Put Your Best Hoof Forward

Yesterday saw us Pony Club lasses working on our canter leads, with somewhat interesting results. We weren't attempting anything as fancy as flying changes, but I think cantering is one of the gaits where you don't really have to pay attention. It's always beneficial to think about what the horse is doing, and whilst flatwork feels like it will be the death of me, there is seemingly no end to the bonuses of keeping the jumps disassembled.

We started of with a usual warm up just to get the horses listening, but then it was our turn. Our instructor decided that we should play Simon Says. If you did something that 'Simon' didn't say you could, then to the back of the ride you went. One of the things we ended up doing was sitting trot (my equitation went out the window at this point but hey, I stayed in the saddle!) with our left hands on our heads. It felt really weird to have a hand on top of my head. Somehow it made me so much more aware of the bounciness. I think normally your eyes just compensate, but with my hand there this function stopped. Needless to say, I was quite glad when I could both go back into rising trot and also take back the reins with both hands. The other particularly memorable part of the game was having to do around-the-world. Now, I haven't done that since 2008/2009 - when I was learning to ride. I remember it being a lot easier than it is. The bigger you are, the less room there is to manoeuvre in the saddle. Bails was oh so helpful as he decided to start walking when I was facing sideways. He wasn't the only one to do so, and if I was a spectator I would have found it more humorous than I did at the time. Still, I managed to complete the circle and was quite relieved to take the stirrups back.

After that, we got on with learning about canter leads. I knew going into the lesson that the inside front leg is the indicator that you're on the correct lead, but it was only this year or perhaps last year at earliest that I actually learnt this. Horses do tend to pick up the correct lead, and instructors are quick to point out if the transition didn't end with that result, especially if they know the horse in question has difficulty on a certain rein. I was quite happy to canter at the A end of the school, go along the long diagonal, going back to trot around X, and then pick up canter on the other lead because Bails is very sure of himself - he knows what he's doing, so I almost didn't really have to ask too much (except for the whole coming back to trot - then I really had to ask haha),  It also helps that Bails has big strides, so it's really easy to tell if he's on the correct lead.

As me and one of the other girls were familiar with checking the lead, we did a small circuit around the school where we crossed the FH diagonal and then the MK diagonal a couple of times, transitioning down to trot each time we crossed X. The remainder of the group simply went large on one rein and then the other simply to see the inside foreleg coming further forward in order to check the lead. In fairness, the ponies they were on didn't make it easy for them. One was quite small so his legs were flying very quickly, and one of the others kept slowing down so it wasn't as easy for the rider to determine whether she was on the correct leg.

Overall, it was a useful lesson. Sometimes relying on feeling isn't enough, so being able to visually check is a great way of making sure you and the horse are balanced. I definitely can think of a noble steed or two whose wrong diagonal/lead feels like it should be the correct one!

I hope you're all looking forward to the fast approaching summer holidays, and that all of you can find some time to get to the stables.

Until next time...

Lean Back!

My horse riding instructor imparted some words of wisdom to my group yesterday, and I felt like she was making a really good point so I wanted to share it with you all, especially if you're like me and have a dodgy canter position.

We were doing typical flatwork, but my instructor noticed that all of us in the group had a habit of leaning forwards in the canter. This wouldn't be so much of a problem in and of itself - once you know, it's not too hard to fix - but none of us were aware we were doing it. I could look at the others and see that they were leaning forward slightly, but when I was cantering I felt like I was sitting up straight. It was the same for the others as well. I don't have any recent videos of my riding, so I went back through some old ones and made a little gif to show what I mean. 

Although this clip is taken from a jumping video (this is part of/just after the get away), you can quite clearly see that I'm leaning forwards. I can't recall whether I thought I was sitting upright or not when this was taken, as the video this comes from is a couple of years old, but this is pretty much how we were riding in my group. Not brilliant, right?

My instructor decided to do an exercise with us where we had to lean back in the trot before we asked for the canter. When I say lean back, I mean actually going past straight (because in trot we actually look like we can ride!). The point of this was so that when we were in canter, we would still think we were leaning back, when in actual fact we were just sitting up straight. I have to say, it was a really weird sensation. I'm guilty of leaning forwards in my transition anyways, so having to lean back to go into the canter and then feeling as though I was really far back was so confusing.

It was quite effective though, because I now know how it should feel when I'm sitting up straight. The horse's neck seemed quite far away, but I suppose that's something I should get used to. It was quite fun because we all got to partake in it because we all had the same issue. After the canter work, we completed the riding section for the mini road rider badge, and part of that involved trotting. The canter work had me sitting back to much that when I went to have my turn of looking-over-my shoulder-to-name-the-picture-on-the-card I chose to stay in sitting trot. As I was going around by myself, I could keep the horse at a pace that felt comfortable, and as I was sitting deeply into the saddle I felt like I could do it all day. As someone that usually disliked sitting trot with the stirrups, this is saying something!

All in all, the lesson was great. Not only do I have a brilliant bit of advice for cantering in the correct position, which will be very useful for the dressage test next week (wish me luck, and keep tuned for the results of that), but I also earned my mini road rider badge, which is pictured to the right.

Until next time...