Different horse, different language
Apr. 26th, 2004 05:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
callistotoniThe following is copied from a post I sent to the West Kingdom Equestrian List. It is not edited to make it more in tune with my usual livejournal postings, 'cause I just don't feel like re-doing it. The context is that yesterday I went to Part 2 of my Confident Rider series of clinics. This part was in the arena. On to the post: (
Preface: As some of you know, I have been taking a lot of riding
lessons, but I've only been riding for nigh on to 2 years. All of my
lessons have been english-style, and since last June the emphasis has
been on (beginning) dressage. I freely admit that I have a long way
to go to become the rider I want to be, but I'm not clueless, and I
think I'm a pretty competant beginner/novice rider. Also, my only
experiance in a Western saddle has been 2x on Jerry's rentals and the
trail ride we took a month or so ago. And my riding has been with a
snaffle bit, so I'm used to riding with mouth contact.
That said, yesterday I had driven home to me that different horses
are trained differently and essentially speak different languages.
Yesterday I rode someone's private Western horse. The horse and I
spoke different languages, and had distinctly different ideas of what
was acceptable and what was not acceptable. This made for a
frustrating ride/experaince for the both of us.
Examples: In my little riding universe, the horse needs to pay
attention to the rider. The horse needs to look where the rider wants
them to look, which is essentially the direction the rider wants to
go. On a circle, the horse needs to be slightly flexed to the inside,
so that the rider can *just* see a bit of the horse's inside eyelid.
This horse thought is was OK to look wherever it wanted to. Also,
I've been taught that a 20m circle is exactly that, and, say, a 15m
potato shape is not acceptable. Well, this horse didn't appreciate it
when I tried to enforce the issue. Then I was told that western
horses are not expected to be so precise, going "pretty much in the
general direction" is what they expected (it certainly was what this
horse expected!)
I'm used to riding with a snaffle. I use my reins to enforce my seat
signals, often to keep the horse from falling through the outside
shoulder. This horse was used to a hackamore. The owner put her in a
snaffle, nad told me it would be OK if I just rode like I'm used to.
Bad call. This horse was very irritated from the minute the bit was
put in, and didn't like any contact at all. I wound up riding with as
little contact as I could manage, but I had nothing to enforce my
seat signals when the horse fell to the inside and outside of where I
thought we should be going.
We didn't speak the same language with regards to legs, either. I've
had drilled into me that the riders knees should point ahead, and
that one's inner thighs are should be rolled slightly forward. No
pressure, but legs hang like damp cloths. Now I freely admit that I'm
working on developing released legs and ankles, but what I thought
was "wet towel" leg contact was too much for this horse, who
interpreted this leg position as We Go Now, Right? I figured out that
if I opened my pelvis wide, thus getting my legs pretty much
completely off her side, with my knees pointing out to the side, that
then the horse knew to Just Walk.
This different interpretation of what legs were for also caused
problems with the direction/falling in or out at the shoulder-thing.
I'm used to "controling" (or trying to, in my case) the horse's
shoulder with my thigh, and the horse's hindquarters with my lower
leg. Thus one channels the horse like a river through a bank to go
where you the rider wants. Well, yesterday any leg contact, even the
outside upper thigh muscle, was interpreted as Go Faster.
So between the loss of my usual leg aids and the mouth contact, I was
at a loss. I felt like I had been stripped of all of my tools for
riding, and tried to be happy with what little success I had with
directing from my hip. I had been told--and believed intellectually--
that western horses are different than english, but I had not
realized just *how* different they could be! Oh, and to make matters
even more personally humbling, all of this happened at a walk!
Live and learn.
Preface: As some of you know, I have been taking a lot of riding
lessons, but I've only been riding for nigh on to 2 years. All of my
lessons have been english-style, and since last June the emphasis has
been on (beginning) dressage. I freely admit that I have a long way
to go to become the rider I want to be, but I'm not clueless, and I
think I'm a pretty competant beginner/novice rider. Also, my only
experiance in a Western saddle has been 2x on Jerry's rentals and the
trail ride we took a month or so ago. And my riding has been with a
snaffle bit, so I'm used to riding with mouth contact.
That said, yesterday I had driven home to me that different horses
are trained differently and essentially speak different languages.
Yesterday I rode someone's private Western horse. The horse and I
spoke different languages, and had distinctly different ideas of what
was acceptable and what was not acceptable. This made for a
frustrating ride/experaince for the both of us.
Examples: In my little riding universe, the horse needs to pay
attention to the rider. The horse needs to look where the rider wants
them to look, which is essentially the direction the rider wants to
go. On a circle, the horse needs to be slightly flexed to the inside,
so that the rider can *just* see a bit of the horse's inside eyelid.
This horse thought is was OK to look wherever it wanted to. Also,
I've been taught that a 20m circle is exactly that, and, say, a 15m
potato shape is not acceptable. Well, this horse didn't appreciate it
when I tried to enforce the issue. Then I was told that western
horses are not expected to be so precise, going "pretty much in the
general direction" is what they expected (it certainly was what this
horse expected!)
I'm used to riding with a snaffle. I use my reins to enforce my seat
signals, often to keep the horse from falling through the outside
shoulder. This horse was used to a hackamore. The owner put her in a
snaffle, nad told me it would be OK if I just rode like I'm used to.
Bad call. This horse was very irritated from the minute the bit was
put in, and didn't like any contact at all. I wound up riding with as
little contact as I could manage, but I had nothing to enforce my
seat signals when the horse fell to the inside and outside of where I
thought we should be going.
We didn't speak the same language with regards to legs, either. I've
had drilled into me that the riders knees should point ahead, and
that one's inner thighs are should be rolled slightly forward. No
pressure, but legs hang like damp cloths. Now I freely admit that I'm
working on developing released legs and ankles, but what I thought
was "wet towel" leg contact was too much for this horse, who
interpreted this leg position as We Go Now, Right? I figured out that
if I opened my pelvis wide, thus getting my legs pretty much
completely off her side, with my knees pointing out to the side, that
then the horse knew to Just Walk.
This different interpretation of what legs were for also caused
problems with the direction/falling in or out at the shoulder-thing.
I'm used to "controling" (or trying to, in my case) the horse's
shoulder with my thigh, and the horse's hindquarters with my lower
leg. Thus one channels the horse like a river through a bank to go
where you the rider wants. Well, yesterday any leg contact, even the
outside upper thigh muscle, was interpreted as Go Faster.
So between the loss of my usual leg aids and the mouth contact, I was
at a loss. I felt like I had been stripped of all of my tools for
riding, and tried to be happy with what little success I had with
directing from my hip. I had been told--and believed intellectually--
that western horses are different than english, but I had not
realized just *how* different they could be! Oh, and to make matters
even more personally humbling, all of this happened at a walk!
Live and learn.
