# Since I've only ever asked for an English Crit...



## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

I forgot about this thread! Haha! Bumpitty bump bump


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I am happy to see you posting for a critique. you are so fun to watch. you ride well, and anything I have to say is to be taken in the context of my seeing how well you DO ride, and me not personally being able to ride that well. That being said, I do know what good riding looks like, and I CAN see some things that might improve your already lovely riding.

so, here goes . . . . 

you are obviously very comfortable in the saddle, and sensitive to your horse, and a good communicator with him/her. I love how you've developed Squiggy, and if you ever tire of her . . . . . let me know. she's gorgeous.
what I see is that you often have a tipped forward feel to your body. It isn't so much that you are leaning forward, but that you are looking down a bit, and more than that, your arms are way out in front, and even your wrists are in this sort of drooping downward , puppypaws position.

I know you want to be light on the rein, and a droop in the rein is important. but, with those arms way out front, and your wrists bent allowing your hands to 'fall', the whole body energy becomes less aligned. it is a 'weaker' stance, and promotes a falling forward feel to the horse. a horse that is naturally forward will take that feel and want to rush, such as squiggy does. a horse that is less forward, such as the first hosre, will feel perpetually (and perhaps irritatingly) 'pushed'.

you have the quality of seat to start looking at how the Spanish and Portuguese ride their working horses. they sit very upright, never extend the arm more forward than what would bring the elbow away from the body. and they keep the darn thumb on top! 
that position really is important, as it keeps your arm in a very powerful position, anchored to your core.

you need to really start linking it all up to a steady, strong, upright and confident core. the more you do that, the less you will need to do with your hands.

Lastly, I think that you are keeping your legs a bit braced off of Squiggy's sides. it might help her settle if you DID put more leg on her. I mean, allow your leg to drape onto her side, so she feels it and gets used to it. at first she might be more jumpy, but it might help get her less of a mind to 'flee' your leg . just a thought.


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

Cool!

I know my arms look WAY out of whack on the first bay horse, but not without reason! She's a little weird and likes to put her head down too far, as if she's sniffing the ground wanting to roll. That is why I've lifted my hands considerably on her, versus the other bay horse. She may be stretching here and there when she does it, but I think she does it because she's lazy in the arena, so I've got to pick her head up and give her more and more leg, and wave the tail of my rein around or smack her on the shoulder/butt with it, becuase she is THAT lazy in the arena. A big change from the ol' Squiggo! In this video, she's doing it really bad. I don't mind it, but I also want her to pick herself up and show some "oomph". 





She's gotten much better lately, and I've got her in a bosal now, and she's a lot softer and more forward in it. I believe I will keep her in the bosal for a while, and maybe make her a project to graduate into a 2-rein one day!

Squiggo has some issues with leg some times. She's a very reactive horse, and letting my leg hang around her is a long process. She is much better about it when I ride her english on and off, but haven't been able to ride her English in quite a while. She is VERY sensitive to leg. Like I so much as think about using my leg to turn and she's already going.... 

She is getting much better with age and the more I put looooong days of riding on her, the better she is. She's the type that needs a job, like every day. 

Thanks tiny!


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

that horse Penny almost looks like she's off on the left hind. it's hard to tell, but there's an oddness about her hind end gait, and the tails swishing and such.


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

tinyliny said:


> that horse Penny almost looks like she's off on the left hind. it's hard to tell, but there's an oddness about her hind end gait, and the tails swishing and such.


I think it's just an irregular step she takes on and off cause she's lazy and doesn't want to keep trotting. And the tail swishing was probably bugs/her being grumpy that I was using my leg so much, that arena is right beside a river to there was mosquito's galore!


