Wednesday, October 19, 2016

A Case Of The Overs

I learned a lot on Saturday when I had my lesson with my favorite dressage judge.  The biggest thing I learned was I am trying to over ride and I am making my poor horse crazy.  I over think, attempt to over achieve, and now I can add over riding to the list.  And it explains quite a bit.  Like how the more I try the worse things get, but when I say screw it and chuck the reins at him and read a book he is fantastic.


I was really disappointed that the judge wasn't arriving until Saturday, but I had asked her if I took a video on Friday if she would watch it with me and we could go over things.  She said yes, because she is awesome like that.  I really didn't want to show her the video because it was bad.  I felt myself holding and holding and holding, which Stinker does not appreciate (I'm sorry dude, I do love you).

Watching the video was very informative because we could sit there and discuss how things felt and what we were seeing.  We finally hit on something I have been feeling, but haven't been able to really put into words.  There is a lot of disconnect between his hind and his front end.  A lot of the time he feels like he is pulling with the front and letting his hind trail out behind.  If I try to push his hind up under him like with a normal horse he gets all balled up and everything falls apart.


The problem is he is too uphill.  He can't find his balance when he is really pushing with his hind without bracing through the under neck.  He needs to find the sweet spot of stretching so he has access to his top line and pushing from his hind.  For now the best way to access this is using lateral work.

The lateral work slows him down, doesn't make him feel trapped, and gets his hind end working.  So right now, I need to keep my brain distracted while I ride so so I don't over whelm him and use the lateral work to keep things soft and slow.  I am excited to see how we progress with this new plan, provided I can actually carry it out.

16 comments:

  1. I too overdoit. All.the.time. It's frustrating for sure. I have to remind myself to keep it simple

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My old boss always told me "keep it simple stupid" (it wasn't in a mean way). One thing that helped was thinking about other things. Planning a work thing or watching the other horses. Basically anything so he didn't have 100% focus

      Delete
  2. We may need a support group for the over riders among us lol

    ReplyDelete
  3. I feel like dressage calls to us Type A over-riding perfectionists haha. Glad you were able to isolate the problem and formulate a plan!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yep, I get that. I'm currently trying to break things down myself and do less while isolating one or two aids at a time, it's really helping me. Also I find two-point is actually awesome for doing less with my seat.

    That sounds like a good insight about him needing to stretch to unlock his back and connection between front and back.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh wow I don't think I'm brave enough to watch videos with a trainer haha. Good on you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was dying and really didn't want to do it. But I had already suggested it (why????) and couldn't back out. It really wasn't bad in hindsight.

      Delete
  6. Video is such a great tool! I'm sort of a picker... I can get naggy really easily on some things...on other things I do absolutely nothing. You'll just have to ride with a book from now on :P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes! I need to find a hands free version though. That would be most helpful. :)

      Delete
  7. I can relate I've definitely been over riding lately.

    ReplyDelete