My lunge lesson with videos

[Cheryl]

Hi all,

I just wanted to share sme videos from my lunge lesson on Friday and to show off my beautiful share horse- Crystal .  We were concentrating on my balance and position-so I did work without my reins and stirrups and then, after a warm-up, without the saddle.  It was great fun and I felt it was beneficial too-we did exercises (arms out to side, in-front, etc…legs away from the saddle…eyes shut) to check my balance and to encourage me to sit on my seat-bones (and tuck-under) rather than tip forward onto my fork and hollow my back (I have a naturally hollow back and practice ab exercises at home to help counter-balance this tendency).  I als really liked not having to think about stirrups and saddles for once!

It is really cringey to watch myself on video and I am the first to spot my problems  but I was really pleased with my overall balance and figure that being to stay on a horse without a saddle must be a sign that I am making progress .  There are times when I am bouncy (hate seeing that!  )-particularly on the bareback canter videos – I think this may be a sign of me tensing up and gripping with my knees and tightening my seatbones rather than dropping my legs down and relaxing.  I felt that I was absorbing Crystal’s movement in sitting trot when it was slow but less so when his trot was more active…does it look like I am moving correctly with Crystal?

My instructor is great and really encouraging.  She said next week we will work bareback again for some of the lesson –this time working on bending and turning so that I can ‘feel’ the movement…do many of you do bareback work and do you find it a valuable way to improve as a rider? 

I am looking for constructive criticism/feedback…I know there is a lot of video (I wasn’t sure how to cut it down) but if you can view any please feel free to comment on my position, offer improvements etc…I am really keen to get better

Thanks,

Cheryl
 

[Cheryl]

Here are the Youtube links...


sitting trot no strirrups/reins left rein

sitting trot no strirrups/reins left rein(39.3MB)

sitting trot no strirrups/reins right rein:

sitting trot no strirrups/reins right rein(66.58MB)

bareback balancing exercises sitting trot left rein:

bareback balancing exercises sitting trot left rein(74.2MB)

Balancing exercises in sitting trot bareback right rein:

Balancing exercises in sitting trot bareback right rein(47.12MB)

Bareback canter right rein-bit bouncy!

Bareback canter right rein-bit bouncy!

Canter bareback left rein

Canter bareback left rein

sitting trot bareback-free riding and on lunge

sitting trot bareback-free riding and on lunge

[SueC]

No-one has commented yet, so I thought I'd give it a go. 

Your instructor sounds really nice and the lessons look a lot of fun, which is half the battle imo.     Your share horse is lovely. 

A criticism would be that you can't really sit the trot properly, unless it's kept really, really slow, until the horse is more rounded.  You bounce because he is hollowing and this is uncomfortable for both of you.  Your saddle is drawing your legs forward and putting you in a 'chair' seat and although your instructor does recognise when you are sitting better (despite your saddle) and lets you know, she does tell you to tuck your backside under you and grip with your lower leg, which wouldn't really help.   I can see what she's trying to do by asking you to do that though. He probably isn't keen to go forward as he's a bit uncomfortable.  Has his saddle fit been checked to make sure he's not hollowing away from it?

A seatbone saver would probably help your position and seat, have you thought about one of those?

Your instructor's lunging technique and dress code isn't quite BHS is it hehe?  I think she sounds very friendly and quite good fun, though I do think she's trying to instruct you, I don't think she knows very much, is she quite young?  She is probably a quite novice instructor.  She could benefit a lot from joining something like Heather's teacher training programme, as I think she has quite a good eye, but not enough knowledge.

That's my opinion from watching your lesson.     Nice to hear praise and see an instructor who doesn't call horses 'it' and smack them around.  You look a nice, light rider and there are some very good moments, especially considering your saddle and your hollow horsey. 

Plus you're very brave to put your videos up. 

[Naiad]

Your share horse is lovely indeed!

I will leave the analysis of your riding position and instruction to others. I do think it shows great initiative and bravery to tackle that lunge work without a stirrups and reins, and then no saddle! With continued work on the lunge, your riding can only get better and better and the sky is the limit. You had some nice moments in the video, where your position looked very nice. I can only sing the praises of how much my lunge lessons helped my riding - my progress was so much more rapid. Lunge lessons are great, aren't they?!  