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

You ride really well. Very skilled in the saddle for sure. To perfect that picture, get your shoulders back, relax your lower back a bit and get more loosey juicy in the hips. Your hands are too high, it's okay for correction but the best work you do, is almost level with your horn. When your horse puts her head down like that, it's an evasion, the same as going higher except she evades going lower. Give her a one, two alternating squeeze with the reins and bump bump on her side, then neutral again. When Squiggy is evading by going higher, you go looser and lower and give her some seat bone and weight in the stirrup pressure, she needs some freedom to make a mistake, let her, then correct her and leave her alone until she tries again, she is old enough now that you don't need to babysit her face that much.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I hope I'm not misreading you, @waresbear. I agree with your points , except that if a horse raises his head in an evasion, I never would tell someone to deal with that by lowering their hands, not in the sense that some people think that they will 'pull' the horse down. I think this lovely rider will benefit by unifying her hands with her core more, but dealing with a horse that raises its head to avoid the rein (which I do not think is what Squiggy is doing), by lowering your hand to resist that is , IMO , the exact wrong thing to do.

I thinik Squiggy is hollowing her back out a bit and bracing on the rein. the length of rein is about right, and once Squiggy lowered her head, the rider can lower their hand. I think that letting squiggy out, letting her canter a few times in the arena at a hand gallop, with a lose rein, and this rider relaxing a bit more to allow her to sit down more into the saddle and let her legs 'cuddle' Squiggy a bit , in a steadying way, is what will help her slow down, eventually.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

Never a pull Tiny, it's adjustment in hands, wherever they go, so you can squeeze and use legs, lowering hands is teaching a horse cruise control, advanced technique.


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

The Squiggo gets lots of time to stretch out and relax, letting her get it out of her system rarely has been effective. She's the kind that just needs her legs and her brain all slowed down together versus letting her go. I've used that tactic for other horses, but this one just doesn't work that way. She doesn't need help learning how to stretch out, we all know she's capable of that and so much more! Haha! I also really don't want her in the "go go fast" mindset when doing dry work in the arena. 

Transitions have been the trick with her, even stopping, backing and then standing still for a minute. I'll have to work on lowering my hands and bumping my legs to bring her back to the bit. What I've found to work is letting her lope with her wherever she wants to put it for a few rounds and she will usually start to think about putting it down herself. 

This was earlier last year, she had a foot problem in the Spring so I didn't start legging her up till pretty late, but I don't usually bug her for headset until I know she's fit enough to. She's been notorious for cross-firing if I get too up in her biznitch if she isn't fit enough for it. If I play my cards right when conditioning her, the headset will come.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

I would set up some ground poles into an L and make her back through, then side pass them, really keeps the mind going.


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

That's a good one!

I'm really game for everything that stimulates her mind but keeps her body slow. I need to do all I can if I want to use her to run barrels competitively but still be able to shut her down to use for other things. Not that she gets unreasonably hot, but I think prevention is key!

She's even at a point where I'm going to be running her in a plain old ring snaffle. It's more so I will stay out of her way better than it is for anything else, LOL. Here is the first time I let her breeze through on her own last year.... just a fat dogbone snaffle.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

Nice, but wow, look at the mountains in the background, woohoo Saskatchewan! Again, you & Squiggs, peas & carrots.


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## jgnmoose (May 27, 2015)

You ride well.

If I had to critique anything, your hands float up a bit high. Try to keep them at about the top of the swells or lower when not actually giving a cue. On a horse well trained in a curb hands coming up is basically setting the parking break. 

All I have, overall you look good keep it up.


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

waresbear said:


> Nice, but wow, look at the mountains in the background, woohoo Saskatchewan! Again, you & Squiggs, peas & carrots.


It's just a bunch of coulees and river hills, I lived in a very cool part of the province last summer for work. There is a cool sand road that weaves up and around those hills in the back, safe to say it was Squiggo's favorite place for a gallop. I boarded 2 horses on enough native grass for 10 horses for $2 a day! It was a pretty sweet deal! I would move back there for sure.


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

Some more new videos, no Squiggy vids cause I've just been conditioning her!


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