# I feel like I'm not a good rider?



## lostastirrup (Jan 6, 2015)

know how you feel. Some pictures/video would be really helpful. On the canter stuff, positioning is everything. Try going into canter from a legyield or 2 steps of turn on the haunches (you dont want to spin and then bolt into canter) when the inside hind is reaching under. Remember to half-halt into a frame by creating energy in the haunches and catching it in your reins this will help you get an effective frame as you go into canter. Another trick that I've used with my witch...err...mare who just loves to gallop is do lots of transitions within trot- going from collected to medium to stretchy-chewy and back as well as transitioning from true bend to counter bend for a few steps each and get her thinking about taking more weight on her haunches and freeing up that front end to be flexible with- this will help you with getting into a frame- though be careful that it does not turn into seesawing on your reins, as always your leg and seat should be doing most everything. once your transitions into canter are neat the most important thing I've found that I need to remember is stay back in the saddle with legs back under me hugging (not giving aids) the horse as well as maintaining an elastic contact- as counter intuitive as this is do not throw your reins at your horse and straighten your arms- straightening your arms will only make your arms lose their ability to give. slip your reins if you must, but never compromise your position. speaking of position getting a good one with an equal seat will go along way toward you gaining the ability of riding out bucks bolts and rears. While you can't work on it as well without being on the lunge line, if your horse is marginally trustworthy or at least predictable you can do the same stretching exercises at walk and trot in your warm up. my favorites are frogkicks, leg swings, and rolling ankles. As for quieting your aids from your hands, one exercise that will show you how much you truly are relying on your hands and begin to correct it is taking a whip and hold it across your hands threading it under each of your thumbs, pick a spot for your stick to hover over- like the edge of your saddle pad or pommel and try to keep it there. Ride like that for a bit. you will notice how much your little fingers can do on the reins and how much direction you can get just from your legs and seat. I think that's all I got, hope it helps.


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## Cimarron (Oct 8, 2014)

Wow thanks for the advice! To engage his hind end I was told to do trot halt rein back then canter transitions and that helped. I try to bend his neck in between cantering to create a nicer trot, but I think he knows the pattern and that we will canter again and ends up bracing his neck. I've always done the cantering in a 20m ish circle tho I did a little bit more work in a straighter line which I preferred. 
I feel like I start pulling on his mouth a little with too much contact. Elastic contact comes from our shoulders right? 
I feel like I need a lot of more practice with the canter. Because when I do its only for a maximum of 15 strides. I guess my trainer wants to focus more on the transitions. She tells me to tap with the whip to 'remind him to engage his hindquarters', but (in general whip I use my whip) I move my hand to the right (if the whip is in my right hand) and tap. Then I feel like I pull on his mouth slightly. Maybe I should look to see where my whip naturally rests and see if I need to do that.


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## AnrewPL (Jun 3, 2012)

Whenever you learn something that takes a lot of effort, especially when it comes to combining mental activity with physical activity, like horse riding, you will go through phases of learning. Typically it can be broken down into: 

1) uptake, the stage where you actually learn the thing. This can be a good stage. You will be eager to learn, you will learn reasonably quickly and figure you have it all sorted out. This is mainly because you will learn at this stage the very board outline of whatever it is. Not so much detail but the big picture so to speak.

2) Refinement. In this stage you will start to pick up the details and finer points of what it is you are learning. It is in this stage that you will start to realise just how little you know and how much you still need to learn. 

3) Consolidation; here you will be trying to put into practice all that finesse and the finer points of the task. In this stage it is typical to go through some serious levels of frustration as you will probably feel like you are actually going backwards because your understanding of what you need to do is far ahead of your ability to do it. It sounds as though this may be the stage you are in with your riding. In your description above you are able to describe all the things you feel you can't do well and know you haven't gotten them sorted out yet; this suggests to me that you are probably in the consolidation stage. The good thing is that the next stage is...

4) Breakthrough, in which it will all come together and your ability to actually do the task will catch up with your understanding of if. 

It can be a frustrating process, particularly in the consolidation stage, but think about it positively, you may plateau off in your ability, but your knowledge will be going up. That's why its frustrating and you may feel like you are going nowhere, or even backwards. but remember, it actually means that you are, at some time in the not too distant future, about to make a breakthrough. 
If your trainer is good, trust her, she will help you, and soon you will make a breakthrough. And also remember that the process keeps repeating, it comes and goes.


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

You may need to pay for some more private lessons from the trainer.


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## Cimarron (Oct 8, 2014)

Thank you! That really helps with keeping me positive about all of this. Looking back on past things I've learned i can really see the circular process you've mentioned above.


