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Permalink Reply by Nora Robinson on July 1, 2009 at 3:18am

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Permalink Reply by Nora Robinson on July 1, 2009 at 3:30am

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Permalink Reply by Geoffrey Pannell on July 1, 2009 at 8:44am

Hi Nora, This photo tells the problems. It shows your leg well in front of where it should be when you are sitting , which shows a lack of balance, you are actually behind the movement . You will find that by moving your legs further back , so that you have a strait line from your ear through your shoulder through your hips through your ankle that is perpendicular to the ground. That will help to stop you balancing yourself through the reins. To help further, when you rise trot , as a tool to help your leg position, rest your hands on the withers so you lean forward a little. Now I'll probably catch a bit of flack for telling you to lean forward in rising trot, but it is most important to fix your leg position ,because that is were your balance is going to come from . I find that this is quite a common problem, not terribly hard to fix though if you practice and think about moving your legs back. It can also help to have some "eyes on the ground" to tell you to move them back. It doesn't have to be a coach, anyone that can see when your legs come forward. All horses are a bit stiffer on one side or another , this is quite normal, they will have a stronger side that they will pop you on to . As your balance improves so will the horses, and it will become less noticeable which is the stiffer side. So go back a couple of steps, don't think about riding the horse in a "frame" just get the leg position right. I know that you will find things improving if you do this. Keep it fun , Cheers Geoffrey

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Permalink Reply by Jan Jollymour on July 1, 2009 at 9:56am

Hi, Nora:

Geoff's given you some good advice. What you also need to know is that almost all novice riders struggle with this issue. The horse will put you on the diagonal he/she wants you on, and it will almost always be the right diagonal - in other words, going to the left you will usually be on the correct diagonal, and going to the right you'll usually be on the wrong one (although horses can and do reverse this trend). The issue has to do with straightness in the horse/rider and the one-sided strength/suppleness with which horses are born (just like us, they have a stronger and more dominant side). Your job as the rider is to work to straighten and strengthen and supple your horse, which makes him/her a more comfortable and "rideable" ride.

All of this takes TIME - if I sent you to the gym and told the trainer to make you ambidextrous, straight, and even bilaterally in a week, or a month, he or she would laugh at me. The same holds true for your horse, and the journey takes even more TIME when you yourself are learning as well. I agree with Geoffrey, you need to address to some degree first your balance and straightness and rhythm and regularity before worrying about a "frame". Your horse looks willing, reasonably balanced, and accepting of the bridle, all of which are part of the Training Scale, however, you need to be comfortable finding/knowing your diagonals and leads before you think about the frame.

One other tip - ride with gloves - always. At first they'll feel weird, but you will have better feel and lighter hands if you learn to use them. They are necessary for most competitions, so you might as well start now!

Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Nora Robinson on July 1, 2009 at 11:44am

Thanks Geoffrey and Jan......I really appreciate the great tips and information! I must say though, that I probably should post some more recent photos. The ones that I have included were from last year and with a different saddle than I have now. I now ride in a nice dressage saddle that puts me in a much better position and I have also been practicing keeping my legs a little further back than what is my normal inclination. I also try to rise out of the saddle before we start, to find the leg position that will keep my balanced.

I have been trying to be on the correct diagonal at least for a little bit, each time we ride. But it just seems to mess both of us up.....so I haven't been too successful yet! It doesn't seem to matter which direction we go in either....I always seem to rise on the wrong diagonal.
I will try some of your suggestions and also try to get some recent pictures and post them as well.
Thanks again!

Nora

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Permalink Reply by Fiona Hill on July 3, 2009 at 5:04am

Hi Nora
I'm not a horse trainer but I've been training with Chris Irwin - now here is a thing to blow your mind about diagonals:-

If you want to get your horse truly relaxed and 'in a nice outline' you need to ride the diagonal according to the bend in the horse's body and not the arena fence. It sounds really obvious but is often not taught, as instructors focus on straightening the horse to get it to bend the way the rider wants, rather than taking this approach which works with the bend the horse is giving you regardless of the direction of movement. So even if you are going clockwise round the arena (theoretically bending to the right), if the horse is looking out to the left, (thinks of a horse spooking away from the arena wall) the horse is in left bend and you should post up and down with the right shoulder. Sounds confusing but it isn't once you start to recognise the bend!

This requires you to align your bellybutton (or 'core') with the bend of the horse's neck (not the head, as they can pivot from the throat) and take that as being the 'correct' bend. So when the horse is bending to the left, you need to be sitting when the Right foreleg is forward and vice versa. If you sit when the left foreleg is under the horse, (shoulder back - weight on that leg) you will unbalance her and cause tension and resistance in the horse, which will potentially make it even harder for you to balance yourself.

The photos are as you quite rightly say, showing you on the wrong diagonal for the bend (sitting when the left foreleg is under the horse on a left bend) and you can tell that this is unbalancing your horse by the fact that she is braced in the neck and inverted, swishing her tail, particularly the final picture. I think this is perhaps something to try once you get your leg position a bit better, but it will certainly help your horse to feel more comfortable about the whole experience and believe me it works extremely quickly! Once the horse realises you are working with them, they just sigh and relax!

The challenge I have personally is to not look down when I'm rising to the trot - my instructor tells me off constantly for looking at the shoulder, so I empathise - but after a while you just get the 'feel' of it.

I am not sure if Chris has written about this in his blog, but it is worth having a look. I am sure he can explain it far more eloquently than me! Failing that, have a look at his website www.chrisirwin.com as it contains some articles written by Chris and I'm sure there is one on there about this.

Good luck with it!

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Permalink Reply by Nora Robinson on July 3, 2009 at 10:10am

Thanks Fiona.....how lucky you are to be training with Chris Irwin, he is one of my favorite trainers! I will check out his website and articles and thank you for your advice as well :)

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Permalink Reply by Fiona Hill on July 3, 2009 at 3:29pm

Yeah Chris is pretty amazing that's for sure! I feel very lucky to have been able to train with him so far- and the journey continues!

The article you are looking for is under 'News' then 'Articles by Chris' and it's entitled 'Giving up Control to Gain Control'.

Enjoy! :-)

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