An Amazing Lesson

[Emma]

Three weeks ago, after a 5 year search, I finally had a lesson with a true classical trainer, in the wonderful form of Jenny Franklin!   Please forgive the length of this post!

A little background

7 year ago, when I bought Ella as a baby, I had also ended up with a very difficult ride – a rearer who had at some point been very highly trained & was very sensitive.  She belonged to someone who had great experience of rehabilitating horses & was committed to classical riding but was unable to ride herself due to injury.  I was given about 3-4 lessons a week on this horse for 3 months & totally fell in love with her.  She taught me the basics of classical riding(if you got it wrong she just galloped off with you!), but it’s amazing how difficult that became to keep up without a ‘proper’ teacher.  I used what I'd learned when I backed Ella and she went like a dream to start with but....

My little mare, Ella, has had various problems on & off over the last couple of years which the vets still have not really got to the bottom of.   Last year we had a trainer whom I found through the CRC & we came on really well in some respects, but for me there was something missing.  I kept asking to be taught classically but I never had the ‘adjustments’ that I knew I needed & I also felt we were moving on to quickly.  Ella gave me some wonderful moments last year – a fantastic trot in self carriage & her first few steps of piaffe whilst we were out hacking - BUT she gave them when she wanted, not because of anything I was doing, to my mind.  I will not criticise this trainer because I still hold him in very high regard as a horseman & human being, but to be honest I felt something was missing….  


I had contacted Jenny Franklin about 4 years ago but at the time she had given up teaching – so my delight when I heard via these forums that she was teaching again was immense – & I pm’d her straight away begging her to come to Cheshire!!  

The lesson

I persuaded a woman on the yard to have a lesson too & we shared the whole ‘experience’ together! Each horse was worked separately, but we watched each other & each other’s horses.  The lessons followed the same pattern so I’ll comment on the sections together.

10 minutes riding

Jenny started by asking us to ride.  This threw me a bit to be honest as I was expecting to do in h& work first & maybe ride at the end.  I get terribly nervous with new trainers (mainly because of some appalling past experiences & also because I learnt to ride ‘out hacking’) plus I had had to go back to riding in my western saddle which I hadn’t ridden in for yonks.  (Oh & the fact that the last time I was in the school I had a major fall & put my back out for nearly 2 months didn’t really help either!!)

Jenny adjusted my position -  a lights on moment (I’d been forgetting to sit forward so I could sit on my seatbones – duhhh!!) & then asked for me to push back with alternate legs against the movement of the belly.  I always ride like this, it’s kind of automatic when you’ve being doing it for so long, BUT COULD I DO IT???!!!!     Nerves just got the better of me.  Even the woman I was having the lesson with said to me afterwards “what on earth were you doing?  You never ride like that!”   I know my riding leaves a lot to be desired at the minute but brain just totally disengaged  :blush: – & you know the adage of the more you try, the worse you get.  Jenny was very kind & seeing my frustration didn’t ask me for too much & we soon moved on to the stable exercises.  

I found that watching the other ridden lesson I actually learnt more (but I think this is down to me & my learning style – I like to think about what I’m going to do before I actually try & do it!) – & my nervousness had gone by this point!  The other horse is a TB who had a banana neck when the owner bought her.  Jenny adjusted her position & use the legs one-two (as above) & made her ride with a long rein practicing half halts through the seat & stopping without using the reins.  The difference in this little mare was amazing – she was stretching far more through her top line & was really calm.

Stable exercises

Next we learnt Boucher.  I loved this.  Jenny showed us 4 exercises to do in the stable using the bridle:
1) stretching down
2) moving the bit to make them mouth
3) relaxing the jaw
4) flexing the neck.
We were allowed to do exercises 1-3 & were given a programme each to do each day up to 3 times a day.  To me this has been invaluable especially with some of the awful weather we have been having lately & Ella just loves it.

Lunging

I always thought I wasn’t bad at lunging – not an expert by any stretch, but not bad! WRONG!!!!!!  

Jenny is an expert though & it was wonderful to watch her work the horses.  What interested us both the most was how slowing the horse right down lengthened the stride & kept the horse in balance.  We learnt loads including stepping into the horse to stop it, what to watch for in terms of back end movement & what to look for in the neck muscles.

Conclusion
This lesson was amazing.  All 4 of us (horses & owners) were absolutely shattered by the end of this session.  & yet we’d probably only done about 30-40 minutes work with a top speed of 1 mile an hour!  Jenny is so enthusiastic, pays great attention to detail & making sure that you understand that detail, & is so willing to impart her great wisdom & knowledge.  I feel very privileged to have had the great fortune to have met her, to have been taught by her & that she has agreed to come back again!!  I learnt more in that lesson than I have learnt in the last 5 years put together.  

I feel like I have come home.  I am enjoying riding again (I didn’t realise until this week how much I had gone off it because I had moved too far away from what I believe in).  Ella is happy - she's back in her comfort zone "Thank God you've gone back to riding like this Mum".  Schooling is a joy & never a battle & I no longer feel under pressure when people say you should be ‘doing more’ with that horse.  Jenny has given me back my “Less is more – quality not quantity” perspective.

