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Post by rebmar76 on Feb 2, 2010 12:49:09 GMT
Any tips? I had a really experienced ride schooling my horse last summer on and off and we had this off to a fine art but we seem to have lost it completely. Now we seem to have a walk to frenzied no idea what you are asking me for trot but surely I am giving the same aids??
Help anyone.
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Post by sageandonion on Feb 2, 2010 12:59:50 GMT
This is what I do and it works for my slightly less flexible new forest (the other boy just does it for fun). Spend quite some time doing the old flexi stuff and make sure nice and loose and rhymical in all three paces and in the right frame of mind (both of you) that day.
Leg yield down the centre line in walk reaching the track at the corner. Here pick up a good shaped 10m circle in an active walk (I would be using my dressage whip with a tap tap on the quarters as mine is a lazy bag and needs a little winding up) then ask for the canter in the corner. The purpose and intention is you should by then have an active hind leg and a good bend to set up the canter. Lots of nice enthusiastic voice is helpful.
If pony a bit sticky still, practice walk to canter on the lunge for a while.
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sarahp
Happy to help
Posts: 9,510
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Post by sarahp on Feb 2, 2010 16:54:54 GMT
Learning this worked wonders with my first ridden D who found canter difficult and would panic if asked from trot. The aids for trot and canter are different, most of us get away with a general "go faster" aid for trot but canter requires you to tell the pony which leg you want so are asymmetric. I often did a rider panic as I find it difficult to ride canter transitions anyway, and was made to do a similar exercise to S&O's above (did you teach me in a former life, we often seem to have the same things to say!), leg yield in walk as above, hit the track just as you start to turn the corner and canter, which requires rider to concentrate on changing the aids to ask for the canter and hopefully stops her panicking about it! And the most important thing was always "LIFT into canter"!
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Post by rebmar76 on Feb 2, 2010 19:27:48 GMT
that makes perfect sense I obviously havent been setting him up properly, i was getting really frustated with myself because we did it for fun in the summer and i couldnt understand what i am doing different now but thinking about what you have said i think i am throwing away the contact rather than sitting up and asking him to lift like you say. I will give it a try from leg yield. Its me not him he can do it he just hasnt got a clue what I am asking him for at the moment and getting himself wound up
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sarahp
Happy to help
Posts: 9,510
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Post by sarahp on Feb 4, 2010 11:35:55 GMT
We all forget how important it is to set them up right for something that is not second nature to one or both of horse and rider. Interestingly I was chatting to a friend who is a LOT more rungs up the dressage ladder then I ever got and her horse is doing a very similar sort of setting up exercise to teach her flying changes!
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Post by rubyshoes1 on Feb 5, 2010 18:50:27 GMT
My daughter did a teach-in with Katie Carter last summer, shw was riding her novice srt, Katie had everything doing walk to canter, ( even the littlies) I did'nt think there was a hope in hell of them doing it but by the end they were foot perfect. Heve not tried it this year but will give it a go over the weekend.
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Post by rebmar76 on Feb 5, 2010 22:27:19 GMT
Did KC have any tips or exercises?
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Post by sophieandcallum on Feb 6, 2010 17:26:06 GMT
Agree with S&O, My instructor had me do this to. I had been working on getting my boy more responsive so I touch his sides for an ACTIVE walk, then a slightly longer touch for an active trot and then touch one leg behind the girth and one on the girth and this is canter so is very clear. Go faster aids doesn't work if you want to do transitions like this If you are very clear with your aids and your horse understands there shouldn't be a problem aslong as you have an active walk to begin with and can feel his hindquarters swinging and his hind legs coming underneath him before asking for the canter
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Post by duster on Feb 6, 2010 18:22:40 GMT
For teaching or reminding horse or pony, I would suggest you leaving your legs ON until the horse/pony actually canters, then immediately take leg off. Voice is cheating but always v useful. Especially if you can just mutter under your breath!
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sarahp
Happy to help
Posts: 9,510
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Post by sarahp on Feb 7, 2010 8:04:59 GMT
I wouldn't consider the voice cheating - anything that helps them to learn what you want is fine with me! I know it is not allowed in a dressage test but if the judge is somewhere a bit soundproof muttering under the breathe can be missed. My first D would slow down to "shhhh" which is pretty undetectable - and was very useful!
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Post by sageandonion on Feb 7, 2010 9:14:48 GMT
I find the voice not just invaluable, but absolutely vital. My ponies are taught walk to canter on the lunge, obviously to the voice, it is simply another transition, you will then be able to progress to halt to canter, canter/halt and even reinback to canter.
Once the ponies understand the aids and the movement, you just drop the voice. Afterall we don't have to tell them to walk and trot with the voice yet they would have been taught this to the voice on the lunge in the early days.
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Post by hollycane on Feb 7, 2010 19:19:27 GMT
Most people chuck the front end away when asking for walk to canter as they are just applying go faster aids. Sit up and always ask on a bend or in a corner. Try and ask into a still but light hand with firm leg aids using a whip if neccessary to start with. Even if you get the wrong leg to start with, don't scold or the horse gets upset.
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Post by rebmar76 on Feb 7, 2010 23:25:33 GMT
This was a million times better today we did loads and loads of quick sharp direct transitions so he was really sat up and waiting for the next command with his hocks underneath him then we tried a few walk to canters and he just lobbed into canter very easily. I was really conscious of sitting up and lifting and not throwing away the contact and it worked! I hope this becomes second nature eventually it is a really bad habit that will take some undoing.
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