new vid - update! :)

[shoveltrash]

my internet has been CR@P lately, so it has taken me two whole days to get this vid uploaded!
i have more footage, sitting trot, full school canter work, etc but i dread even contemplating trying to upload it

anyhoo
for comparison , the OLD vid (one that made me cringe ) http://www.enlightenedequitation.com/ee/boards/index.php/topic,44035.0.html

but good GOD i must remember to wear a better shirt for videoing!! .  my baggy tshirt makes me look hunched, but i swear i'm not!  i do think my horse is improved with ME improving.  we're not 100% yet, but i'm happy with this .  as always, 'am WIDE OPEN for comments & such!!!

ride take 2!

how i WISH i could obtain/maintain the *perfect* rider position!!!!!!  then it would be a piece of cake! 

[DollysMum]

Fabby doo, you guys are looking great

[Naiad]

I can definitely see a change in the shoulders/chest area. Before you had tension there that reminded me of one of Sally Swift's sketeches in her book of someone *not* opening up that area. But now you seem much more open and free in that area!! Yay!!

I think that your walk position looked brilliant at the start of the video - you looked proud and elegant. One thing I noticed when you went into trot (I noticed this as I do the same thing!!) is that while your toes are pointing forwards in walk, they start to point a bit outwards in trot etc. It may be just a matter of time and strength in the saddle rather than a quick fix, but it is something to be conscious of. Like I said, the exact same things happens to me when I go from walk to trot - obviously it is much easier to hold the correct leg position in walk than trot!

There is definitely a great improvement so hurray for both of you!!

[ParisDiamond]

  Yeah Baby Yeah 
That's night and day from the last video, well done.  Head up, looking round, shoulders back - Bingo.

Do you need to carry a whip?  and if so, do you need to change sides with it whilst schooling?  It seemed to detract from your concentration.....just a thought. 

[winnieandben]

Looking great 

[shoveltrash]

copied/pasted here from my blog.....

there is something in the way you are now slightly bracing your upper body (trying so hard to be perfect can be tricky) and the effect it has on your hands, I'll take another look tomorrow and see if it's my tired eyes or really something you could tweak (or hopefully someone clever will get there first).

watching it again, i thought the same Trudi.....i think i'll copy/paste what you & ukica wrote onto that thread (perhaps stimulate discussion?).  i'm hoping maybe that i am just overcompensating, and if i can manage to make this more *habit* that the relaxation will happen too (in me).

I think you do look better position wise and the canter transitions seems quite nice too.The downwards transitions looked a little on the forehand, do you half halt beforehand?  I don't know whether i am seeing well or not..is there perhaps a very very slightly backwards quality of your hands? All in all though very nice.  You could do the interdressage like Janet and Trudi aswell...you can get your sleep that way too 

ukica i almost edited out that crappy downward transition part .  "warts & all" is more honest....i think my tendency is to tip forward with a 'backward attitude' to my hands/contact, which sends Nico very much onto the forehand .  not ALL of our downward transitions are like this thank God!   sleep? hmmm, have to think about that one. i think i had a better attitude sleep-deprived

Do you need to carry a whip?  and if so, do you need to change sides with it whilst schooling?  It seemed to detract from your concentration.....just a thought.

obviously i need to work on that .  because carrying/changing my stick is something i want to get more adept at, and it should always be on the inside (so i'm told).

One thing I noticed when you went into trot (I noticed this as I do the same thing!!) is that while your toes are pointing forwards in walk, they start to point a bit outwards in trot etc.

now that's something i hadn't noticed! thanks .  'will definitely keep that in the back of my head, along with all the OTHER things i'm supposed to be doing *correctly* . 

happy to hear there is improvement.  a huge THANK YOU for the fab feedback!
NOW if i can just get my BODY to make it a habit!!!!  without having to constantly monitor myself .

[ukica]

Unfortunately....you got to do it lots and lots for it to become a habit and the constant monitoring is pretty normal!  If i could get a recording of what does on in my head when i ride and listen to it after, i would be  frazzled....

(something like this, Heather says this, EH says that, my instructor said the other, Ylvie said this, Marijke said that...i wonder whether this is how to take a left seat.....am i pulling on the reins, are my hands the right height, am i riding like a lump or being dynamic....bla bla bla  )

[Trudi]

(something like this, Heather says this, EH says that, my instructor said the other, Ylvie said this, Marijke said that...i wonder whether this is how to take a left seat.....am i pulling on the reins, are my hands the right height, am i riding like a lump or being dynamic....bla bla bla  )

Which is why it's better to stick to one trainer and see it through than try and throw everything at it 

OK Trish, had another little look and it's hit me now that you are actually backing off him. You get a lovely contact (your elbows look fab, the connection is there) and all of a sudden you back off and stop following the connection. He says bl00dy hell where did that go and you have a moment of 'dithering' until you get positive again. Just an observation  So if you're going to ride forward and relaxed à la 'german' then do it  and be proud.

