Please enjoy as you follow along with these posts that we consider interesting or challenging moments on their journey with Western Dressage.
Deb: “When the Professor, Teacher and Student are all in the same classroom…”
Pardon the school analogy, but; you can take the teacher out of the classroom, you can’t take the classroom out of the teacher! I was scheduled for my once a month clinic ride with “R” judge Carol Bishop and grateful we weren’t rained out…again. Carol had not seen me for 3 months. That’s a long time, and a potential mind blower for me. Would I look like I had been “absent” for the entire three months?To top it off, Karen was joining us to observe and check for lesson alignment. (At least that’s what I was hoping she was doing, they were doing an awful lot of talking and nodding heads together whilst I was aboard!)
Regardless, Carol started the session with a resounding MAKE HER MOVE THOSE BACK LEGS!
Poor Belle, she was a bit in shock. Understand, please, that I am quite courteous with my mare. I ask politely. I am soft handed. I sometimes ask several times for the same response until I get it.
I need to GET A GRIP!
To sum it up, Belle and I would not progress at the rate Carol knows we can if I let Belle talk me into Kindergarten teacher mode! This I say from experience because I have taught every age, 5 to 50. Belle can be very much like the recalcitrant Kindergartener. I cannnnnn’t… it’s tooooo hard. Sniff, sniff, trembling lips and all!
We aren’t in Kindergarten anymore, and I need to help Belle realize that what I am asking IS harder than what I have settled for in the past. And also realize that I am fair and will praise her and reward her efforts. It happens over time. Progress in increments.
So, after a VERY eye opening lesson from Carol, I was really very excited to see Karen the following day for my weekly lesson. I am sure Belle was ecstatic!
It was a lovely morning and we were having a leisurely warm up in the pasture. I saw Karen walk up from the barn and I shouted a hello. She came closer and I heard her say, “why does your walk look like that?”
Oh crumb… so it begins!!!
She nailed me from the get go and I love her for it! I had already lunged Belle, we were going over some poles and circling obstacles and I was not asking for anything! No march, no clear direction. This is why weekly lessons with a trainer that REALLY wants to see you progress as much as you possibly can is so important.
So I had to make a personal paradigm shift, and make it stick! With squared shoulders I gathered up my reins and said with my body and my voice, ok… let’s MARCH! And her walk got better, much better.
I began to think more about Belle and I as a UNIT. This is new. Shoulder-in on the twenty meter, a switch to the long side and then in again. A light bulb flashed in my brain and the OHHHHH MA GOSH THAT is what in front of my leg and on the aids feels like through an entire movement and through to the next! I distinctly felt Belle saying, thank the Lord, she finally is communicating with me consistently.
We worked on accuracy with impulsion. Shoulder in with a true three track. Bend that was even. Contact that was consistent. I concentrated so hard on keeping everything centered in my body, forward and up through her back and through my hands and symmetrical I swear I can now teach math!
And it was awesome!
A few days later a friend came over to ride with me and as we worked on movements she looked over and said, “You’re riding differently, more effortlessly”. Really? You can see that?
Thank you Karen and Carol for being tough! It’s just what I needed. And yup, Belle just nodded her beautiful head!
Karen: "Don't dumb down Western Dressage"
Deb had a lesson with clinician Carol Bishop yesterday, and I was lucky enough to arrange my schedule to be able to audit. Carol was tough on Deb, and even tougher on Belle. While I thought I set the bar high, she raised it higher. Carol wanted more.... more connection back to front, more control of the shoulder, a quicker hind leg, more uphill balance. More from Deb, more from Belle, which equals more from me. The challenge as an instructor is to know when and how much to push each student to help them achieve their goals. Push too hard, and confidence can be lost. Don't push enough, and progress is never achieved.
It's the same with horses. You have to push them past their comfort zone, to the edge, but not over. Too far and learning stops and fear steps in. Not enough and nothing changes. It's a delicate balancing act.
What I learned from Carol is that I have to ask a little more from Deb and Belle. What was good yesterday needs to be just a little bit better today.
Today's lesson was solidifying the issues addressed by Carol to help Deb remember and process them. The medium walk had to MARCH. Step that hind leg under, don't throw away the front. Package the energy and recycle it. Ride the horse up and even in both reins.
We worked shoulder-in on a 20 meter circle in the jog to continue to ask the hind legs to step under and engage. That was alternated with periods of riding straight on the long side or on the circle and asking Deb to analyze how much weight she had in each rein. How much on the inside rein? How much on the outside? She needed to be stronger through her core, steadier with the reins, doing LESS with her hands which actually equals more.
The session ended with a challenge from a previous lesson successfully met. Deb rode a beautiful canter transition without allowing the energy to escape out the front, she maintained the connection and provided the support that Belle needed to engage and step into the canter. No loss of balance on the forehand. Time for a check in… what did you do differently this time? Why did that work? I want Deb to put it in her own words, to break it down and analyze it and OWN it.
Very, very happy with today!
About the WDAA: The Western Dressage Association® of America is a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit organization focused on providing a model of horsemanship which optimizes the partnership of horse and rider for their mutual benefit. The mission of the Western Dressage Association® is “to honor the horse, to value the partnership between horse and rider and to celebrate the legacy of the American West” which it focuses on through its offerings of educational opportunities and events to the equestrian community. To discover more about the WDAA and Western Dressage, please visit www.westerndressageassociation.org.