DefinitelyDressage.com

kande50

their genetics??? Are you saying religiosity is genetic otherwise the parents made the decision to live this life and the children have had it foisted upon them. none of it genetic What I'm saying is that there may be no such thing as free will, and the decisions people make are already predetermin...

kande50

I can judge the parents. If they want to be like that then fine but don't force your kids into the life. Maybe it was "forced" onto the parents by their parents, so you can't really blame them, either? Some adults are able to reject at least some of what they learned as children, and othe...

kande50

The parents are such tools of their religion that they limit their kids so much. Speaking of limiting, I know parents who refuse to let some of their kids go to better schools, or take advantage of their spouse's much better health insurance plans, because they don't want any of their kids to have ...

kande50

Do not pay several hundred dollars for professional advice from Dressage Training on Line or Dressage Clinic on Line. You can get free information right here on Definitely Dressage. Yes you can, because there are a lot of people on here who can see it even if they may not be able to train or demo i...

kande50

See the lesson in the video hafdressage posted is an exact example of what I do not like.. it is an exact example of using an unclear buzz word to disguise poor teaching. The instructor gave nothing. No I indication. of how to be supposedly quicker behind. The horse in my opinion needed a change of...

kande50

The question remains as to how older expert riders who do not work out manage to ride at a high level. I think their proprioception and timing and tact is honed to such a point that they can get by on a normal amount of core. you have all those skills, riding may reduce to a relatively easy isometr...

kande50

asking for a greater effort on the horse's part to keep those hind legs more under i.e. quicker off the ground so they can tuck the pelvis and engage/lift the sling. More under, yes. More thrust, yes (or at least the same amt of thrust but in a different direction). But quicker off the ground? I do...

kande50

I didn't say a high level horse. I said a well trained horse. Riding a well trained horse that actually collects is physically easy, which is why very old, out of shape riders can do it.

kande50

I absolutely agree that dressage is simple but not easy. Fundamentally all we're asking the horses to do are variations of go, turn, and stop; progressive training just provides nuance to each. The "not easy" part is that all of the rest of our lives have not prepared us to be riders. We'...

kande50

It's taken me AGES to understand that I get my horses rounder by allowing my hands 'up and forward'. I have to say to myself 'up and forward', 'up and forward'. I always want to drop my hands and pull them back. My instinct to do that is strong and I'll admit, I have to fight it hard! My instincts ...

kande50

Ok, here's another thought about it. Let's say we are in a lesson and our horse is doing a passagy trot or a lumbering canter. The instructor says to us "more energy" "more lively" "fill in your word of choice". What is the solution? Isn't it to activate the hind end? ...

kande50

To my understanding, it's not a term that's intended to encapsulate perfection-- just one positive aspect that, if overemphasized to the detriment of the whole, can be problematic. Now I'm wondering if "quick behind" or "quick off the ground" means that the horse turns his back ...

kande50

[quote="khall"]...for those who don't understand or feel that the terminology is problematic, then just ignore it. There are so many different ways to convey thoughts and ideas on riding/training not all will fit everyone. If I'm taking a lesson and my trainer tells me my horse needs to be...

kande50

Jeremy noted that "feeling" directed riders often focus on softness and suppling but never really get their horses moving powerfully in balan)ce. Maybe so, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's a cause and effect relationship (if one focuses on soft and supple they'll never get to p...

kande50

Posting trot w/o stirrups should not encourage clamping, it should be the opposite. I do remember that after taking hunt seat lessons for several years I was very annoyed to finally discover that posting was supposed to be "minimal" rather than exaggerated, and that I'd never been told th...

kande50

I've heard "quick behind" as shorthand for "quick off the ground with the hind end" as well. Horses who dump on the forehand and bounce their hinds higher are quick off the ground with their hinds too, so I'm not sure that phrase describes what may (possibly) be meant about quic...

kande50

when people say quick behind, i imagine those sewing machine horses that scurry. I really dislike the term. but since we are talking about it, would you say Totilas was "slow" behind? Would slow be the opposite of quick, or would slow be the opposite of fast--and sluggish the opposite of ...

kande50

I think it's like any other sport in that jargon just develops over time. There does however, seem to be a trend toward using the same terms that are used in the rule books, which IMO, is a very good thing because then at least the well defined terms can be used to try to clarify what is meant by th...

kande50

Moutaineer wrote: I know, in the abstract, I shouldn't care about what other people think, but of course I do!