[winnieandben]

So if you're going to ride forward and relaxed à la 'german' then do it  and be proud.

 

 

Unfortunately....you got to do it lots and lots for it to become a habit and the constant monitoring is pretty normal!  If i could get a recording of what does on in my head when i ride and listen to it after, i would be  frazzled....

(something like this, Heather says this, EH says that, my instructor said the other, Ylvie said this, Marijke said that...i wonder whether this is how to take a left seat.....am i pulling on the reins, are my hands the right height, am i riding like a lump or being dynamic....bla bla bla  )

[ukica]

Which is why it's better to stick to one trainer and see it through than try and throw everything at it 

 So if you're going to ride forward and relaxed à la 'german' then do it  and be proud.

I think i am going that way actually....but still with a few bits thrown in...but they will be in the side lines.

[shoveltrash]

OK Trish, had another little look and it's hit me now that you are actually backing off him. You get a lovely contact (your elbows look fab, the connection is there) and all of a sudden you back off and stop following the connection. He says bl00dy hell where did that go and you have a moment of 'dithering' until you get positive again. Just an observation   So if you're going to ride forward and relaxed à la 'german' then do it   and be proud.

but what exactly does "backing off him" mean? 
sorry

ukica!
me too

[Trudi]

  sorry Trish hould have explained better 

I was referring to the way you back off following the contact, I think it may be because you are concentrating on keeping those L-bows and so your reins seem to get long (and then at times the elbows get behind you) and he says here I am but you're not there, does that make any sense? I find it very hard to do this based on a video and in real time one could tweak things and you would feel the difference (not knocking video teachers it's just not something I'd be any good at  )

[janehon]

Catching up and just watched your vids to compare and there is a big improvement, I'm going to try a similar thing and see what folks on here can come up with cause my position is getting so bad since I've been ill.

My only point is to do with your whip change over it will disturb your position less if you twist it over the top. I do it by putting reins and whip into the soon to be new outside hand, take new inside hand grasp stick below outside hand, turn wrist to bring stick to the inside then retake stick into outside hand, final stage is to take inside rein and stick in inside hand. Not sure that makes sense but I'm sure you'd find it explained better somewhere on net!

[Freedom]

obviously i need to work on that .  because carrying/changing my stick is something i want to get more adept at, and it should always be on the inside (so i'm told).

Hello,

Thank you for posting the video, I love watching others ride and videos are a great way for me personally to learn.

I thought you rode very nicely.

I do have a helpful hint, please forgive me if you know this trick but do not like it.  You are correct the whip should be on the inside, I notice you change your whip by lifting your arm up and threading it through your other arm, over the neck.  I find it easier and neater to do this to change the whip sides....

Assuming the whip is in your left hand

place both reins in your left hand

take your right hand over the top of your left hand turning it upside down as you go

pick up the whip underneath your little finger of your left hand

bring your right hand back into position (with the whip tip pointing in the air in an arch as your hand returns to the start position)

retake your right rein in your right hand and get whip comfortable in your hand

I hope those instructions makes sense – it was very strange thinking about doing it without a whip to hand.

When you get better at doing it you can change the whip over with just your fingers and do it so quickly any spectators could miss the change.

Hope it helps.

xXx

[hilary]

I was just going to write what Freedom said! PK had people do this in his clinic, ( mind the first time one of the riders did it, it went more over the ears, than up in the air, so worth practising slowly at halt). But it is so quick. The other whip"trick" he had was that if people needed to raise the inside hand then you couldnt do this with the whip in the inside hand so you just placed it in the outside, but it was still across the neck to the inside  -  a useful thing to know if you are eg opening a gate too, and want one hand free, rather than having to transfer it across.

My only query is, are you showing your ducklings?!! All the time.  I find it hard to tell from video, but it links in with the contact, but mainitaining it. BY that, are you using triceps rather than biceps to maintain the bend in your elbows. Arms are in the same place, but the feel is different at different  times. I just wonder whether this may be linked into Trudi's comment.

I think you and he look brilliant together, and a definite happy team