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| Lottie and Christine (yes I am a bit big on her!) |
In my last lesson with Christine the topic of relaxation arose once again. In a previous lesson, I had asked whether more activity would help Lottie, the horse I was riding, to be more willing in taking the contact. This question came from my experience with my thoroughbred who would often fall behind the contact. The solution for him was to ask for more activity - a bigger trot. This helped him to stretch forward into the contact and stop overflexing. I thought that perhaps this may be the answer for Lottie, who would often go above the contact and invert. So, in this particular lesson Christine set up an exercise that would test my theory…..boy was I wrong! The more activity I asked for the more inverted and tense Lottie became. It was interesting to try to work out why this was Lottie’s reaction. The EdL training scale can help us to understand that there needs to an equal relationship between "Implusion", "Relaxation" and "Balance", too much of one can lead to trouble! Taking a step back; Lottie is built slightly downhill with a flat croup common in Arabian horses, she is conformationally on the forehand. She tends toward pulling herself along with her shoulders and dragging all four of her toes, rather than engaging her thoracic sling and stepping under her belly. Then, when trotting if you add a rider on her back asking for more activity she becomes quite out of balance, this then creates worry in her mind, tension in her mouth, an inverted neck - a real loss of relaxation! If we can understand why there was a loss of relaxation, we can break down the training in a way that can support better balance and thus tension free riding. By riding Lottie in a way that encourages correct gymnastic movement, she will gain strength and muscle, helping to create better balance. For her the right amount of impulsion is important, enough to build strength but not enough to create chaos! Her on going mise-en-main (understanding of the meaning of the hand) will enable the rider to ask for positions which will enhance Lottie's balance and thus relaxation. For example the possibility of using the Action-Reaction rein aid as a tool to ask the horse to come back to the contact (see above Neck Extension picture with Lottie and Christine above as an example). From this strength and training should flow a more relaxed, active and connected trot. |
Ruby Kesztler - Team Member, Blinkbonnie Equestrian Centre
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