DefinitelyDressage.com

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Oh yes... what he did was just unbelievable.

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True life story as to why people steal photos... After Paul and Andrea's break up, people obviously chose sides, because that's what people do. One particular person took one of Andrea's photos and put it into a rather large classical FB group without Andrea's knowledge or permission with a note tha...

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It’s not. She’s been retired for a while now.

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My thoughts are this, I feel like the lateral movements are the way to address asymmetry and imbalances in one hind vs another. That being said, I think that most amateurs aren't able to do the exercises on their own (without direct supervision of a pro) in order to really act as physical therapist ...

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We’re all cool

Chisamba, no offense taken!
It was a good discussion, just took some weird twists and turns!

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Can we not derail the training thread? I was excited that my horse and I are hopefully on the road to being fully functional, useful creatures again so I posted pics. We can always start a new thread on hand position. And yes, I felt that the tone was challenging statement, not really a question. I ...

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It’s the collection and energy- if the horse is flat in the changes because energy has been lost, then it’s almost impossible to get tempis, which is why the fix was to go forward to get the hind driving up. That’s different than expression, which are the big bounding changes desired in competition....

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I’ll also add as Chisamba astutely pointed out in an offline conversation, where you can get away with holding your hands depends a lot on how you address the hind end. Andrea can get away with a higher hand because she doesn’t lose the hind end. High hands without the proper amount of energy behind...

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I agree with that, and you’d see that the draft cross or friesian crosses A rides (like Aria) have a lower hand than the Iberian breeds which is what she mostly has. And then usually as they go up the levels, the hand comes down. (btw, this horse is built fairly downhill). 33625605-E19C-4A66-95F5-01...

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2. Upward hh 6E67EE25-391B-4CA2-9D5C-DCD3396E0867.jpeg 2. Release of hh 5E712D27-A7A6-446B-B4D7-B1B190F17FBD.jpeg 3. Back to poll high, not leaning 23C7A64C-E29A-4ECB-9F63-EEB7E90F1C0D.jpeg MC, I just saw your question after I put this together. The assumption seems to be that because he’s being rid...

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Chisamba, I personally think you are doing an exemplary job with Kimba. It’s not easy at that level and there will always be imperfections, but you are well aware of what needs to happen and work toward it. Training is not without bad moments and I always wonder why we have to apologize for those ra...

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I don’t want to jinx it, it’s going to be a long road for both of us!! I can barely canter properly. So for right now, we’re not back together- Andrea is handling his rehab so that I don’t risk reinjury. (She’s the one riding in the pics).

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Awesome Flight!! You guys make a lovely team! For me, at the risk of jinxing things, Miro and I seem to be both back in work (very slowly and very carefully). I cantered for the first time since Feb and Miro trotted under saddle for the first time since his accident last October. I’m cautiously opti...

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Please don't regret sharing! Everyone sees something different depending on their experiences, and I personally think that it's good for people to see the realities of training and learning. It's not always easy or pretty. Keep slogging on, it'll come!

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My two cents on when it's time to have someone intervene (note I'm not passing judgement on anyone here, as one who wants to learn and do it myself, I get it). So, when the training problem you are confronted with has the potential to escalate to the point where someone can get hurt, or if it puts s...

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Yea, in that case the instructor should make it clear if they mean inside as in relation to the arena or bend of the horse. I'm always in relation to the bend of the horse, which in most instances, inside rein is the horse bent properly to the inside of the arena except in counter canter, and in hp ...

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Well, several months later, and Moose is starting to look like less of a moose! I expect that in another month, month and a half, he’ll be ready to sit on. When I say that it takes months to adjust side reins, I meant it, and it’s fun to see the gaits and the shape change over time! This is “finishe...

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I'm an inside/outside person. That being said. If I'm teaching and I realize that the person is pulling on the wrong rein or using the wrong leg - I switch to right/left. And, I make sure that the person understands inside/outside in relation to the ring. But different people respond more quickly to...

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Oh Xan, I'm so, so sorry. I hope that with rest, you can see him through this injury.

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IMO that's a good recipe for haunches leading in the new direction. That being said, I do bring the haunches up to straighten, but never past the shoulders in travers position. And if you're going from renver to SI on the same bend - you're actually kicking the hind out as opposed to it driving over...

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I'm going to echo what Chisamba wrote. I was taught to arrive straight and a touch early on centerline (or quarterline or where ever) Ask for shoulder in, point the ears to the letter and go. Andrea had me school it from quarterline to the wall and back again first so that I could more easily contro...

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Flight, that change is technically clean, so I would say yes, definitely a step in the right direction. The canter was much, much better quality, but you are going to have to work to keep that leap bottled up so that he keeps those hinds quick and short in that direction lol.

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That is very cool! Now we need pics of your 'stang!

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Piedmont, imo what she's getting at is switch the rhythm of the pelvis from canter to the trot. That will "quicken" the pelvis and let the horse know that you're expecting a gait change. Young horses will often follow these rhythm changes before they truly understand what you want them to ...

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Awesome updates from so many people! For those still in the soup, hang in there! Flight, I echo what Chisamba said. And, especially on that L-R, he seems to get a bit slower and a bit more out behind/takes bigger steps behind. But, at least in the sequence that you showed... he did a lovely change, ...

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Thanks all. I feel like there's a way forward, and the new PT guy told me that he was not going to waste my time. He said that if I don't see improvement in short order, that he will facilitate getting me into the Vincera Institute - they specialize in hip/core injuries for athletes. He feels that w...

