Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

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Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby piedmontfields » Wed Jul 10, 2019 2:55 pm

I'm slow sharing some of my learning from the Susanne von Dietz clinic in June. One point she made with a number of riders was to understand the action of the seat through a transition and how it relates to the different shapes a horse takes when walking, trotting, or canter.

I thought you might find these ideas interesting, or remind you of other insights you've learned along the way. I have played with all of them a little and they clearly work...even for me!

For ex., in a walk-trot transition, the seat narrows and moves forward (so that it is not behind the trot when it starts). She emphasized that the trot is a narrower gait than walk or canter. Think of how a horse going through a tight space will often prefer to trot in order to be as narrow as possible. But in trot-walk transition, the seat-legs must allow the horse to get wider, to accommodate the wider belly swing of the walk.

For canter transitions (from any gait), she emphasized finding the feeling of a quick exhale from the lower abdominals and remaining light and forward (towards the pommel) on the horse. She noted that many people tend to sitting a bit heavier for the canter transition and actually end up behind the motion of the canter because of this. This is a big pet peeve of hers---riding behind the motion instead of riding the next step.

For the canter-trot transition, she emphasized that the pelvis must quicken in order to establish the trot tempo. This makes sense, but I'm finding it really hard to do! I usually ask for a canter-trot transition by descending my outside sit bone. That works, but I can still end up being too slow in the seat and I feel a lag before we get into gear. I welcome thoughts and tips on quickening the pelvis for the trot!

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby musical comedy » Wed Jul 10, 2019 4:33 pm

Piedmont, would you put Suzanne and Mary Wanless in the same category insofar as their credentials and being help to assist someone improve their seat? I haven't never read the detailed background of either. I know that Suzanne is a physiotherapist. I'm trying to understand of that background in of itself helps riders. Maybe because she is a rider herself? What is her riding background, do you know?

All her discoveries and suggestions would (at least for me) require a lot of repetitions to make them automatic.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby piedmontfields » Wed Jul 10, 2019 5:53 pm

MC, it's a good question. They are both very good but also seem quite different. I'm not sure that Mary was/is a GP rider and trainer of GP horses (Susanne was/is). Someone correct me if I'm wrong. I know Mary has worked with GP riders like Heather Blitz.

I would generally describe Mary as helping riders who need more integrity and organization in their bodies (hence the "bearing down" use of lower abs, kneeling for sitting trot, short-enough stirrups to accomplish this, etc.).

Susanne is probably a better fit for more advanced riders who are fine tuning blockages in themselves and their horses. Most (?all) of the combinations I watched competed at FEI levels and were quite accomplished. They were able to try out the little exercises in quick succession. Some worked really well. Susanne sort of gives a menu of options for addressing first the rider, and then the horse. I feel like Susanne reminds skilled riders of how to be light, flowing, and playful on a forward-going horse. .

This is a early portion of a lesson for a GP/FEI rider-trainer ---see what you saw when she started and tell me if you think Susanne saw it too and went right to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz0JaOqI3hM

Probably their next lesson will be rather different (that was always the case in clinics I audited; often day 1 had more focus on the rider and day 2 had more focus on the horse). I will say that Susanne's teaching is much easier to grasp live or via video, rather than through only words. I had read her books a few times before I first saw her teach and had lots of lightbulbs moments watching her in person that did not happen from reading.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby musical comedy » Wed Jul 10, 2019 6:36 pm

piedmontfields wrote:This is a early portion of a lesson for a GP/FEI rider-trainer ---see what you saw when she started and tell me if you think Susanne saw it too and went right to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz0JaOqI3hM
We might not have noticed the same thing. I saw what Suzanne wanted at the walk, but it was the trot change that I related to. This is what I was trying to say on another thread about 'giving' forward, but not losing the connection. This rider was not purposing doing front to back riding, but she was also not allowing the mare to go to the bit and 'take' the bit forward. Suzzane addressed this and got it to work. I'm probably not explaining well. Very small change and notable difference. I need that kind of help, but I wouldn't do well in her clinic. I don't adjust to new things quickly enough.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby piedmontfields » Wed Jul 10, 2019 7:21 pm

Yes. This rider showed a "sophisticated" version of not allowing the mare to go forward, but it was quite vivid the change realized with the exercises.

