Helmut Oberhauser clinic report
Posted: 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.
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.