My Lesson at North Fork, Karen Sees the Difference Frictional Grip Makes in My Riding

  

 

Last weekend my husband and I went up to Maryland and I got my yearly lesson from Karen Fenwick at North Fork School of Equitation in Jefferson, Md.  I found this long trip (around 1,000 miles round trip) totally exhausting.  By the time I got to North Fork I had been traveling for three days and I was not in top shape physically because I was very tired.  But autumn has finally come, North Fork is in the foothills, and it was cool enough so I could wear my deerskin paneled FITS breeches. Yeah, more security in the saddle!

This year I got to ride a chestnut mare named Lady who looks like she has Quarter Horse blood.  Lady has been at North Fork for several months and has settled down after a few big explosions before she realized her life has improved.  When I arranged for my lesson I told Karen that I wanted to ride in a leather saddle so I could used my old-fashioned saddle soap on it for greater grip and I got to ride in an old Stubben.  Karen had one of the students come up to help me get mounted so I had an audience when I rubbed the Fiebing’s saddle soap directly from the tin on the saddle and stirrup leathers.  I told them how I had come to this point, the super slippery riding tights, the sticky spray that made my skin itch and break out, and my desperate search for ANYTHING that would increase my frictional grip leading me back to using the saddle soap that was around when I re-started riding 43 years ago.  I also told them about the great improvement in my riding since I learned how to increase my frictional grip, how all of the three horses I ride let me use the JP Dr. Bristol snaffle bit all summer (instead of telling me to go bitless) and how my regular riding teacher Debbie has stopped yelling at me about my lower leg.  I also apologized for my hot pink half-chaps, telling Karen that those were the only ones that fit me.  She said she didn’t care and she liked how they made it easier for her to see my lower legs.

So I mounted Lady and started my ride.  Like every horse I’ve mounted for the first time Lady was not too sure about my riding ability, and since my balance is not the best she opted to give me her slow walk for beginners.  I do not particularly like slow walks for beginners so I started alternating my legs to get her to stretch out some and activate her forward impulse, and gradually she started to give me a decent walk.  Karen yelled at me to STRAIGHTEN UP and things improved further.  Then came the trot, and at first Lady’s trot was super, super smooth, and when Karen told me to sit the trot I had no worries, Lady has one of the smoothest sitting trots I’ve ever ridden (I suspect she gave me a QH jog.)  After a bit more work on trotting and circles and turns at the walk and trot Lady’s movement improved and Lady started having some suspension at the trot which made it less smooth but a lot easier for me to post.  We worked on getting Lady to go over the ground poles at the trot in the center of the pole instead of off to the side, and Lady took some convincing that this was a requirement and not an option.  We ended up the lesson doing a complicated path at the trot with many turns going over all the ground poles in the arena.  Karen really liked how well Lady went, her trot had impulse and suspension, she turned without any resistances, and she trotted over the poles mostly in the center.  That made my really tired so I went back to walking some more before I got off.

Karen was very impressed with my position and how stable it was.  She did not yell at me once about the position of my lower legs.  She did get after me two times when my hands drifted up, but she told me it was more of a perfection thing because my hands are good enough so I did not irritate Lady when my hands drifted upwards.  She also told my that I was using the indirect rein of opposition a little more than she liked but again my hands were good enough that it did not irritate Lady at all.  Neither Karen nor Lady had any complaints about my contact, the stability of my lower leg, my aids or my seat in the saddle.  Karen agreed with me that I was riding much better than any of my previous lessons with her.

I told Karen my theory that the knit riding breeches combined with the big switch to glycerin saddle soap had defeated the spread of the Forward Seat in the last few decades, with riders losing their frictional grip, becoming insecure in the saddle and losing their courage to let the horse go FORWARD freely.  She said she had not had much of a problem at her school, but then the Forward Seat is the most secure seat around especially for beginners.  She was greatly impressed with my increased stability, and I think she was glad to finally see me make PROGRESS riding instead of repeating the same mistakes and position faults every year.

When I rode Mick for my lesson with Debbie on Wednesday she noted that my hands tend to wander upward when my back starts curving, and when I straighten up my hands go back down to their proper positions.  Mick’s sitting trot is still improving and he even allowed me to sit back a little for a few strides.  Unfortunately when we took the saddle off we saw where the blanket had a little wrinkle (scuffed his hair some), and I think I will have to switch back to using just the Corrector in its sleeve until I get some wool cloth to cover the Corrector.  I am thinking about sacrificing the wool saddle blanket I got for Mia, cutting it up so it follows the outline of the saddle plus Corrector and cutting slits in the blanket where the Corrector sleeve has slits so everything will work properly, and putting panels on the sides so the Corrector stays in place and I can use the shims if I have to.  I am pretty sure that Mick’s sitting trot will get worse when I go back to just using the Corrector but I don’t think it will affect Mia at all since she does not seem to like the wool blanket the way I have been using it.  All this artsy-crafty stuff is going to take me a while.  I suspect I will use a lot of duct tape.

When I wear my FITS deerskin paneled breeches and ride in a saddle cleaned with the old-fashioned saddle soap I have enough frictional grip so I can concentrate on riding properly instead of having to concentrate on just staying up on the horse.  Ladies and gentlemen, increase your frictional grip!  You may discover that you are a much more competent rider than you ever thought possible, just like I have.  Then increase the frictional grip of your saddle on your horse and your horse may start moving better too.  Frictional grip RULES!!!!

Have a great ride!

Jackie Cochran        

Views: 252

Comment

You need to be a member of Barnmice Equestrian Social Community to add comments!

Join Barnmice Equestrian Social Community

The Rider Marketplace

International Horse News

Click Here for Barnmice Horse News

© 2024   Created by Barnmice Admin.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service