I think you have to be quite skilled (able to make lot of quick adjustments and experiments) for her clinics. But there is a lot to learn from watching. I find I repeat the exercises she teaches at home and still get rewards (ex. my mare loves that posting trot with a different sit position for her warm-up). The hip dropping exercise at walk is also huge for me. I also like using dressage standing/jumping standing and dressage sitting/jumping sitting positions in warm-up.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby musical comedy » Thu Jul 11, 2019 10:23 am

piedmontfields wrote:The hip dropping exercise at walk is also huge for me. I also like using dressage standing/jumping standing and dressage sitting/jumping sitting positions in warm-up.
Wanna try to explain these two exercises? Talking about what we do is difficult for me. All know about the term 'stirrup stepping', but I use stirrup stepping in a different way. It's likely that this 'discovery' isn't unique, but it is to me. I mean, we each have difficult equitation problems to solve. When I solve one thing, it may be a problem nobody else ever dealt with, so they might think "what's the big deal with that" and then think "what a beginner this person is". For that reason, sometimes I hesitate to talk about riding problems. People always seem to get the wrong impression.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby Josette » Thu Jul 11, 2019 10:59 am

I watched the video link and also saw another link for an early session - 2014 maybe with a lower level rider. I agree watching and hearing is easier than trying to interpret when reading her books. I have to be careful with how I interpret terms or definitions like stirrup stepping. (I remember reading posts on that term.) Sometimes I feel I have been doing something for years and then someone adds a label and I get confused. The simpler the description - the better for me.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby piedmontfields » Thu Jul 11, 2019 12:54 pm

OK, I totally missed any reference to stirrup-stepping in the video. But I am pretty foggy in the mind due to illness right now!

This is just from my experimentation, but see if these comments are of any use:

From posting and landing in a slightly different place (around the hours of a clock face), I got that this can be a bit of a massage for the horse's back and a relaxation tool for the rider's back (Susanne is very big on healthy back protection). I also thought the point that the "power" sits were at 11 o'clock/1 o'clock and 5 o'clock/7 o'clock made sense.

From dropping the hip left in walk and then right, it REALLY opened up the front of my hips in a hurry. My left hip takes a lot more warm-up than my right (it has less range).

From dressage standing: She emphasize that your legs should not splay out from the horse like a triangle but rather come towards each other, into the horse. This is a super quick fix/check on an effective leg position for me. Also, you do need some core and balance to go around trotting and cantering in dressage standing. In the video I posted, the professional was not finding it easy to come fully upright in dressage standing (it is okay to get help by putting one hand behind the saddle). Similar with jumping standing, but I find that so much easier! My mare's reaction to this exercise, is "Thank you for freeing my back and when you put your legs on in the proper position I am ready when you are!".

I see these as rather simple, playful exercises where I can discover things in me and in my horse.

I think one of the reasons I admire some trainers so much is that they are open to self-evaluation and improvement with the guidance of another trainer. When they do this in front of their students/public, it is an even more powerful message that dressage is a long, interesting and subtle journey. Now the lessons I've seen JJ do with Susanne are rather different and very subtle---very much a collaboration of experts...but sometimes a comment as simple as "ride the next step as though it will be even more uphill" suddenly transforms a movement and helps a rider learn a new feeling.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby musical comedy » Thu Jul 11, 2019 2:14 pm

piedmontfields wrote:OK, I totally missed any reference to stirrup-stepping in the video. But I am pretty foggy in the mind due to illness right now!
LOL, that's because there wasn't any reference. I went off on a tanget and even left out important words in a sentence. I'm really getting old! When I read about hip dropping, I thought of stirrup stepping. Now I will carefully read the rest of what you wrote.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby musical comedy » Thu Jul 11, 2019 2:20 pm

[quote="piedmontfields"]
From posting and landing in a slightly different place (around the hours of a clock face), I got that this can be a bit of a massage for the horse's back and a relaxation tool for the rider's back (Susanne is very big on healthy back protection). I also thought the point that the "power" sits were at 11 o'clock/1 o'clock and 5 o'clock/7 o'clock made sense.
I have to think about this for a while

From dropping the hip left in walk and then right, it REALLY opened up the front of my hips in a hurry. My left hip takes a lot more warm-up than my right (it has less range). This is where I use the stirrup stepping. I alternate, sort of walking in my stirrups. I found that my right leg doesn't want to be in sync (no surprise). When I get both legs lengthened and feet properly in the stirrups (flat), and able to feel the horse's legs with my steps, then I'm am good to go. This is at the walk. At the trot, I try too, but it's harder.

