DefinitelyDressage.com

Dresseur

I think you are very lucky that you haven’t seen any horses that have needed shoes. I’ve seen many, but I also have a lot of experience with off track TBs. Miro has great feet, but unfortunately, his circumstances changed because of his ridiculousness in turnout. My choices were, put him in a group ...

Dresseur

Tanga, you’re not wrong about the music not quite suiting. :lol: :lol: This is actually Andrea’s I1 freestyle music for Maya that she let me borrow to get the scores out of the way. https://youtu.be/o5ukYW0INBo This freestyle has always scored very high for her in terms of the artistic marks, and th...

Dresseur

Flight, I'd be pretty damn happy with that attempt at the 1's. Tanga, thank you for sharing your vids! I hear you about the comments and what you hear/learn with scribing. https://youtu.be/7alE4_hlOpM I wanted to share M's 3rd level MFS. It's not perfect and we left some percentage points on the tab...

Dresseur

Miro has great feet, grows a decent amount with hard horn and good soles. We had to put shoes on because with his paddock antics in the stone dust, he was wearing his hinds down to nubs and we felt it was better to put shoes on than to contend with possible crushed heels. He rode well before, but I ...

Dresseur

Today we earned the final score, and our bronze bar with a 75.6%

He got creative in warm up, so I had to ride his butt of, and we did leave points on the floor, but I’m so happy with the boy!!! On to FEI!!!

: D9205231-92D6-4ED9-B422-BEAB23490E71.jpeg (152.44 KiB) Viewed 15239 times

Dresseur

And because I LOVE this coat...

: IMG_4178.jpg (173.65 KiB) Viewed 15326 times

: IMG_4159.jpg (165.38 KiB) Viewed 15326 times

Dresseur

Pictures! Well, some lol

: IMG_4277.jpg (135.38 KiB) Viewed 15326 times

Is that an actual smile in the show ring??

: IMG_4274.jpg (108.69 KiB) Viewed 15326 times

: IMG_4266.PNG (225.58 KiB) Viewed 15326 times

Dresseur

Just like that, we have our 2nd level MFS scores... He won the first class with a whopping 73% last Saturday, and then yesterday, we trailered to a small show where due to my crazy work schedule and sleep deprived brain, I managed to get lost in my choreo and missed a movement. Very costly error -bu...

Dresseur

Flight as I'm having to back through and address crookedness that I'm causing in the changes with Miro, Andrea has be doing a figure 8 so that I can see straightness in the mirrors, as well as in quarterline into the mirrors. I had some great straight changes that felt fantastic - so now I have to t...

Dresseur

Well, I'm back to my crookedness in the changes habit, which is making me doing any sort of tempi's on Miro impossible lol. I get multiple changes, but I have no control. So, I'm back do doing changes on a figure 8 and on the quarterline so that I can check my straightness. I've been down this road ...

Dresseur

Everyone looks great! Straightforward, here's to hoping Tesla is sound again soon without dipping too deep into the pockets. My goals at this point are fairly concrete. Get my bronze freestyle bar before the shows shut down again - I've entered 3 shows, I need 2 2nd level MFS scores and 1 3rd level ...

Dresseur

Blob, I hear you on the imposter syndrome. I still dry heave before tests, no matter what level. This last outing is the first time in the ring that I was able to actually think, despite the nerves. I think what helped me was going out and doing a lot of shows and a lot of tests - basically just pra...

Dresseur

Ok, I didn't want to jinx anything, so I kept my mouth shut... but, yesterday Miro and I made it to a show!!! We took him out at 3rd level, test 3 and did TOC 3:3 because I'm trying to qualify for MFS so that I can wrap up my bronze freestyle bar. He hasn't been to a show since he was 3 years old......

Dresseur

My 2cents for what it's worth, when I do stretching work, I do have my hands wider in stretching work than in regular work - maybe hip width, or slightly more unless I have to momentarily move a hand away or closer to the horse's neck for a correction. I incline slightly forward and I do drop my han...

Dresseur

Great updates everyone, keep 'em coming! I had a serious face/palm moment in my lesson yesterday. I've been struggling to get the same steadiness and up through the shoulders feeling that Andrea can produce in Miro. We've been getting close, but I still wasn't happy. The week before, she had me leg ...