Yesterday I hacked out on a long rein & five times when I half halted with my seat, went really slowly & asked with a slight vibration on rein, Ella relaxed her jaw, stretched through her top line & engaged from behind for several strides.  It was beautiful & I’m happy with that.  & I can’t wait til my next lesson – I just know Jenny has an endless amount to teach me, cos I know that I know so little – strange how satisfying & liberating that seems.  

Edited to say:  Thank you so much Jenny for giving me my joy of horses back!

[CLT]

What a lovely post to read.  It really is so nice to hear stories of when when things go well and I particularly liked your hacking experience - sounds like you had some wonderful significant moments.  How great is that  

Would you mind giving a bit more detail on the 4 Boucher exercises? I've never come across this before (not entirely surprising ) so would really appreciate some more detail as it sounds very interest.

BTW Jenny sounds like a great find - lucky you.

CT

 

[franklin]

Hi, Re flexion/supplings I would suggest thet you purchase Francois Baucher The man and his Method by Hilda Nelson Published by J A Allen. (British Horse Society bookshop on line has them I think)) These flexions are only part of many and should be used in context, every one is a logical progression. Great care and tact are needed to start/do them. They look quite harsh  in Bauchers book, but they only had drawings and not photos, I was lucky enough to be shown them by Sylvia Stanier and I can assure you they are very gentle and no force is use with them, lots of patience though!!. I only use a snaffle bridle at first not a double bridle as in the book, only later on I use a D/bridle. Once the horse has grasped what you want they become a bit of a smarty pants and try to anticipated you which is not quite the idea!. The book is full of really helpful and inspiring information. Happy reading. Jenny  

[Heather]

Coincidence,  Jenny, I had just lent working student Anna, whom you have also taught, Hilda Nelsons book which Anna has found most interesting.

And Emma, please dont apologise for a long post- it is very informative and likely to help others- and steer them in the direction of Jenny's excellent teaching!!


Heather

[sam&anita]

hi emma
your lesson sounds great, wished i could find a teacher like that.
please keep posting about further lessons

anita

[shoveltrash]

thanks emma for posting such an indepth account!
i too wish i could find a 'classical' instructor....along the same lines as Jenny F.

i want to TRY flexions, but am d*mned scared to do them WRONG.  i won't attempt it without hands-on instruction i think.
*sigh*

thanks again for sharing  

[Emma]

Thanks for all the positive comments all.  I have to say I didn't comment too much on the Boucher as I would expect it is incredibly easy to get it wrong and as I am only just at the very beginning of learning.....  Jenny has also given continual support via email and phone, which has been invaluable.  She truly is an amazingly committed and kind lady.

Jenny's comments on the 'anticipation' are interesting.  Ella quite early on started to anticipate the 'down stretches' (no. 1) but this has become more apparent over the last week, to the point that we started to 'spit our dummy out' a bit!  She also began to try and do the 'down' to avoid doing the jaw relaxation (no. 3).  This has been interesting as it has made me try to fine tune what I was doing and only allow her to do what is being asked of her.  I have to say that this has caused the odd 'argument', especially at time where there is lots of interesting activity going on on the yard!  I have been making her do the exercises facing different ways in the stable and also concentrate on her being 'square' which seems to have helped.

I have to say though that despite (or maybe because of?) these little confrontations she is so much more relaxed than she used to be in general terms.  To the point where my 6 year old daughter has a short hack out on her on the lead rope at the weekend!  Jenny taught us how to train the horse to stop by stepping into them on the lunge and I have translated this into all in-hand work which has really helped keep Ella in check if she gets a bit hot!    

Have another lesson Friday (can't wait! & it better not be snowing / raining!!) - I just know that Jenny will wear us both out - it took several days for our brains to recover last time!!

xx


 

 

[Emma]

Just thought I'd do a little update prior to my lesson (which God willing rain-wise, will be tomorrow!)

Have had a pretty good week although would have like a little less rain and snow as I've not been able to do quite as much as I would have liked.

Am struggling to get the quality of work in the school that I get out hacking, but I think this is mainly to do with the fact that our manege is like a beach - very uneven and very deep in places.  However I am please that I am able to ride around on a completely long rein and go whereever I want !  

The yard owner keeps her dogs kennelled near the entrance to the manege and there are also a couple of chickens and a load of 'debris' housed there & in the past she has been a bit nappy, especially if the dogs are barking (some of this occurred after she got bitten in the face by a dog on the yard last year which was fairly awful, so I couldn't blame her worry!).  However, although she is still wary, we walk past quite well now.  Interestingly in fact, she tends to round more into the hand at this point, as if to say - "you take full charge now Mum!"

On Monday our schooling session culminated in her dropping her head to the floor for 3 or 4 strides in the walk, like she does in the Baucher.  I jsut thought 'wow, that neck goes on forever' and did think it looked like a great slide, but resisted the temptation !  :lol:   :lol:   This was a major breakthrough for us as I have always struggled getting her to stretch down without snatching the bit and falling onto the forehand.  And we managed it 4 times (2 on each rein) so I felt it wasn't just a fluke!!  I only did another 5 mins after that, but she was much more stretched through her top line in general after this so she got lots of hugs and praise!

