Quarter Pirouette

[Cheryl]

Hi,

Can anyone help me with the aids for quarter pirouette?  I tried it for the first time today by riding a pretend square and at the corner halting, applying outside leg slightly back from girth, inside leg on girth, asking for a slight flex to inside with the inside rein.  However, we had a variety of responses:

1) sideways stepping-is this half-pass?
2) rein-back - i think i must have had too much pressure on reins?
3) a kind of pirouette but the hind legs slightly from their original spot

I didn't want to keep trying over and over as we had had a successful schooling session until then and i would rather stop and end on a positive and think about what i did wrong...any tips?

Cheryl x

[jenb]

You need to use indirect outside rein to move the shoulders over.  I think I might have explained this in some detail on ukica's blog - can you get onto the blog section?

It would help you to ask from a slow walk, not a halt.  Your horse was actually being quite obedient and trying his best to figure out your aids!  Try this (let's pretend we are on the right rein):
 - approach your chosen spot for the 1/4P in a slow walk.
 - at the chosen spot, the weight is a little to the inside (without leaning over in any way!).  LOOK to the right, and up, don't tip forward.
 - outside leg back, idea of travers
 - outside rein applies indirect rein against the neck, to move the shoulders around the haunches.
 - inside leg is passive unless it needs to ask for more activity
 - inside rein passive unless more i/s bend is needed.
 - continue for 1/4 10m circle, then ride away.

So idea of travers on a 10m circle will give you the beginnings of a large walk piri.  It is important that before starting this, your horse can do travers to either side easily, and that he will move his shoulders easily away from an indirect rein aid to either side.

[jenb]

p47 of ukica's blog for explanation of indirect rein and some ideas of exercises to use to introduce it.   

[Trudi]

what a beautifully succinct reply Jenny 

[Cheryl]

Thanks JenB, that's really helpful- I don't know why I thought to try it from halt rather than walk so maybe it was a case of blocking his movement inadvertently. You are totally right he was trying his best to figure out what I wanted -he is very giving    I have just read the blog and will try the exercises you suggest to learn the indirect rein- he prob knows it but I need to learn! You mention that a horse should be able to do renders first- I am just learning lateral work is there a certain order for me to learn the different movements that you would suggest?

[jenb]

Not really.  I like to start with the front end first, but he can start to learn to move his butt very soon after.  Start with just a step to one side from halt, then walk on again.  Repeat to either side, use your schooling whip to back up the leg aid and make sure he knows to step sideways if necessary.

It's helpful for the horse when beginning to learn to move the haunches in motion, for the rider to allow o/s bend whilst asking for the haunches inside.  So on the left rein, haunches to the left but the nose to the right.  Break it down and make it simple.  Some horses find it really hard when trying to co-ordinate their haunches in, to keep inside bend at the same time, so it's absolutely no problem to let them have o/s bend whilst they learn what to do.  The work you do on the front end will make it very easy to put the two together after a few months (or less, if your horse knows some of this already) and have a nice travers, renvers, shoulder in, shoulder out, half pass etc.

Francois calls it "Divide and Conquer", lol!  Divide up the horse, gain control of the front and back ends separately, then you have control of the whole horse!  It really does work.

[cirocco]

Jenb can I just ask you about the lunging set up you have or seem to have in your pictures.
Is the lunge line running through the bit to the pad????

[jenb]

He's not on the lunge, he is mid-spook on the long reins, lol!  Yes, the inside long rein is going from me, through the bit, to the roller.  It means you have to faff around to change the rein, but it's good for increasing flexion and developing inside bend for young/green/stiff horses.  You can revert to the normal arrangement when the horse is supple.