Inte mycket aktivitet på ridbanan så här års när det snöar och regnar om vartannat. Men det underbara är ju att när det blir ett litet uppehåll så kan man ju passa på. Stor skillnad från tidigare år när ribanan blev en lerpöl mellan november-april.
Så träningen pågår även om det blir långt mellan gångerna.
Nytt för mig och Annie är att jag kör lite liberty (åttor runt tunnorna), har tillverkat ett läskigt hörn med hjälp av en bit presenning, och att vi nu skall sätta igång med projektet "sluta" (alltså haunches in). Det har jag ingen riktig bild på för det är just nu mest ett projekt i mitt huvud. Men jag har kollat med Davalee så hon tycker att det är en passande övning för oss. Och sluta är ju grunden man måste ha för att kunna göra galoppombyten i språnget, så om det skall hända under vår livstid så är det nog bäst vi börjar Annie och jag!
Nedan två träningsfilmer som jag ju lägger upp på youtube för att D skall få tillfälle att kommentera, nu när ridlektioner inte är riktigt görbara. Så efter varje video följer D's kritik. Fatta vilken lyx!!
Heja oss med slutan. Rapport kommer väl såsmåningom!
Baby lunge - I like what you are thinking with not allowing her to put tension on the line and moving her rib cage and hindquarters. She shows some quite nice bend a lot of the time! To improve -
1. There's nothing wrong with the cues you are using, she just needs to listen to the cue and believe you. Use your whip when she needs it. A lot of the time your whip is not even pointed toward her. It needs to be when she's not listening to your body language. It's a back up to your body, so use it as a back up. ;) Hit the ground with it, or (gasp) hit her with it! (I'm joking with you here because I know you like to be soft and nice, but there's times when you can give her a smack when needed. ;) ) At 5:19 she needed you to smack her with the whip, for instance.
2. Oscillate your intensity more. When she's not listening you need to jack up your intensity to the point where she takes you seriously. You can't back off until she shows a big response to your intensity. She can accept correction and reward equally but you have to oscillate enough for her to get the idea - it has to be extremely black and white. Also oscillate her speed from jog, to big, fast trot, and back to jog or walk. This will help her learn to read your intensity and body language and manage her emotions. I'm adding a link to a couple of YouTube videos that might help with some visualization of this oscillation and also whip usage. Let me know if you have questions around these videos.
Barrels - I really like that you're working on this at liberty! Good job!
1. Your body language needs to balance between draw the eye and send the hip with immediate adjustment to adding more of one or the other, as needed. It's just a matter of practice so you can feel what you need and add it as soon as possible. Sometimes the two cues (draw and send) are on at the same time, because you need both ends of Annie to work together. In the video you are doing way better at balancing the two cues at 7:26 and after. Your timing improves throughout the video which is awesome! From 9:12 - 9:15 and again at 9:31, this is good movement on your part. You are stepping into the hip, then stepping back to draw the eye. Good work!
Jump
1. Establish a strong, forward rhythm to your jog before moving to the jump.
2. Give her more space before the jump to get straight and establish more forward before having to go over it. It's hard for her to jump correctly on a bend, so give her time to get straight and balanced before the jump. If she's not straight and balanced, she can't rock back on her hind and push off to make it a real jump instead of a hop or walk. You can help her establish rhythm and straightness by walking with her more on a bigger circle and driving her stronger from behind.
Riding - there's a lot of really nice moments in your riding! Happy with it!
1. In the beginning on your one-handed, your hand looks really high. This gives away your control of her shoulders through the reins. The reins are too high to establish boundaries for her shoulders. A high hand is only controlling the animal's head and neck. So lower the hand to control her outside shoulder and she should stop drifting through the rein. If she continues to drift, bring your rein hand back to halt that motion so you can show her a new direction. Your hand looks better and her response is better at 14:07.
2.When riding one-handed, hook up your inside leg and your rein hand. So, add strong bumps with your inside leg and the same time as you add outside rein. Your leg pushes her rib cage and hip out and your rein brings the shoulders around. Exactly the same as you do on the ground but we're using leg and rein instead of whip and lead.
3. I like it when you use focus points such as the barrels. Focus points help you have expectations of response. Nice bend around the last barrel you did!
4. Nice transition up at 16:14
5. I like your tempo and straightness at 18:50! Your transitions are really coming along!
6. Pretty frame at 19:45!
7. Looks like she is handling the scary corner well. Great idea to do that!
8. I would work on one-handed at end of ride, when she is tuned in, relaxed and thinking.
9. What I could see of your loping looks soft, relaxed and nice! She was really listening to your seat at 24:51!
10. Work on your turn on forehand in the saddle and get it more solid. This is a nice pairing of training with your ground work focus on her hip and rib cage. Use them in conjunction to make both better.
11. Watch your leaning and collapsing through the rib cage when going to the right. (I know you know this, just a reminder! :))
Baby lunging
Good improvement! I know it probably feels yucky at times, but that's ok. I want to see her be more sensitive to your "asks" and pay attention to you. That means some things are going to fall apart for awhile and that's ok. We'll put it all back together again later.
Remember to tug, tug on your lead rope - never just a steady pull. The tug, tug is a strong down and back to your pocket with a quick release between each tug so she can't lean on the rope. Use your whip and lead rope in conjunction with each other - so if you are tug, tugging, then you are also pointing your whip at her rib cage. The whip can be at her rib cage more than her hip unless you're having forward problems.
You can also try it in the bridle if you feel she is having a hard time getting past leaning on the halter.
She is listening at 7:58. She's not super happy about it because it's out of her comfort zone and change is hard for her. But she's listening and we are glad about that! It looks pretty nice after that and she keeps one ear on you. That's great! That's what we want. This is a good start. And I like your reward times!
Barrels
I love that you are working through this on the line and at liberty. You're liberty work is going to make a big difference. Every time she leaves and you get her back it's a win! I see she is trying harder and that's the big thing. I know she's concerned at times but that's part of the process. We'll put it all back together once we've got her consistently trying hard and thinking that she better figure this out. We want her default to be to look to you.
I like the way you used the fence to turn her back and help control her direction. I really like that you rewarded her return to you every time.
The draw of her right eye is your "hole" in your training. You just have to keep working on that direction on the line and at liberty. All animals have a one-sided problem. It will get better with time and consistency.
Jump
Better! I think that's the first time I've seen her keep her jog! Yay!
Riding
I like how you two are managing the scary corner in the wind. Good work!
Tell me about what happened at 25:46? She looks rushy and hollow.
27:12 better TOF!
29:24 good training! I like your focus here. Good stuff!
Hips in
Yes, it's fine for you to start working on this. I'd start it at the walk and get it correct at the walk first, then add the jog.
Even when I'm first teaching it I have the aids on for it to be correct. If I get one step, I'm happy with that. The aids you outlined are correct.
If you want to teach the hip only at first, you can, but I would at least have some jaw flexion to the inside or she's going to think that carrying her head and shoulder to the outside is ok. That's a tendency they all have anyway and you don't want to encourage it. So keep her eye to the inside even when you're just beginning. Get 1% improvement, release, then try again.