Aids the substance, more on turning

Well thankfully Di appeased me with a little debate. If I'm reading your comments correctly Di you are talking of the spiral seat where the upper body turns independantly from the hips and lower half, in other words a twist in opposite directions at the waist?

This is something I would use in later work, with my horse that can walk/trot/canter on circles and straight lines. I think it's a great tool to be able to ride the horse into the outside rein with the seat but keep him bending around the inside leg with the upper body. However, when I've ridden it I've felt that it is a momentary aid whereas the seat and upper body turning in unison is a staple initial *layer*.
When turning in synchronisation I use my outside knee and thigh to keep the outside shoulder turning and I find that if I approach the turns in a *square* manner then the 1/4's are placed correctly and it is tricky for them to evade/drift out. My shoulders turning ever so slightly onto the same arc the horse is on will bring my outside rein slightly closer to the wither and will back up my outide leg feeling of guarding the outside shoulder.

In all of this turning work I can't stress enough the importance of keeping both legs long and around the horse. Any unbalance in the rider during this early turning will be disastrous for the turn/circle and for this reason I always use my *breathing* legs deeply into my stirrups (like a half halt really) before applying the turning aids.

Of course the reality of all this is that our seats are in a constant state of flux in order to be with the movement of the horse, this goes without saying. Also that the riders body will only turn as much as the circle requires, any over turning by the rider would only be used as a small corrective movement.

the week that was

I can't believe we're into a new week again, where does the time go? At the moment it's mainly spent on grass cutting, the paddocks grow quicker than you can cut them at this time of year and after a warm spell and our now rainy spell, well.....let's just say it's a battle I'm not entirely winning.
I had a couple of really good sessions with Moralejo last week, he's really beginning to understand the leg control and it's giving me a nice feeling in my hand. I've worked lots on direction changes. Basically if his balance goes or he leans on the bit then I immediately change the rein and re-balance before changing back. Along with more work on transitions to help the balance it is all slowly coming together. A bit more canter too and more balanced, even started walk to canter which was better for him in terms of him not loosing his balance. His back is getting stronger and more supple and I hope we get to work on it more this week, weather permitting!
I have also worked on myself a couple of times, quitting the stirrups and reins to *find* my position in a more relaxed frame. I'm an utter dunce with the video though, once I took it out, set it up and didn't switch it on properly doh, then next time I turned it on but didn't realise that I only had 5 mins space left on the disc!!
I'm still thinking on the Aids stuff, I'm disappointed nobody asked which way my dolly peg turned but I suppose I'll just have to tell you, lol.
I'm re-reading Seunig for the umpteenth time, it truly is the one book I would keep if forced to sell all but one.

AIDS the substance turning part 3 (dolly pegs)

Many years ago I discovered that my male colleagues in the Product Development Team of a large telecom company were apt to turn the *bleeding obvious* into indecipherable technical babble. As if by talking in jargon made it seem somehow more impressive.

I dislike being blinded by science but if you've been brave enough to read earlier posts then you'll know that I do find the science illuminating. Well I was a scientist first! For me the science is just the *why it works* bit.

I prefer to keep things simple-my brain processes simple stuff best and complicated stuff is just multi layered simple stuff. It's how I train and teach; action-assess the feedback-reaction-assess the feedback-reaction....OK it's not new or mind blowingly deep but it works.

So here goes with the simple form of turning, to which we can add more simple layers as we progress. I sit in balance, my legs long and softly adhering (where they naturally touch the horses side) in the perfect alignment of Anja Beran (who am I kidding). I turn my horse as if I were a dolly peg sat astride my horse. Remember, a dolly peg moves as one-she is unjointed. She cannot over turn, contort, distort herself and she does not guard with one leg, weight with another and her legs are always long and deep.

Now this requires expansion, further layers but in it's basic form this is how a child will turn their pony when asked to do so without the reins. They don't adopt a spiral seat, look to the centre of the turn NO they play dolly peg, lol.

Science will follow.....

AIDS -turning part 2

It occurred to me last night that it must be a very arduous task to write a book on the art of equitation. I struggled to find the right point at which to start my ramblings, only to come unstuck at almost the first hurdle. Of course I should have covered *the seat* first, shouldn't I?? So if you have Anja Beran's book, please read her concise descriptions of seat, legs and hands. One of the most important things for me is to train your legs to *let go*. In all my descriptions of turning it is assumed therefore that both before and after the aid the leg is hanging in a relaxed manner, not tense or squeezing in any way. The same also for in-hand/ground work, use the aid and then stop using it and only re-apply the aid when necessary.

Jane mentioned about teaching a baby on the ground and then taking this work forward to the early ridden work. One of the things I want to use with Chapiro when the time comes is to ride the early work with reins to the cavesson and later introduce the idea of the bit. At the same time I hope to be able to be educating him in the art of flexion and relaxation of the jaw whilst in-hand. This should, in theory, mean that I can keep the bit to converse with him rather than to turn him.

When we bring an unhandled youngster onto the yard for the first time it is going to be a very new experience for them. Yet, most horses, once haltered for the first time will lead away with some success, it's pretty much the case that if you have their head the rest is compelled to follow. This was the case with Chapiro, he had been handled but very little and had no manners to speak of. He had been weaned and then ultimately returned to the same paddock as his mother and at least one other mare. Now this was unfortunate but sometimes it just isn't possible to do the right thing at the right time. When I bought him at just turned two he had already covered a mare and rather assumed he was head honcho about the place. All my work with him has therefore involved teaching him to get outta my space whilst learning to lead calmly and quietly. To do this I have worked him loose in the barn and school, rope circled with him and a little baby lunging; most effective of all, however, has been our lessons in leading out. I am pretty chuffed that most of the time he will now follow behind me on the lead, slightly to my side (nose towards my leading hip) and stops when I stop, backs when I back. Of course there are times when he gets cocky and advances too quickly but I either swing the coiled lunge line in the space he wants to move into or turn him on a circle and line him back up with my hip and off we go again.

So what does all that have to do with turning?? Well yes we can turn a horse by putting their heads into a position and thus compelling their bodies to follow but what I've found is that it's really the placing of our own bodies and the use of body language that compells a horse to move or change direction.

In the beginning then we can use the obvious benefits of controlling the head but ultimately it is a crude control and as we progress our youngster we will rely on it less and less but where will this leave us when we want to climb on board.......to be continued

AIDS-turning

This is going to be a very short intro to get me started. I've been searching in vain for more learned writers than I; searching for their gems on the art of turning. I'm sadly short on inspiration, left empty and relying on my own thoughts. Poor readers, I apologise and hope that one of you may have a resource you can share with me. Just the basics to begin with, how does one take an uneducated horse and teach him to turn? I know what I do but seriously in all my books I can only find two that I remotely like. One being Heather Moffet's which is really rider based and the other Kyra Kyrklund's which is aimed at teaching a young horse and very similar to my method. Is this important fundamental passed over as being to basic? Do the great masters believe that we already know these things or am I just blind and can't find them. Help is needed or tomorrow you'll be hearing my thoughts, lol.