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## lostastirrup (Jan 6, 2015)

> elastic contact comes from our shoulders right?
> I feel like I need a lot of more practice with the canter. Because when I do its only for a maximum of 15 strides. I guess my trainer wants to focus more on the transitions. She tells me to tap with the whip to 'remind him to engage his hindquarters', but (in general whip I use my whip) I move my hand to the right (if the whip is in my right hand) and tap. Then I feel like I pull on his mouth slightly. Maybe I should look to see where my whip naturally rests and see if I need to do that.


Note: The whip should not be constantly needed to get some more activity from the hind end, it should back up/ enforce the aids given with the leg. So if you are only tapping him with the whip on his butt when you want him to engage he is not learning to move forward into your hand from your leg. Remember your halfhalts come from your leg so he and you should both be paying very close attention to it. I think it would be good to spend more time in canter than 15 strides so you can get used to what it ought to feel like but listen to your instructor- they usually have very good reasons for what they do, but you could mention wanting to canter for longer to get a feel for your horse at that gait and propose maybe being on the lunge line. As for transitions being habitual- learn to be as the H/J and pick up canter on the correct lead anywhere anytime 'be predictably unpredictable' make your horse hang onto your every word (aid) if you are worried about him picking up the wrong lead don't set him up for failure but don't let him think wrong lead gets him out of work. Do your transitions when he is best bent- ie when you are coming out of loops or leg yields or serpentines, one trick for horses that pick up wrong leads is to rather than drop them down into trot rebalancing them and trying again (which works well- don't not do that but if you notice a trend of wrong leads when the horse is comparably balanced on both sides try this) instead have him maintain that wrong lead and bend him in the direction of his lead (while going the desired direction) this is will probably be as uncomfortable for him as it is for you. after three or four strides then drop him back down to trot and after one stride or a half a stride immediately cue for canter- he should pick up the correct lead if not lovely at least obediently and without overmuch bracing. Hopefully you will not need that technique but it worked great with me on a TB who was milking the 'poor unbalanced racehorse' for long past he was fit to do otherwise. 

Elasticity from the shoulders: do you mean yours or his?
his: A horse can only use his forehand well when he is using his hind end even more- active hind end = engagement = freedom of movement in the front where you can get that elastic contact from good position with your elbows bent and giving and your shoulders squared over your hips which are in turn squared over your heals- your two spines should meet perpendicular to one another. 
There may be resistance when you draw him up under you in a half halt- which is why you may be feeling like you are pulling on his mouth (steady contact and pulling on a mouth are different- your instructor will be able to tell you which you are doing but rule of thumb is if your hands are what is moving you are the one doing the pulling) But the moment you feel him tense and stiffen add more leg- he ought move out like you're squirting a tube of toothpaste. The process of you asking for bend (and getting on the bit in a neat frame) should begin with inside leg pressing toward your outside rein as you are asking him to stretch across the outside and bend to the inside. you can then add some massage on your inside rein to tease him into a little bend if he doesn't respond. Remember that for the most part your inside rein is just there to look pretty it is your outside that is holding that shoulder from popping out and your leg that is generating the bend. 
Hope I didn't tangent too much. Good luck!


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## Cimarron (Oct 8, 2014)

lostastirrup said:


> Note: The whip should not be constantly needed to get some more activity from the hind end, it should back up/ enforce the aids given with the leg.


I don't use the whip constantly, but when I want more hind end engagement, I use it (I don't have to use it all of the time) 



lostastirrup said:


> Do your transitions when he is best bent- ie when you are coming out of loops or leg yields or serpentines,


I did that in the last lesson after he picked up the wrong lead twice. It makes a lot of sense 


lostastirrup said:


> rule of thumb is if your hands are what is moving you are the one doing the pulling) But the moment you feel him tense and stiffen add more leg- he ought move out like you're squirting a tube of toothpaste.


That's a really good image. I will pay attention to my hands more to see if I'm pulling or if he's resisting. 


lostastirrup said:


> Remember that for the most part your inside rein is just there to look pretty it is your outside that is holding that shoulder from popping out and your leg that is generating the bend.


When I was doing leg yields, he wasn't going as straight as I wanted him to. I totally forgot that the outside rein keeps him straight. 

Everything you are saying is very helpful. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. I can't wait to try this when I ride on Friday.


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## Gossalyn (Sep 12, 2013)

sorry.. I just saw the "I feel like I'm not a good rider" subject and wanted to pop in to say "ME TOO... " lol. I feel like we all feel this way sometimes (cough: a lot of times) - but we are our own worst critics.. and honestly, to be a truly good rider takes a ridiculous amount of time and effort... so we shouldn't beat ourselves up about it too much. 

good luck in your quest to get better!  We will!


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