From dressage standing: She emphasize that your legs should not splay out from the horse like a triangle but rather come towards each other, into the horse. This is a super quick fix/check on an effective leg position for me. Also, you do need some core and balance to go around trotting and cantering in dressage standing. In the video I posted, the professional was not finding it easy to come fully upright in dressage standing (it is okay to get help by putting one hand behind the saddle). Similar with jumping standing, but I find that so much easier! My mare's reaction to this exercise, is "Thank you for freeing my back and when you put your legs on in the proper position I am ready when you are!". I didn't watch the whole video. Is the standing in there? I could not stand in my stirrups the way I have them. They are too long. I won't go into a disseration about my funky conformation and why I can't do this or that.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby musical comedy » Thu Jul 11, 2019 2:40 pm

Ok Piedmont, I watched the part of the video with the standing at trot and going back and forth between jumping position etc. I can do that with short stirrups in my jumping saddle, but no way with my long stirrups in my dressage saddle. What was the point of that exercise? That was one I did way back in hunter/jumper lessons.

For me, I would get value out of her lessons, but only if I was on a school horse.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby piedmontfields » Thu Jul 11, 2019 6:00 pm

The dressage standing position was used, in the lessons I observed, to help the rider quiet the legs and ground the feet. It is pretty challenging for most people to do dressage standing with their regular length stirrups! But the super talented/experienced riders who did it may have bobbled for a minute and then they figured it out. After 5 minutes or so, the quieting and deepening of the legs of riders who did this was impressive.

I think Susanne's point about exploring variations in your seat (sitting/standing, dressage/jumping) is to have a more dynamic seat and to find what your horse needs in various moments. Many horses like the going back and forth between seats as a simple back warm up.

Again, I really feel like all of this stuff makes much more sense when you explore it or watch it up close.

BTW, for me I would say the hip dropping exercise is about 30x more extreme and direct than stirrup stepping. Beware :o

Some of the pros I watched ride with Susanne did have rather young horses who had their silly moments, but they could handle that very easily. I agree that one would need to feel comfortable doing these exercises on the horse beneath you.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby Chisamba » Thu Jul 11, 2019 6:25 pm

what part of a horse narrows in the trot and what is the source of this information?

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby Josette » Thu Jul 11, 2019 6:30 pm

Sorry - I probably heard the stirrup stepping term when I was viewing the older video. I'll try to find it and post the link. No wonder I get confused. :oops:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9NfudUf4GU&t=1383s

(Horses are angels in these videos to tolerate some of the rider exercises.)
Last edited by Josette on Thu Jul 11, 2019 6:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby piedmontfields » Thu Jul 11, 2019 6:37 pm

"what part of a horse narrows in the trot and what is the source of this information?"

Well the horse is obviously the same horse! But the point was that the walk swings the belly much wider side to side than the trot. So in trot, the horse feels narrower both to the rider and to itself.

As for sources, Von Dietz has written books. They are available to be read! She has also written a lot for the now defunct Dressage Today. I am summarizing comments from a clinic of hers I observed.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby demi » Fri Jul 12, 2019 7:34 am

Thanks for revisiting this topic and the Eliza/SvD video, piedmontfields. I can’t remember how much time has passed since you first posted about SvD, but now, after having read the book (Balance in Movement), and having had many of my own lessons, it is easier to digest that particular video.

My lessons have recently switched from an emphasis on lateral work to an emphasis on my seat, so this topic is timely and much appreciated :)

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby Chisamba » Fri Jul 12, 2019 12:25 pm

piedmontfields wrote:"what part of a horse narrows in the trot and what is the source of this information?"

Well the horse is obviously the same horse! But the point was that the walk swings the belly much wider side to side than the trot. So in trot, the horse feels narrower both to the rider and to itself.

As for sources, Von Dietz has written books. They are available to be read! She has also written a lot for the now defunct Dressage Today. I am summarizing comments from a clinic of hers I observed.


So she us her own source.

The seat of the rider us over the most rigid part if the horse. The ribs and spine are at their most immobile. The musculature over the spine works when the legs move, since the legs move at all 3 gaits, I am curious as to what specifically happens to cause the seat to narrow to trot.

I would have asked.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby demi » Fri Jul 12, 2019 1:01 pm

If I may, SvD talks about the narrowing of the hips in the video that Josette posted. It’s starts at about 13:3 minutes and she says in front the hips we have muscles that wrap around and go to the sacrum. This wrapping around is where the narrowing of the seat happens. She says it’s hard to describe, and I had to stop the video several times and think and listen to try to understand it. It makes more sense, for me anyway, when I watch the vid and listen, rather than just reading the words...

