inX4LpZo

This is a great video clip and Dell puts out a great video on reining. I think he is kind of a genious.

In this clip he stresses instilling relaxation and confidence. I'm going to keep this video in front of me to help me keep my head screwd on straight. What Dell says in the video is of maximum importance and the foundation for training a reining horse.

turn around green horse

Its been really working good to make the hind end go out of gear by inside leg and hand to the opposite shoulder. then atadding outside leg and letting them drop down nose first into the turn. If they look to the outside take the hind end out again the try again with the outside leg until the quit looking the wrong way. I go back and forth and back and forth- getting the hind end out of way then letting the front drop into the turn around nose first with the shoulder up. When I quit the drill I want them to stay hooked into the circle to the direction we are working on because they arent going to turn around in the first place if they cant walk a good circle on their own without much help. This drill really helps them hook onto that circle.

taking the pull

Also on taking the hind end out of gear on green horses - like the frying pang geldings- it worked reall good to really take a hold and bring the hand up to the oppisite shoulder firmly and swiftly to get controll of them.while kicking them out of gear.

new wrinkle on turning around while walking the fence

It worked pretty good to not only take the hind end out of gear first but to sidepass down the fence with emphesis on moving the hips opposite before dropping back down into the turn- really freeing up the rib, hip, shoulder to the right before turning to the left for instance

picking up the shoulders

finally got sally to pick up her shoulders by taking ahold of her face and counter arching at the loap in bacically the counter canter but really stressing the taking the shoulders away and then giving them back into the circle for a reward as long as the shoulder stays up- Worked goo,

Relaxation Technique

The relaxation technique worked pretty good yesterday on Sally a three year old futurity mare who can do the manuouvers but drops her shoulder to the left habitually. Keeping my right leg on her with intermittend doses of stuffing my right spur into her belly has kept her from falling out of lead so much but she insists on dropping that left belly and rib cage. Near the end of our loping session, though she started to improve through much repition, counter cantering, steering, softening the face etc. I quit her when she finally started to turn loose because she was pooped.

So the big plan for today is to break it up a little, so it doesnt turn into a loping marathon everyday. When she starts to improve we'll play with a little something different- play with her at a jog or walk or in the other lead, stop and let her blow. Work on her sidepass on the fence, turn her around a little, soften her laterally. Experiment. I'm gonna try to not just confront the problem and pound on it (figuratevely) and make an issue out of it. Go through the back door sort of thing. Its too easy to get stuck in a rut with this kind of stuff.

Bettina Drummond on Dressage

This is really an interesting article about some of the misconseptions of dressage and the term "on the bit"

Keeping Them Relaxed

When I rode with Tony Garcia he was big on keeping the horse relaxed and not scaring him. I'm figuring out-specially after today how important it is to concentrate on keeping the horse relaxed and not just training and forcing the issue but repeating what your asking without upsetting the horse untill he can get relaxed and let down and accept what your trying to get him to do.

Along those lines here are some quotes from Nuno Oliveira...

"Equestrian tact is not only the subtlety of the aids but also the feeling for the choice of the aids that have to be applied, and it is the velvet softness in the coordination."

"Proceed so that the horse finds himself willingly into the exercise, and not by force."

"Never use force except if the horse sucks back."

"Look for the purity of the three gaits. The rest will follow easily."

"Make it a habit to praise when the horse yields."

"When a horse gets nervous during a new exercise, one has to calm him down during the exercise. Otherwise he will get nervous every time we ask something more or something new from him."

"Don't play the master all the time. The difficulty is to feel to what extent one has to intervene."

"In the trot, the hip has to trot, not the hand."

"Maintain heavy buttocks and a supple back, not the opposite."

"The secret in riding is to do few things right. The more one does, the less one succeeds. The less one does, the more one succeeds."

"I don't want riders who work physically hard. Work by thinking."

"Adjusting the reins means establishing a soft contact."

"One has to have an immobile hand with mobile fingers." This is the exact same principle as Neindorff's "The hand stands still, and yet it moves."

"The hands have to be like concrete when the horse resists and like butter when he yields."

"The descente de main is not a gesture, but it is simply a means to cease using the hand actively."

"Descente de main: the rider opens his fingers and the horse has to maintain the same gait, the same posture, and the same cadence."

"Every rein aid must be preceded by an action of the torso. Otherwise you only address the horse's head."

"Don't let the horse fall asleep on the hand. Don't have a dead hand."