What's ironic about it is that by the time we truly do get over caring what others think, we're too old and tired to want to go to shows, anymore.

kande50

I am trying to imagine two horses trotting side by side at exactly the same tempo. One is quic behind, the other is not. In the same amount of time, the “quick”horse will close up the angles in the hip, the stifle, the hock, and maybe even the pastern, and the non quick horse will only swing his le...

kande50

I think you're talking about changing velocity (rate of groundcover) Yes. That's what I meant by overall impression, which is what makes the choice of the word "quicker" so odd. I can't think of anything we want to be quicker in dressage. I'm not convinced that collection = hind end stays...

kande50

Actually, the extended trot is the one that should have a tendency to look a bit slower. And, you have to look at the legs and literally count out 1, 2, 1, 2 and you'll see that the tempo should be kept the same. The canter piri tends to look slower... but again, you have to look at the hind legs i...

kande50

What I was hoping for was that enough trainers would graduate from the program, or at least complete enough of it, so that there would be a trainer close enough to where I live who at least understood the concept of balance before movement. So I keep checking the usa teachers in training page, and t...

kande50

I think articulation is part of it - the horse that travels with open joints tends to drag their feet. Kande, yes, you load the hind, but you don't want the hind to get stuck and dwell in one spot for too long, because ideally, collection is kept at about the same tempo as your regular work. You do...

kande50

Seems like the last thing anyone would want is quick behind, because collection involves loading the hind more and for longer. So I'm not sure why anyone would describe it as quicker, and especially not as quicker behind?

kande50

It is very simple, but it is not easy. You need a totally ambidextrous body and four totally independent extremeties plus your seat and back. People who started the program have dropped out. From what I've gathered, the powers that be in the program have also pushed students out, as it seems to be ...

kande50

We need to get out more :) I think that's one of the major sinkholes into which so many resources disappear on the path leading to the upper levels. There's the cost of the horse, maintaining him, and all the lessons, but another major expense (time and money) is about getting out to enough shows s...

kande50

Moutaineer wrote:It depends how high the hands were in the first place...

That, and it depends on what the horse has been taught. It's the reason there's a learning curve when someone gets on a horse that they didn't train.

kande50

Kris, that is what I was saying. Yes I rode hunters and eventers up until circa 1994. And yes, hunters stress the riding w/o irons in the 'equitation division'. I did the working hunters and my trainers never required no stirrup riding. I could never post w/o irons from the time I started riding wh...

kande50

but when it's just the snaffle it's about associating a cue that tells the horse that he's come too high and hollow, and needs to come back down. What 'cue' would that be? I think that most of us here don't use 'cues'. I mean, there is a logicial reason why we do certain things with our reins, etc....

kande50

I can canter and sit the trot w/o irons just fine. I cannot post w/o them. I'm a broken record here, but it has to do with my conformation. I have a tilted pelvis, a long pelvis, lordosis, and a very long thigh to calf ratio. Could you post without stirrups when you were riding hunters? (I think yo...

kande50

Umm, kande I think you need to go back and read some ODGs and the action of the reins. You may get an approximation of "frame" with lowering the hands but it is not correct "frame". The action of the rein when the line is broken down like when the hands are lowered is on the bar...

kande50

She briefly mentions using posting w/o stirrups. There is no way I could ever do that. When I was jumping, one clinician had us drop our irons and go over poles and caveletti. I was dying. I never figured out how much of my problem was my conformation or just lack of understanding and technique. It...

kande50

Why is that bad be havior? It either is or isn't true. SvD seems to think it is true. Some seem to think that if anyone comments on the possibility that they might be doing something wrong, that makes the informer an ass. You'd think they'd be grateful, but ego protection comes first, and then poss...

kande50

Tsavo wrote:
NOBODY feels it works because it doesn't. People who lower their hands at that moment hate themselves for giving in to instinct rather than forcing themselves to ride correctly.

