My first lesson went like this:
She had me do some exercises at the start of my lesson to get the two of us warmed up. We worked on turns on the forehands then were given the basics for turns on the haunches. It was a really interesting exercise that I have ended up playing around with a lot. She then put us on a 20 meter circle around her. She told and showed me EXACTLY where she thought my body should best be positioned then let me settle for a minute to make that position useable. This was really important for me. I was able to blend the formal dressage position with my body type, riding style and horse without constant nitpicking. Through the whole lesson I was only corrected for things like: dropping my shoulder, turning my thumbs and other equitation issues that directly affect how Jazz works. I know that classical dressage position is very important for correct riding but after a point if I'm worrying more about 'sucking my belly button in and keeping my back straight and sitting directly over my seatbones and....' then there is no way I can put my thoughts on Jazz like I should. My position seems to work for Jazz and I at the moment so I'm not making any major changes. Just tweaking so we work better together. Anyway, we walked on the circle and she told me to take contact, close my hands and STOP fidgiting with the reins. Never thought of it, but part of the reason I might have had problems in the past with getting him on the bit was I obsessivly fidgit with my reins. Always have done it. I don't keep a firm grip on the reins unless I am dealing with a problem horse. Flat and over fences work is always done with a loose hand and if I accidently give away too much rein then I just pick it back up. Its become such a habit that I have started unthinkingly re-collecting the reins even when I have not let any go. My trainer put it this way "If you take contact, then you are telling him where you want his nose to be. He needs to work towards that spot because you feed him and you're in charge. If you keep your reins steady, consistent and fair then he has something to work toward. If you keeps adjusting the contact then what he has to work toward keeps changing and he's eventually going to get frustrated and zone out." This makes sense to me. If I want him working from behind and filling the bridle then I need to be consistent as to where I want the bridle and in turn, his face. I'll write about my opinions on training fair in a bit. Back to the lesson. I took my contact and worked to hold it while she explained what she wanted next. She wanted me to bump his sides with one heel at a time while on the circle. Hard enough that he knows you mean go forward and that it gets annoying but not so hard that it hurts. This bumping combined with the contact had Jazz shuffel stepping with his nose in the air. My trainer said the goal in this was to make it uncomfortable to do the incorrect action (resist with his nose in the air pulling and strung out) and immediatly make the correct action (soft contact and pushing from behind) comfortable by softening my fingers and immediatly stopping the bumping. If he started pulling again, resume contact and bumb him till he softens again.
We went at this for 20 minutes with no headway before my trainer did the unimaginable. She asked to get on Jazz! I had always wanted a dressage trainer to get on him and feel what I feel. Just so they know what I'm dealing with. I never asked though because many were no longer riding and I thought the ones that were would never agree. My trainer got on Jazz and they immediatly had a spat. She was telling him what she wanted instead of asking like I was and he was not happy. They fought for about 10 minutes before Jazz finally gave and would go back on his circle. When he fights, he just runs backwards and acts stupid. Its nothing major. But he finally went back on his circle and she started working him. As she was going around, she would occasionally tell me what she was doing and way but for the most part she stayed quiet and worked him. After 20 minutes he went from resisting to suddenly softening. The softening and pushing from the backend only lasted for a second or two but it was there. In the next 5 minutes she got him to soften and hold that fame for 1/3 of the circle then 1/2 of it. Finally he went around a whole circle while correctly on the bit. Then she pulled him up and had me get up. She waled me through what she had done and adjusted her instructions to fit my horse. Maybe 15 minutes later he was softening and rocking back on his hindend for me! We quit on that and I had instructions to begin a couple rides a week with these exercises then take him on a trail ride for fun. I guess its working!
She had me do some exercises at the start of my lesson to get the two of us warmed up. We worked on turns on the forehands then were given the basics for turns on the haunches. It was a really interesting exercise that I have ended up playing around with a lot. She then put us on a 20 meter circle around her. She told and showed me EXACTLY where she thought my body should best be positioned then let me settle for a minute to make that position useable. This was really important for me. I was able to blend the formal dressage position with my body type, riding style and horse without constant nitpicking. Through the whole lesson I was only corrected for things like: dropping my shoulder, turning my thumbs and other equitation issues that directly affect how Jazz works. I know that classical dressage position is very important for correct riding but after a point if I'm worrying more about 'sucking my belly button in and keeping my back straight and sitting directly over my seatbones and....' then there is no way I can put my thoughts on Jazz like I should. My position seems to work for Jazz and I at the moment so I'm not making any major changes. Just tweaking so we work better together. Anyway, we walked on the circle and she told me to take contact, close my hands and STOP fidgiting with the reins. Never thought of it, but part of the reason I might have had problems in the past with getting him on the bit was I obsessivly fidgit with my reins. Always have done it. I don't keep a firm grip on the reins unless I am dealing with a problem horse. Flat and over fences work is always done with a loose hand and if I accidently give away too much rein then I just pick it back up. Its become such a habit that I have started unthinkingly re-collecting the reins even when I have not let any go. My trainer put it this way "If you take contact, then you are telling him where you want his nose to be. He needs to work towards that spot because you feed him and you're in charge. If you keep your reins steady, consistent and fair then he has something to work toward. If you keeps adjusting the contact then what he has to work toward keeps changing and he's eventually going to get frustrated and zone out." This makes sense to me. If I want him working from behind and filling the bridle then I need to be consistent as to where I want the bridle and in turn, his face. I'll write about my opinions on training fair in a bit. Back to the lesson. I took my contact and worked to hold it while she explained what she wanted next. She wanted me to bump his sides with one heel at a time while on the circle. Hard enough that he knows you mean go forward and that it gets annoying but not so hard that it hurts. This bumping combined with the contact had Jazz shuffel stepping with his nose in the air. My trainer said the goal in this was to make it uncomfortable to do the incorrect action (resist with his nose in the air pulling and strung out) and immediatly make the correct action (soft contact and pushing from behind) comfortable by softening my fingers and immediatly stopping the bumping. If he started pulling again, resume contact and bumb him till he softens again.
We went at this for 20 minutes with no headway before my trainer did the unimaginable. She asked to get on Jazz! I had always wanted a dressage trainer to get on him and feel what I feel. Just so they know what I'm dealing with. I never asked though because many were no longer riding and I thought the ones that were would never agree. My trainer got on Jazz and they immediatly had a spat. She was telling him what she wanted instead of asking like I was and he was not happy. They fought for about 10 minutes before Jazz finally gave and would go back on his circle. When he fights, he just runs backwards and acts stupid. Its nothing major. But he finally went back on his circle and she started working him. As she was going around, she would occasionally tell me what she was doing and way but for the most part she stayed quiet and worked him. After 20 minutes he went from resisting to suddenly softening. The softening and pushing from the backend only lasted for a second or two but it was there. In the next 5 minutes she got him to soften and hold that fame for 1/3 of the circle then 1/2 of it. Finally he went around a whole circle while correctly on the bit. Then she pulled him up and had me get up. She waled me through what she had done and adjusted her instructions to fit my horse. Maybe 15 minutes later he was softening and rocking back on his hindend for me! We quit on that and I had instructions to begin a couple rides a week with these exercises then take him on a trail ride for fun. I guess its working!
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