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Okie dokie... I've told a few people this, but this is a "me" update, not horse. (Horses are all doing well.) I got the MRI done and a hip specialist looked everything over. So, the good news - adductor muscles seem to be in order - all is healing/healed there. So, why so much pain? I have...

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I’m on board with what Chisamba wrote re connection. That’s how I would describe it. I’m not privy to the side rein war, other than that I know some people don’t like them. I firmly maintain, that when used correctly, they absolutely have a place in the classical system in terms of preparing a horse...

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Demi and Amity, I'd encourage you to leave progress updates here too. I don't think you have to have concrete goals to participate in this thread. Progress is progress, even if it sometimes goes sideways, backwards and the long way around before it goes forward. And working on what needs to be worke...

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I think he'll grow into himself and be just fine - but for now, it's great to laugh about. Poor buddy.

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Rye, he's photogenic when moving... I'll give him that. But, when he's standing still he is a horrendous collection of parts with a huge roman nose and a head that he definitely needs to grow into lol.

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So, it's good to be working with a horse again instead of just brushing my horse's hair and telling him how beautiful he looks lol! Moose settled in very well. On Friday, I tacked him up and we did 3-4 laps of the round pen in each direction just to see how he'd handle everything. He's sensitive but...

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Well, I'm back-ish... not really lol. I'm still broken, have an MRI scheduled for later today to see exactly what damage was done to my groin way back in Feb. But, Andrea and I did a switcheroo yesterday. She has too many training horses, not enough time for her horses, and I can't ride... so, yeste...

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I would classify trainer B as "riding through you". I have mixed feelings on this. Sometimes it's incredibly helpful, but at some point I feel it becomes a crutch. For the students that I've continued to work with, I tend to take this approach at first, and then I start asking questions, &...

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Re the lateral movements on a circle, SI on the circle is very hard to do correctly for most horse/rider combos (not saying it's not useful - but most combos end up making a pseudo-leg yield or overbend the neck) - I find that I get more bang for my buck keeping it on straight lines against the wall...

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So, when I'm riding (still down and out due to non-riding related groin injury :( ) I use (and was taught to use) lateral work every "working" ride. I liken it to strength and dexterity building since you can isolate which hind leg is loaded - so on the road to GP, each horse does whatever...

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Abby, I’m so sorry. And yes, Flight, do tell!!!

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For some reason, she keeps getting hired in our area. I find her behavior to be consistently miserable with not very constructive feedback that shows a fair amount of bias. She definitely has a "type".

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Oh yes. Cindy Canace - she's lovely at shows. (I am DRIPPING with sarcasm here.) If I had seen your post earlier, I would have told you to avoid her at all costs. She's absolutely miserable. My latest experience with her was at the show we just went to - she was having a fit that the show had schedu...

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We don't. The suspensory is not really an issue. It didn't make a huge difference when we blocked things, the primary injury is to the hip. The only thing left to do is a bone scan. We did trans rectal u/s, palpation, tried to xray it etc... but we all agree (including the vets) that to do the bone ...

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I've struggled with writing this update, because with each telling, I get a little sadder, and a little angrier about the heartbreak that horses bring. Miro went through two rounds of shock wave, and after a total of 5-going on 6 months of stall rest, 2 treatments, lots of diagnostics, lots of alter...

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I don't know. I think horses are smart... and the type of work required to try to stay with another horse or get oneself worked up in a lather over bugs or being herd bound is different than when we ask them to do something difficult physically taxing. I've known plenty of horses that create games o...

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I think that the horses that are anxious to please their riders are actually the toughest because if you reprimand for anticipation, it actually decreases their confidence because they think that they are doing exactly what you are asking for. Those are the horses that you have to kind of not react ...

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I think that this is a good topic! I agree... when people say that the horse has your number, it's one of two things...either they are blaming the horse or they are saying the rider isn't good enough to handle the issue. Like you said, horses have different personalities - some are anxious and insec...

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Blob, I agree. I think that horses should be rewarded if they are spectacular movers. But a spectacular mover with tons of errors in their tests should not beat a steady, error free test. I hate the "halo" points. And that's also part of why I find it such a spectacularly bad idea to raise...

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So, a lot of it is the way in which they did it. They forced it through as an extraordinary rule change and didn’t let members know it was even a consideration. The other part that I find so egregious is that they are not raising the score qualifications to get your medals- you need 60% (at any test...

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From my FB post... If you are a member of USEF/USDF, they are preparing to roll back the extraordinary rule change that was passed last year to raise the qualifying score of Musical Freestyles to 63%. However, this resolution won’t pass without the competing memberships’ input. If you compete, if yo...

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Thanks Rye. She's come a long way and under difficult circumstances. We haven't had a lot of time to really focus on her because we were so focused on keeping everyone safe. And, I'll say that I do tend to stamp mini-me's as riders lol, but I learned that from Andrea - who also stamps her dedicated ...

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Ok.. I have one happy update to give on one of the gray horses in my life! My student and I were able to coordinate a maiden voyage for Charm in her new trailer. We brought him over to my barn - which is 15 mins away for a very low key work. His story has been a long, slow burn. Basically, he had so...

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In general I agree with the chart. I personally wouldn't put contact, straightness and rhythm on this chart as I think that comes from proper development and gymnasticising the horse as opposed to a cue or aid that is taught. And for the hands/legs vs core... I go back to para athletes that have no ...

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