# I got some flatwork video :)



## ApuetsoT (Aug 22, 2014)

Let your hands move at the walk. You are so busy holding onto her she can't move her neck and that's going to make her even more tense. By letting thr normal motion of the walk take your hands, you should find her walk gets much bigger and softer. 

You are both stiff. When you change directions at the trot you can really see it. There is no shifting to the outside rein and she speeds up after because she now off balance. You need to be rebalancing every other stride as she's running in the trot. The forward is good, but it's not balanced. Over exaggerate your bend through the turn, unlock the neck and move the ribcage, you will have to half halt and rebalance first. 

How's your transitions within gaits? 

You're a nice quiet rider, and your horse has a nice forward step. Nice square halt.


----------



## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

Thank you very much for your input  

She felt lovely and soft to the right, then as soon as we went left it was like riding a plank. That's an ongoing thing with her, she has always been better on the right rein. Would you say your observations are consistent with that, or is my feel wonky from too many years only riding young horses? I need to get myself some lessons on a really nice dressage horse I think, what feels good to me has gotten some less than enthusiastic feedback :lol: 

She is VERY adjustable in canter. We can do a 3 stride line in 2 or 4 when jumping. In trot I can lengthen her easily but she has a tendency to lose her momentum when I ask her to shorten (even though I never touch her mouth). We are working on it. She's a bit over two years off the track but hasn't had consistent work up until early this year.


----------



## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

If I was standing teaching you my first correction would be "Shorten those reins!" 

My second would be, "Thumbs on top and carry your hands." 

Your hands are to low and knuckles to the top, this doesn't give you the lightness of feel. I would also have you remove the martingale for flat work. 

As said above, your hands are static, obviously you have been told to keep your hands still but this is not so, they should move with the horse. 

Think of your upper arm as being a strong piece of elastic that gives and takes all the time this will allow your horse to have a constant contact and be able to relax down more. 

All in all, you are doing well.


----------



## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

You ride very well, but you do hang onto the reins too stiffly, like me, my problem too! We have to practice letting our arms, wrists and elbows give to the movement of the face. I have to say, you and your horse look awesome!


----------



## DanteDressageNerd (Mar 12, 2015)

You need to have a more controlled post. You're landing too heavily onto her back and coming out of the saddle too quickly, you can create some suspension with a longer-slower stride by sitting a hair longer in the saddle. You want to slow her down so that she can have more swing over her hind end and balance, when she moves so quickly it throws her balance off. You want to land lighter in the saddle, like you're sitting on egg shells to encourage her to come over her back. 

She needs more bend in her rib cage through the turns and to connect to the outside rein for straightness, control and hind to front engagement which WILL improve your jumping. 

You're tight in the hip, it will help to hold your legs off of the saddle for a little bit each time you get on to help develop a more supple hip and to be deeper and lighter in the saddle. Another thing that will help you is figuring out how to move her around your body and to get her to follow your weight, seat, and position. Right now she needs to figure out how to bend around the rib cage, inside leg outside rein and you may need inside rein to teach her how to soften off the inside. In the beginning to help them get an idea, I'll do a turn on the forehand step into a leg yield and sometimes over bend the inside really move her off the rib cage, go on a 15-20m circle with the bend of a 10m circle. Then I graduate them to just using my inside leg or knee for bend into the outside rein for straightness in the shoulder and connection of the body. But they need to learn to follow the rider's position and bend first. 

You're a very capable rider, this is not to pick you apart but to give you a direction and things to think about to improve.


----------



## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

Thanks everyone  Your input is all highly valued.

I would just like to respectfully ask that comments on my choice of gear be kept to yourselves. I chose to put the martingale on her for a reason, it's not just there to be there.

As for everything else, from everyone else, thank you. I'll try to remember all of it when I'm riding today & going forward!


----------



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I wasn't sure how any comment I might make would be received, since it was made clear at the OP that you are a HUNTER rider, so anything from a dressage point of view might not be so well recieved, . . . so I held back.

But, what @*DanteDressageNerd* said makes sense. What I saw was something that made me think , "is she behind the motion? in the post?"

I doubted my own competence to say anything, but that's kind of what I was wondering. Better to hear things from more experienced critiquers.

well, and also, maybe raise your hand a wee bit?


----------



## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

Jumper, not hunter - big difference  

I quite often slow my posting/deliberately sit slightly behind her movement in the trot. She used to run off and I think it started with trying to keep her under control without hanging on her mouth... and it's now habit. I'll see if I can maybe get video riding a different horse & see if I do the same thing on other horses.


----------



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Yes, I shouldn't lump hunter and jumper together. 

If she doesn't slow by you slowing your posting, then I would use some rein until you DO get a change. if you are always holding your rythm back to slow her, then you are , in effect, riding the brakes. you would want to get her to respond, to actually slow, then ease off of 'holding' her with you seat.

That said, I think you're a very cute and capable rider, doing a great job with this mare. my remarks are totally being nitpicky.


----------



## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

I wanted to stay off her mouth because if you hang she'll lean into it and use it to gain more speed. Racehorse training at its finest! She won't hit a full gallop without a good bit of pressure on her mouth and you can't use your reins to pull her up from canter or gallop at all, she just ignores them... but if you use your seat and a loud exhale she stops on a dime  

I know there's a big difference between hanging off their mouth and using a rein aid. But I used to hang quite badly and it's taken me a lot of retraining of myself to break the "I want to go slower!"-use the reins connection. Now I just need to make the "I want to go slower!"-half halt connection


----------



## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

So I rode again today, only briefly because I **** near killed myself in the gym earlier :lol: 

I remembered what everyone said about flexion and so on, and really focused on loosening her up and encouraging her into the outside rein, especially on that left rein. She felt a lot better going left today! Definitely not 100% but with how much strength she lacks I feel like it'll be a long process. I focused on really setting her up correctly through our changes of rein and changing her flexion before changing direction, and I think it helped  

No video because the light was awful (overcast & gross) and my photographer was riding her own horse!


----------



## FlyWithBlueJay (Aug 3, 2018)

I know this is a REALLY late response, but I really wanted to say something. First of all, I love how quiet you are in the seat (looks very pretty and soft). It looks like you have a good foundation and lots of experience. However, it seems we have the same problem... pulling on the reins. I ride a young gelding (4 years) and he can be super forward. As a response, I clench and constantly pull. I imagine you do the same thing. I’m not trying to say you’re scared, you’re just trying to prepare for what your horse it going to do next. My solution is RELAX. If you loosen your reins and move your hands out of your lap, your horse won’t stiffen up because of that constant pressure. It will also help your horse put their head down and start to work over their back. If you expect something to happen, IT WILL HAPPEN because you’re thinking about it and not focusing on what’s ahead. This will make riding a better experience for both you and the horse. This tip has helped me and my pony so much. Again, I know this is late and I’m sorry.


----------