Dresseur

Chisamba, I loved reading your descriptions - I agree whole heartedly with you. And I can see head/neck as being part of the "drivers". For instance, if the horse stiffens in the poll or jaw, that cascades back to the hind as well.

Dresseur

This is an awesome topic. I have a little bit of a stream of consciousness but also hopefully will address some of the comments/points. So one of the things that I've been taught is that there are 3 drivers in a horse - the shoulders, the back, and the hind end. You have to have control of all 3 dri...

Dresseur

The biggest mistake that I see people make is what Chisamba mentioned. When they get to the end of the half-pass, they let the shoulders lead and it kind of fizzles out and then they skate around the corner. To "finish" it, you need to make sure that the haunches and shoulders hit the rail...

Dresseur

Thanks Demi and Blob. And yes, when he locks in, it feels great, and there's no balancé or swinging. But, we're talking only a few steps at a time here. He's got a long way to go. What's really nice is how it affects the front - he actually picks his knees up. I forgot to mention in terms of trainin...

Dresseur

We finally was able to get some shots of Miro this weekend as he works through the development of the passage. This was introduced maybe a month ago, and we were worried that he’d get stuck behind since his tendency is to sit too much and then dwell. In other words, he’s rather terre-a-terre than ke...

Dresseur

Exvet, this perfectly illustrates that poor conformation is not a "death knell" on aspirations of higher level work. Do you need to get creative, do you need to work hard - yes of course. But you can teach a horse to carry itself better or even to the best of its ability. Temperament imo i...

Dresseur

Poor Rudy!! And I absolutely love Anna and Enzo, what kind looking souls. Flight... just. lol. What a dude. Miro is starting to give some true passage steps and he's really understanding the change mechanic. My hip still objects to extensions and anything that I have to put some outside leg back, bu...

Dresseur

Demi, I don't think the neck is tied in too badly, but yes, it is a bit on the low side, the nice thing is that you have a decent length of neck, so she would have an easier time coming onto the bit than a really thick, short neck. If I was longing Rocky, my guess is that i'd have the side reins qui...

Dresseur

I've found that not only is it how the neck is set on, but how they use their backs that really determines things. For the horses getting started, the side reins are adjusted to how the conformation is - so a horse that comes out low and needs to be lifted may start on the triple and then be moved u...

Dresseur

I'm def back to riding again - carefully still... and I'm trying not to get incredibly frustrated at the lack of strength and dexterity. I still feel slightly out of place in the saddle because I can't yet use my leg/core the way I could before. But, I'm riding! For Miro - the goals are simple, but ...

Dresseur

Agreed with the points other posters made. Typically, in very young horses, or horses that lack strength, you see a huge reach with the inside hind leg, but for dressage, what you ultimately want to develop is carrying power, that leads to collection. As the horse starts to carry more, the joints of...

Dresseur

Piedmont, I’m 5’8”, but don’t have a particularly long leg. Velvet is truly a pony, and supposedly full Andalusian, but we’re not sure about that :lol: Except, she is 14ish hh, and she’s 4 years old. This is her when I first started working with her in early Oct 2019. I introduced her to tack and lo...

Dresseur

Exvet, Junior has a really nice canter!
Meanwhile... Velvet is under saddle (w/t/c) and I got to ride her today

: 3AB8DED2-FFBD-48F4-BA15-D1E90B001EB5.jpeg (117.77 KiB) Viewed 22925 times

: 91A86955-88DB-422C-B35F-B4ABFDBBC168.jpeg (94.89 KiB) Viewed 22925 times

Dresseur

Demi, my suggestion is that when you feel Rocky get heavy, you can do a full downward transition, regroup and go back up again. On some horses, I may do 50-60 transitions until they start to realize that I'm not going to tolerate leaning and that they need to balance themselves. On the thigh pressur...

Dresseur

Demi, I really like Rocky's way of going in the second pic, that definitely seems to be your North star for posture. I agree with Straightforward that you are giving in the midsection. So, let's talk about your posture - you are actually a bit more aligned in the first pic - yes, your lower back is ...

Dresseur

For everyone on stay at home orders, hang in there. I've been working from home and for me, a big introvert, I'm coping well. Sometimes I wish I had my co-workers to bitch to, but on the other hand, being removed from the negativity is a good thing. Before stay at home orders were issued, I was stil...

