Helmut Oberhauser clinic report

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Chisamba
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Helmut Oberhauser clinic report

Postby Chisamba » Tue Jul 31, 2018 11:34 am

I certainly did not have time to sit down and take notes, so i do not in any way have the confidence to give a first person type report on the clinic, but i think an overview of the process will perhaps be interesting,

on the first day of the clinic the overall focus was on takt, in this case takt, meaning time, the priority of riding being that you set the tempo. Horses that were lazy were asked to really move forward to accept the connection, and in particular Helmut focused on not losing the tempo in corners, on the short side, in changes of direction, etc, also the main bit of rider reaction to this was once the horse is in a good tempo to consciously turn your toes toward the horse so that the correct part of the legs was against the ribs to maintain the tempo, and to support the horse more with the legs in those moments the horse seeks to adjust tempo. changes of direction from, shallow serpentine, changing from circle to circle and changing through the circle, he priority in all being tempo, he had me ride more forward, and I realize that having eyes on the ground is so helpful because he got the hind legs working in a very good lenth of stride and the horses working with much more permeability. He also had riders go from rising to sitting trot and back, and not change tempo, which believe it or not, even with the upper level riders, rarely happened, without a prompt or two from the clinician.

Most impactful reminder from this day, DO not change the tempo in the transition just change the rhythm. Ie, if you are doing a working trot into the canter the canter has to have the same "speed" as the trot did, and if you then go back to the trot, the trot should maintain the same impulsion the canter had. ( my words)

if you do a walk canter transition, the canter should have the same takt as the walk, only the footfall changes, and if you go from a canter to walk, the walk should have the same takt as the canter only the footfall changes,

actually advice on aids most commonly heard, loosen the horse before the transition, and then ride the hind leg toward the nose.

He very much stressed geometry, " look at your line, its a red line in the sand, and there is no plan B."

in a moment of my feeling frustration because he asked me to fix a body position for the umpteenth time, he said " be proud you are riding" and that centered me to lift my chin, sit tall, and everything got better.

Still i think the first day was worst, physically demanding, really improved position and posture, and tempo and accuracy.

Second day we did some in hand work to start. He asked me to do what i do first, and then gave some advice which was very useful, then he took over and worked Kimba to use her hind legs forward without running through the half halt. In the riding part of the clinic on Kimba we worked somewhat on more technical details, transitions, volte, the focus being on riding the hind legs toward the nose, not losing tempo. The spiraling in on the circle and out again, some traver on the circle, then out to a medium trot on the circle.

The third day all the hard work came together, with the preliminary steps in place, her shoulder in were fluid and soft and a pleasure to ride, her half pass was the best i ever rode on her, her canter volte happened there was no loss of rhythm in the canter shoulder in, her walk canter changes were so much more clear and accurate and the piro were just as easy as knitting a scarf.

It was a wonderful experience despite the work and effort, i managed to ride with him seven times, and lost a bout two pounds a day, which is not a bad thing.

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Re: Helmut Oberhauser clinic report

Postby calvin » Tue Jul 31, 2018 1:35 pm

Thank you so much! This is a great, motivating and powerful post, Chisamba. A great weekend for you!

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Re: Helmut Oberhauser clinic report

Postby musical comedy » Tue Jul 31, 2018 1:46 pm

Thank you for the report. It sounds like you gained a lot of insight from the clinic and it was time and money well spent.
Chisamba wrote:he had me ride more forward
I don't know how forward you normally ride, but I will say that imo many people, specifically AA's, do not ride forward enough and that includes too slow of tempo as well. I've noticed that there are horses that manage to execute the movements, even more difficult ones, while not really being through to the bridle. I think it will catch up with them sooner or later. The horse should feel like he's 'taking you' in the contact, but not going through you. The good half halt can only occur when there is something coming through to the bit to half halt.

Chisamba, did he have anyone do any stretching? Was he a 'poll always highest point' kind of trainer?

With respect to his focus on geometry, that is not surprising coming from an SRS trainer.