[Trish]

you are far far braver than me, I hate that downwards canter/trot transition bareback .......... your instructor sounds lovely and very positive, I like that a lot 

Keep up the hard work, the lunge lessons will definately pay off, at least you don't screech when you go into canter bareback unlike me 

[Cheryl]

Hi SueC, Naiad, and Trish,

Thank-you for your comments.
 
Im glad you all think the lunge lesson was fun-it really was ...and Naiad, as an avid reader of your posts, i really agree that lunging helps and loved reading abut your lessons -when is the next installment? My instructor is lovely (she is still training to be an instructor) and i will mention the EE teacher courses to her for sure...and Crystal is gorgeus isn't he 

Just a couple of questions (sorry-i always seem to have to write an essay!! )
SueC do you think a seatbone saver will help me to stop hollowing myself and sit on my seatbones??? The only thing i would worry about is losing even more sense of the horses movement (that said with a treed saddle i don’t really feel lots-nothing compared to bareback anyhow!) If it would help i would like to look into it-is there just one size?

A criticism would be that you can't really sit the trot properly, unless it's kept really, really slow, until the horse is more rounded.  You bounce because he is hollowing and this is uncomfortable for both of you. 

This is really interesting and I assume will have a knock on effect when i ride him out and he sometimes jog trots or trots at super speed-i try to sit deeply to slow him but i guess this will have little effect then if he is hollow? When i first met him and viewed him being ridden he was quite hollow with a tendency to stick his neck up in the air-i try to ride with a looser rein to encourage him to work long/low and stretch and relax but when he gets speedier (active trot, transition to canter...) he does tend to hollow as you said-I know you said to check his saddle fit-i will ask about this - but is there something in my riding that is encouraging this-will he mirror my own hollowness? or is there something i can do to help him 'round'?

Your saddle is drawing your legs forward and putting you in a 'chair' seat and although your instructor does recognise when you are sitting better (despite your saddle) and lets you know, she does tell you to tuck your backside under you and grip with your lower leg, which wouldn't really help.   I can see what she's trying to do by asking you to do that though.

I think that that i was taught to grip with my knees when i was younger-i now know that this is not the correct way-is gripping (or wrapping) with the lower leg also wrong then? I also find it difficult to tuck my bum under to correct my hollow as in trot i can feel behind the movement-i think instead I need to remember what Heather told me at the Sim workshop abut 'dipping the headlights' as that works on the sim! Any other advice for hollow-backed riders-i think alot of my progress will hinge on me 'fixing' this....

Thank-you for all your feedback and encouragement guys,

Cheryl x

Ps: more feedback welcome…

[SueC]

SueC do you think a seatbone saver will help me to stop hollowing myself and sit on my seatbones???

If it doesn't I'll buy it off you.  Buy a genuine Heather Moffett one.  It will help you sit more centrally in the saddle, you'll be able to sit further forward and in less of a chair seat.  They are two sizes pony and horse basically.  Buy the horse one.

Chair seat is quite normal for bareback, the shape of the horse means you can't get your legs down in the classical ideal.  I quite like bareback for confidence and relaxation (tense and grip up too much and you'll fall off  ) so I wouldn't have a problem with it, except that your horse is too hollow, so I wouldn't do too much of it.  He's probably now accustomed to his way of going and doesn't have the muscle to cope with too much work using different muscles, which he would need to do if he was rounded. 

Just about everything you describe as a problem for you is due to your horse going upside down and hollow.

or is there something i can do to help him 'round'?

Oh my.  Just about every question is related to this. hehe.  It would take a novel to explain.     Fortunately Heather has written one, so if your instructor is open minded, it might be worth both you reading Heather's stuff relating to contact and rounding.  Wrapped lower leg is fine, gripping lower leg isn't.  You would start by asking him to round using your fingers and lower leg at halt and then walk.  It's a long process that isn't that easy with an older horse who is accustomed to hollowing.  I don't know if pictures of Lucia (the horse, not the member) are still on here somewhere?  She was a typical giraffe that Heather turned around.

You aren't doing anything wrong, I would expect him to hollow naturally with any rider, unless they knew how to ask him not to. 

[ros]

Hope Sue won't mind my adding a bit here?

I think we sometimes mistakenly interpret "sitting deep" as dropping our weight down on the horse's back. If your horse is hollow, that just makes him try to shoot out from under the pressure. You need to make it easy for him to lift his back, and think light.