Tuesday 9 June 2015

Ride with your Mind clinic at Marminiac

At the beginning of May 2015 Seraphina and I had the opportunity to participate in a biomechanics riding clinic at a venue about 30 minutes away; all three of us went, the organiser Maria kindly fetched the horses with her trailer. It's a while since the horses have been trailered so i was happy they both walked in after allowing them to do so quietly and in their own time. At Marminiac, we had a field next to the school where the lessons took place, so Lucie could watch and I didn't have to worry about her.

The clinic was given by Denise O'Reilly from the UK, an accredited RWYM instructor. We were 6 riders and we all got a private lesson in the morning, which was videoed, then after a late lunch there was a video crit and theory often with simulations then we all saddled up again for a short shared session in pairs to consolidate what we learned and plan what to work on next day. We were there for 2 days instruction.


 Lucie watching from the field
 Fina and I watching from the covered barn and awaiting our turn to go on


About 2 days from the clinic I had a meltdown over what tack to use, tried all my saddles and decided it would have to be the Randol's hacking saddle despite its rustic cowboy look. I decided to put reins on the rope halter as I've always ridden Fina bitless. That didn't work well, there was too much play, and although I have Fina light and responsive in the hackamore at home, we were in a different environment and clearly contact was going to be expected. For the afternoon session, I was lent a bitless with a padded noseband and metal sides to attach the reins to, which we both hated, Fina didn't even want it on! it gave no feel, only constant indefinite pressure and resulting in a heavy hand and a dull horse. The morning lesson had gone really well with lots of improvement in my position and Fina's way of going, so the afternoon was a bit of a downer and left me with a dilemma about what to ride in the next day.

I dug out all the tack I had and found Fina's old bit (thank you Helen!!) lathered an old headpiece in Hydrophane, went over early to give myself lots of time to reintroduce a bit and test drive it. Fina was absolutely fine about it and I had her reaching for it, so on it went. We both benefited from the more effective contact and were able to concentrate on the lesson with a much better connection and understanding. I had to change my thoughts here to suit the situation, and from the result I think I made the right decision. I will be looking at bitless bridle alternatives for the next clinic and for Interdressage, where bitless is permitted.
 
What we achieved and worked on was the rider's position and the effect it had on the horse. Watching the other lessons showed how much could be improved with minor adjustments, how they affected the horse and often enabled the horse to find the relaxation or comfort in a movement as the rider gave them that release. When we were trotting a circle I felt as if Fina was leaning in at one point on the circle, so I would try to hold her out onto it. Once I really engaged my inner thigh and pushed with it, she made a true circle with lightness in hand and we stopped leaning on each other. Another rider had a skittish mare who held her head up, gritted her teeth and looked stressed and unhappy, until the rider adjusted her rib cage slightly and released something for the horse, whose head dropped and form rounded and she relaxed, that was so good to watch! lots of jokes about having the headlights full on or dipped. My trouble is the opposite, I needed to lift and work on my core muscles, my default is to round my back, the C shape, although I did get positive comments about being supple. After years of laid back hacking, I have let things go, which is why I wanted this sort of lesson.I am already finding it beneficial when hacking, and feel that Fina is able to lift herself more because I am releasing her back instead of sitting heavy on it. I feel I have regained an effective riding position, such as I used to have and can see in old photos of me riding.

A bit of video from our second day's lesson:


Spring rides and a workout for Fina

Summer already and not a lot achieved; having managed to keep the horses fairly trim and not too fat coming out of winter, they have inevitably put back a bit of fat and Seraphina a pot-belly, with summer grass. From a wet muddy spring we seemed to go straight into hot dry summer and I have to make an effort to get going early to ride before the heat and flies. In April we were visited by Helen and Ali, who previously had Seraphina, and it was great to reunite them and let Ali put Fina over some jumps in the field before we all went for a short hack/walk; they even had a play with the big green ball.


 Helen took this nice photo of Lucie and I watching. Lucie is still wearing her winter furs in a shade of clay mud beige; someone thought she was palomino when they saw this photo!

Some more spring shots: 


 And this one qualifies Lucie for the dirtiest horse competition surely...
 Our riding tracks were interrupted  at the beginning of May when they were taken over by the runner for the annual 1 May 10 km cross-country run... Unhappily for the runners, the day itself was wet, but we can continue to ride and enjoy the circuit now the tape has been removed.
 Lucie wondering why she can't go straight on as usual...
... and Fina checks out the funny orange markings which have suspiciously appeared on the ground.

Monday 19 January 2015

A year later

Where did 2014 go? It has been a busy enough year with the horses, no huge achievements but many modest advances generally; plenty of pleasant hacks, as before, riding Seraphina and leading Lucie.



The reason I haven't posted or updated on this blog is because I believe that for Lucie, I have become the leader she needed me to be. Seraphina is a different horsenality, she does not challenge me in the same way and the questions she poses are different.

My intention is to start another blog, when I can come up with a title for it that represents where we are now and where I can continue to recount our progress or problems, and post articles on different aspects of horsemanship.

For now a quick resumé of 2014 highlights, including two Parelli events; in June I participated in a 2 day clinic with Russell Higgins 4* Parelli horse development specialist and his partner Ruth Carlyle, herself a 3* instructor; a good crowd of particpants and spectators, French and English, and no less than 3 other instructors all 1* from different corners of France, came along to assist, support and translate. My partner was a borrowed 4 year old Merens pony called Azar, which meant I was confident to ride him.







In October we continued our partnership when our favoutite instructor Jo Bates came again to give a weekend workshop. Saturday we looked at Preparing for Liberty - asking if the horse was Calm, Connected and Responsive; and ended the morning with a brief turn for each of us in the roundpen. The afternoon session looked at pre-requisites for bridleless riding. On Sunday the morning session was Online and the afternoon Freestyle. As usual Jo set up interesting challenges and patterns to provoke questions and learning for both horse and human. When asked to sum up what we would take away with us from the workshop, my response was to remember to isolate, separate and recombine and the need to identify which element isn't working. Also to use patterns and challenges to improve impulsion and connection. And so much more! The professionalism and training, but also the individual interpretation and approach of these instructors who have come through an often misunderstood programme and method, continues to inspire and impress me.



So enter 2015, what are my resolutions and plans? To continue to learn and advance my horsemanship, I'd like to audition for Parelli level 2 Online and Freestyle, and move on to Liberty. I need to rebuild my roundpen and create a riding area, maybe even a sand school. I'd like to keep the horses a bit leaner and fitter; and start a new blog.