|
|
|
|
|
|
Every
rider has experienced the situation where they ask their horse for a
particular shape or movement and either nothing happens, or something
other than what they wanted happens. You apply the aids for a left lead canter
and the horse just keeps walking along as though nothing changed at all. Or you
apply those aids and the horse wrings its tail and moves off at a brisk trot
instead of the intended canter. What went wrong?
Without "being there"
and observing the interaction, the only thing we can say for sure
is that the communication between you and your
horse failed. Why it failed is a
more complicated issue that frustrates multitudes of riders daily. You are not
alone.
Communication can fail because of rider
error. It can fail because the horse is not sufficiently far along in its
training to understand the shape that the rider's aids suggest. It can fail
because the horse is physically unable to take the shape because of
conformation faults, old injuries, lingering soreness from yesterday's workout,
or equipment that restricts or interferes with the shape. It can fail because
the horse is mentally burned out. Or the communication can fail because the
horse simply has the kind of personality that says that day, "I don't want to,"
or "You can't make me" or "You didn't ask the right way so I'm going to ignore
that."
You need to examine your particular communication failure from
all of those different perspectives in order to figure out why things didn't go
according to your plan. The first thing to ask yourself is whether the horse
can understand your request. Where is he in his training? Is this
something he's just learned or a movement he's been doing for some
time?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Next, ask yourself a few questions about the horse's body condition.
Is this a new horse that might be happier with a different saddle or bit than
the ones you have chosen? Could the horse be a little sore from strenuous work
his last time out? Are you asking for a movement that might be difficult for
this horse given his current level of physical conditioning or his
conformation?
Think about the horse's mental condition. Having you been
drilling this or similar movements a great deal recently? Have you just
returned from a stressful show or other event? Or has he been confined for
several days without any opportunity to play a little before working?
Be
honest about your riding skills. Is the movement you asked for something that
is relatively new in your riding experience? Is this a movement that other
riders can get from this horse easily? Are you completely relaxed, balanced and
following the motion of the horse as you apply your aids? Are you applying the
correct aids in a coordinated way with the right timing and right degree of
pressure?
When you put the answers to all of these questions together,
what you need to do next will be much clearer. For example, if the horse is
green, he may just need more quiet repetitions of exactly the same aids applied
in the same rhythm with exactly the same timing and degree of pressure until
the light bulb goes off in his head that this particular set of pressures goes
away when he takes the right shape. Until that happens, the rider may be doing
everything correctly but the results of the communication will be
uneven.
Continued on the next page |
|