Dresseur

Let us know what you find that works for your guy!

Dresseur

Exvet - I added some comments in your thread on the training forum. I did those before I watched the videos, now that I'm seeing the videos - I think that some of what I'm working with on Miro could help. The biggest things that I see is that there are small hiccups when you do the circles out of th...

Dresseur

Exvet, this may or may not apply to you, but maybe there's something that will spark something. I'm bored WFH, so this may be more of a ramble lol. So, Miro presents some unique challenges - he is flexible in his body, but in a way that allows him to escape true bending. He can just sort of collapse...

Dresseur

Blob kudos for all the hard work you've been doing with the trailer loading, I'm glad it's paying off! Aleuronx, that's awesome! The weather has definitely been kind to us! I'm also working from home which is alleviating some of the work issues that I wrote of earlier - I have things in the works fo...

Dresseur

Flight, super progress - and the changes got better through the line! This is going to jinx me, but I'll be entering a show with Miro at the beginning of April - we'll be doing 2:3 so that we can hopefully get a score to ride a MFS. We debated doing 3rd, but he's in the soup with changes, so we don'...

Dresseur

Rosie, those are some lovely changes!!! He looks like it comes very naturally to him

Dresseur

Piedmont, this bit of advice Putting the nose in the middle of the horse's chest is something that really got me thinking a few weeks ago and I've been playing with this. I have a real tendency to overbend, especially in the canter. Over the years, I've complained that when riding Gala, I would some...

Dresseur

I'm also really enjoying this round of thoughts and experiences. For everyone that is hurting (equine and human) hang in there, I'm thinking of you guys and sending good thoughts. I'm personally in a very weird place. Over the past year, I've been really struggling with off and on again depression a...

Dresseur

Chisamba, I find this fascinating, so please keep sharing. I think it's easy for people to focus on one thing at a time and forget the overall picture. Right now, necks and poll placement are the things to watch for with the anti-rollkur sentiment still running incredibly high. However, horses are i...

Dresseur

Flight, that looks pretty darn good all the way around!

Dresseur

Sandro Hit? I’m sorry, I can’t be of help here.

Dresseur

So, in training, yes, she is always trying to get them to draw the rein out a bit and open a bit more through the gullet. But, she gets submission and the right tempo first, then starts working on the length of neck, and openness. If the horse doesn’t respect and follow the hand, you will be sacrifi...

Dresseur

I wear something like this with the rounded end - longer so that I don't have to move my leg much, and rounded because I ride a lot of sensitive chestnuts and grays. I've never caused an issue in other spurs, but I like to be safe. https://www.smartpakequine.com/pt/herm-sprenger-ultra-fit-round-end-...

Dresseur

Tanga, you're right... I didn't even mention the trot extension - it doesn't gain any ground at all. I'll have to actually watch Werth's test. I just really can't stand the hollowness of her horses.

Dresseur

I agree blob. Although I like their P/P better than others- just needs to be a touch quicker behind and the piaffe could sit a bit more but the transitions were pretty nice. The balancé is an issue for sure. The canter tour is also problematic with the swinging changes. And piri’s kind of punch off ...

Dresseur

Ok, so finally watched Freestyle’s vid. Won’t even comment on Weth- just ugh). Imo, Freestyle is def more connected than the last time I saw her go. The passage has some really lovely moments until I almost gets driven too far under and then the piaffe transition is not good. I don’t care for the pi...

Dresseur

Imo the scores lower because the p/p is very problematic and there’s a lot of weight given to those scores. The passage rocks back and forth and the piaffe triangulates a great deal. There’s also a bit of balancé from what I can tell- at the very least, he’s getting a bit base wide. That right piri ...

Dresseur

Ok, so the setback was about 2 weeks of intense pain. I’m not totally out of the woods yet, but I was back in the saddle this week despite the flu. Good news, I got to ride my horse. Bad news, I feel like an absolute beginner on him. With all the training from Andrea, he turned into a Ferrari. The s...

Dresseur

From your description, I’m inferring that you may be too restrictive on the outside rein. Basically creating 2 short (contracted) sides to your horse. I’d try to be softer/more allowing on the outside rein in that direction and keep asking with the inside rein for her so follow that around. Do lots ...

Search found 867 matches