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Re: Helmut Oberhauser clinic report

Postby Abby Kogler » Tue Jul 31, 2018 2:05 pm

Thank you for writing this great report!

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Re: Helmut Oberhauser clinic report

Postby Dresseur » Tue Jul 31, 2018 4:05 pm

Chisamba, it sounds like you had a really rewarding experience. I really enjoyed the notes and reminders in your recap.

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Chisamba
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Re: Helmut Oberhauser clinic report

Postby Chisamba » Tue Jul 31, 2018 4:30 pm

musical comedy wrote:Thank you for the report. It sounds like you gained a lot of insight from the clinic and it was time and money well spent.
Chisamba wrote:he had me ride more forward
I don't know how forward you normally ride, but I will say that imo many people, specifically AA's, do not ride forward enough and that includes too slow of tempo as well. I've noticed that there are horses that manage to execute the movements, even more difficult ones, while not really being through to the bridle. I think it will catch up with them sooner or later. The horse should feel like he's 'taking you' in the contact, but not going through you. The good half halt can only occur when there is something coming through to the bit to half halt.

Chisamba, did he have anyone do any stretching? Was he a 'poll always highest point' kind of trainer?

With respect to his focus on geometry, that is not surprising coming from an SRS trainer.

Lots of stretching fir the horses, in walk and trot, every horse every ride.

Re, poll highest point. No. Id say he was a whole horse kind.of clinician

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Re: Helmut Oberhauser clinic report

Postby Tsavo » Tue Jul 31, 2018 10:09 pm

Thanks for writing that. I would work with that guy.

Being from the SRS, did he talk about riding in position?

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Re: Helmut Oberhauser clinic report

Postby piedmontfields » Tue Jul 31, 2018 11:52 pm

Great notes! Thank you.

I love this comment: "be proud you are riding" So so true.

How wonderful that you got to feel such changes in Kimba.

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Re: Helmut Oberhauser clinic report

Postby Kirby's Keeper » Wed Aug 01, 2018 6:55 pm

Chisamba, how were you to "loosen the horse" before your transitions? Sounds like a very busy but fruitful 3 days.
Proud member of the Ilks Club ;)

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Re: Helmut Oberhauser clinic report

Postby khall » Wed Aug 01, 2018 8:01 pm

chisamba sounds like the clinic was very valuable to you with progressing with your horses. I'm happy for you. As for more forward, yeah I heard that a good bit in Spain along with mind your geometry!

I know how much effort it is to host a clinic, lots of work!! Yet very rewarding to. Will you try to host him again when you get to Tx?

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Re: Helmut Oberhauser clinic report

Postby Chisamba » Wed Aug 01, 2018 10:55 pm

Regarding loosen the horse, if the horse was pleasant, knit with your hands. A tip he heard from another trainer that seemed to inspire the riders. If the.horse was leaning, bend and straighten the wrist a little . In the canter transition he wanted the inside rein soft so the inside shoulder was free so he wanted a bit.of flexion to encourage the horse to weight the outside rein. It certainly helped with Titanium, who hates the.left lead.

Re position. He never used the word but he would tell us to.look in the mirror and on the more advanced horses to hide the inside hind leg behind the front, which would be my definition of in position.

He also differentiated between a three track shoulder in and a four track

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Re: Helmut Oberhauser clinic report

Postby demi » Thu Aug 02, 2018 9:03 pm

I appreciated your clinic report, Chisamba, thank you.

khall wrote: ... Will you try to host him again when you get to Tx?...


Inquiring Texas minds want to know the same thing!! I would definitely audit that one!

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Chisamba
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Re: Helmut Oberhauser clinic report

Postby Chisamba » Fri Aug 03, 2018 3:53 pm

He us going to Austin TX from Florida, so I.hope I can

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Flight
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Re: Helmut Oberhauser clinic report

Postby Flight » Tue Aug 07, 2018 10:32 am

Sounds like a very busy few days! Thanks for your report, lots of stuff to remind myself about too.


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