She has been so relaxed in fact that I gave my 6 year old a lesson in walk on the lunge on her yesterday & they both were very good and enjoyed themselves.  Did make me realise how difficult it is to sit well on the western, as my daughter normally has a naturally excellent seat (as do most kids) but she did struggle somewhat to sit forward with her legs down in the western.

Let's just hope the rain holds off for tomorrow!

[mrsmurchin]

How did the lesson go Emma?

Elaine

[nicjenpat]

Ditto , Nic

[shoveltrash]

double ditto!
so???  

[Emma]

OK OK!!! :lol:

Friday absolutely pee'd it down so didn't think Jenny would come, but after a chat she agreed that she was happy just to do the Baucher so that we could all stay dry, if we were happy with that.  YES YES YES, of course we were.  And this time I promised her tea and cake (which I forgot last time because we were so engrossed in learning that it wasn't til she was turning out of the yard that I remembered  :blush: )

After Tea and cake (thought I'd get it in first so I didn't forget!!), we started with Ella.

I'll break down the different 'supplings' or flexions that we did:

1.  Did the 'down' exercise again, but Jenny showed us how to move the horses nose slightly out to create a greater stretch through the back.  This was quite apparent as Ella could not reach down anywhere near as far as she could by just going straight down, although each time Jenny did it, she stretched a little further.  You can really see the whole back and neck stretching when you do this - quite amazing.

2.  We learnt how to flex the horse 'in balance' to the right (and then repeated this to the left).  The devil in this exercise is most definitely in the detail!  Jenny spent a long time showing us this one.  You essentially flex the horses head to the right with minute vibrations, but hold the left rein up the cheek piece to keep the head straight.  You then gently bring the head back to the centre by releasing the right rein and then ask the horse to relax the jaw. And it is important that the horse really does relax, i.e. does not chomp on the bit.

I suspect that you could write an entire chapter of a book on this one exercise.  The timing and the finesse required and knowing what to look for in the horse when you doing it is quite difficult.    I definitely had brain strain by this point!!  I am getting better with practice though!

3.  Next Jenny showed us a gentle side to side movements (which is what she says is the correct exercise to what you see a lot of Show Jumpers doing).  This was interesting as you could see the horses head lowering as this was done.  Jenny could do this standing over our horses with the reins outstretched, but she said we could achieve this just as well standing in front of them with the reins held out to the side (as we're a couple of short arses!!).

4.  Backing up - Jenny showed us gently asking the horse with the bit to back up the horse to encourage them to sit on their hocks.

5.  Turn on the forehand - I have found this the hardest to master!  Using the reins you ask for one cross step.  Ella has other ideas and just wants to whizz round!  Jenny got it perfectly but it's all a question of balance with the reins which is incredibly difficult (especially if you've got an arab-y type mare who thinks she knows better than you!).

I thought my brain was done in after the last lesson, but both Ella and I were completely exhausted after this one!  As the lessons progress, they seem to become more and more about fine tuning and finesse, but you also have such a huge amount to watch for that your brain quite literally hurts!  Jenny is such a patient teacher and so willing to impart her knowledge - it truly is proving to be quite a fascinating journey.   As there is no force involved in doing the flexions, you also need a great deal of patience to just stand there and ask until the horse decides 'OK'.  It's also quite difficult putting it all together, pinpointing the correct moments & being patient through the 'not so good' moments and remembering to reward with a 'down' each time.  Both our horses would stay with their heads down going googley eyed forever if they could!!   I must say though that it has been really helpful doing the lessons with someone else so that we can bounce off each other.  And Jenny is so passionate that I have already had a couple of calls and emails from her suggesting additional things for both horses - how many trainers give you that kind of support?  

Have more lessons booked.  Hoorah! can't wait - although I have an awful lot to practice in the meantime - Help   !!

Will try & update some more on my progress (or not as the case may be) - although if the extended trot across the field in the snow after a 'Baucher session' was anything to go by, we must be doing something right!

Em  

 

[sarahh]

what area does Jenny cover?

[franklin]

Where are you sarahh. I don't have an area as such, just when I get a plea for help I try to come to the rescue. I go to Sussex approx. every 8 weeks. South Yorkshire every other week, South Manchester most weeks, I am going to Shropshire this month, Staffordshire borders most weeks and Leek once a month. I said that I could only get to Emma's once a month but some how I have been conned and she has got me going there at least twice a month!!, and South Africa when ever I can afford it!!! .
I have a set amount for a lesson but due to the terrible cost of fuel etc I now have to charge for this, I try to group lessons together to keep the cost down as much as possible, and to give me time to work Sam and keep me sane!.  
Jenny

[Emma]

but some how I have been conned and she has got me going there at least twice a month!

How could you say such a thing Jenny!  

Besides, it's your fault for being so good  :P

Em x