The reason it works is because shaping by successive approximations works, and because anything can be used as a cue.

kande50

e.g, that a light contact is a sign of correctness and something you should work toward. It’s true, but there are other things that are more important and striving for a light contact before those other things are in place will block your progress. I think that light contact is one factor that cont...

kande50

You know what, I don't think I ever had that fault of low hands. Perhaps I did a long time ago when first starting to ride. I think you're right that it is instinct for some, but it is also the fault of some trainers (especially those of novices) to be screaming about hands down and quiet your hand...

kande50

I see what you're saying now, and I think the reason that lowering the hands is so instinctive is that it works. Or at least it does if one has good timing, can ride with independent hands, and doesn't block the horse from responding by being harsh with their hands. I think the reason some may feel ...

kande50

Avoiding low hands isn't going to get anyone to GP, and certainly isn't going to get anyone to good dressage at any kind of an advanced level. What's difficult about getting to any kind of correct dressage at a more advanced level is coming up with the resources to get there. What's usually missing,...

kande50

It is so easy to show how counter-intuitive riding is. One hundred and ten people out of one hundred will lower their hands in response to a horse coming above the bit. The exact wrong thing to do. It is amazing someone so knowledgeable could have said that. But would they contine to lower their ha...

kande50

I wouldn't be comfortable having a vet who didn't like it if I got 2nd and 3rd opinions, because I'd feel like they were more concerned about their own ego than my horse's health.

kande50

She still seems happy to see me when I show up and I think that's important too. It may however, mean little as far as how she feels about her work, as I know a lot of horses whose owners work them very hard and over the years have damaged them severely, but their horses still seem happy to see the...

kande50

I scribe periodically and I do hear most judges giving lower scores for horses BTV, for stretchy circles where the nose goes down and in rather than out, for curled necks and tight backs...so they are out there. I wonder if the huge scores we see for curled necks and tight backs is way more about b...

kande50

Imperini wrote:She seems happier with this arrangement than she did when I previously tapped frequently.

So your vote is for infrequent whacks rather than more frequent tap, tap, taps?

kande50

kande - you are making an assumption that the horse is feeling blocked. Not a hard and fast one, but yes, I think the majority of horses who are not responsive to the cues to move energetically are either not clear on what the cues mean, or are feeling blocked in some way. There are a myriad of rea...

kande50

So perhaps if you experience something different, it opens you to new possibilities Perfect, except for the yelling, although as a student I was never phased when I got yelled at because I was very motivated to learn, and knew the yelling was to try to get through to me, for the horse's sake. I tho...

kande50

I don't care if I never show at this point although I would still like to try; just seeing and feeling the difference in George and the others is so gratifying. My hope is that more "Classical" trainers will show even if they don't get the big scores, because I think the only way that jud...

kande50

I think the best thing to do under these circumstances is to try to put yourself in your horse's shoes. If someone had the kind of control over you that you have over your horse, would you want them to give you one good whack whenever you were feeling blocked, or would you rather they tap, tap, tap ...

kande50

First you'd have to buy a horse with a tendency to that kind of movement, which is not a reasonable option for most of us because the horses we already have and our families need places to live. :-) And besides, I don't want to damage my horses to win prizes, so am perfectly happy to work toward mod...

kande50

people, including myself, focus entirely on the content of individual posts and ignore the organization of the posts. I am championing substance over form. Same here. I just go to new posts and go to the last posts on the threads I'm reading. Some of the computers I use get stuck on posts with pix,...

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