She talks about “smiling hips” which has to do with this narrowing, and I think after watching the video and then riding I will understand it better. I just watched again this morning and will go out to ride now and see if it sinks in a little more.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby demi » Fri Jul 12, 2019 1:19 pm

And as i sit here and think, for my own understanding, I have to remember that the pelvis and the sacrum is a solid unit not able to widen or get narrower, so the “narrowing” must be from the musculature. Similar to the horse narrowing in the trot simply due to less side to side swinging of the belly at trot than at walk. Some of her descriptions are sort of figurative, but still literal in a way.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby blob » Fri Jul 12, 2019 1:45 pm

I agree that on most horses there is definitely more swing side to side in walk than in trot. But in order to sit the trot well, I think you do have to open your hip angle. If you focus on narrowing your own seat, it seems like it would pop you right out or put you in a hunter sitting trot position. Perhaps I am misunderstanding and that the rider did not need to narrow their aids.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby Ryeissa » Fri Jul 12, 2019 4:08 pm

I think this is all talking about the psoas muscles
http://www.alignmentrescue.com/the-dres ... the-psoas/

I think "narrowing" is another language for how to activate these= as I believe this is the desired goal? My experience is that all the various ways we talk about a balanced seat/neutral spine etc are in the end referring to the action of using/stabilizing these core muscles. Never ridden with this clinician though, I'm from more of the Wanless side of things.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby piedmontfields » Fri Jul 12, 2019 8:08 pm

blob wrote: I agree that on most horses there is definitely more swing side to side in walk than in trot.


I think this was v. Dietz's point. So we deal with that in the walk-trot transition.

blob wrote:But in order to sit the trot well, I think you do have to open your hip angle. If you focus on narrowing your own seat, it seems like it would pop you right out or put you in a hunter sitting trot position.


Agreed. I don't think this is what she was suggesting. None of these notes may be useful to other people--just thought I'd share in case they were interesting or helpful.

My challenge remains: How do I quicken my pelvis more in trot when I do a canter-trot transition? I'm kinda of faking it till I one day make it at this point :-) Maybe I should just start a thread on canter-trot transitions.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby Dresseur » Sun Jul 14, 2019 4:42 pm

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 do. So, if I want a canter to trot transition. I half halt and then basically start posting or sitting and the horse follows. That's an overly simplistic view of what's happening, and maybe that's not what she was getting at - but maybe it helps.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby piedmontfields » Sun Jul 14, 2019 6:30 pm

Dresseur, thank you. This may be all she means, and am not unfamiliar with that.

Here is what I am doing to transition from canter to trot--feel free to tell me I'm all wrong here!

little half halt (mostly in the body, not the hand)
change sit bones to trot position, dropping outside sit bone more into saddle (and consequently inside sit bone gets lighter compared to canter seat)
make pelvis move quicker to match tic toc tic tic of trot rhythm.

I did a bit better at getting the rhythm match quickly today. I have no trouble getting the transition from the seat change, but I've often ended up behind the trot and usually take a stride to catch up.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby Chisamba » Sun Jul 14, 2019 10:16 pm

See, as a person on the spectrum my brain says then pelvic girdle is solid the hip cannot narrow, the seat area on the horse's back doesn't narrow and the elbow is always the same weight ( from the trainer riding through you thread). And I am on record for not wrapping my brain around trainers riding through you.

It is literally not possible. I want a trainer to be literal . Engage your psoas. Put your elbow down, keep your heel under your hip. Set the tempo with your seat and let the horse follow.

I rode a clinic once where the clinician kept saying keep the white stripe vertical. I had no idea what she was talking about but my horse had a blaze so I worked very hard at keeping her head straight. Turns out my vest had a white stripe from my armpit to my hip. She could see it, I could not. Shut up about the white stripe and tell me to open my intercostal spaces.

I never took another lesson or clinic from her and mostly avoid when she judges.

So it's me.

Tell me what you want the horse to do, my horse already knows my aids I don't need to become unclear or inconcise to my horse if I need a quicker hind say quicker hind, if I need to sit taller remind me to sit taller. Dont tell me to narrow my hips which is not possible, tell me to place my thigh, which is.

No wonder I have a hard time finding an instructor I really can understand.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby StraightForward » Sun Jul 14, 2019 10:56 pm

Maybe it depends on how inclusive one is in what they think of as seat? If it extends down to the knee joint, then to me, narrowing the seat means narrowing the side-to-side swing of the barrel to push the momentum more forward, kind of like if a hose with water moving through were to narrow, the water comes out the end with more thrust. Clearly the pelvis itself can't narrow, and narrowing right up at the hip joint would just pop the rider out of the saddle.
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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby Chisamba » Sun Jul 14, 2019 11:11 pm

StraightForward wrote:Maybe it depends on how inclusive one is in what they think of as seat? If it extends down to the knee joint, then to me, narrowing the seat means narrowing the side-to-side swing of the barrel to push the momentum more forward, kind of like if a hose with water moving through were to narrow, the water comes out the end with more thrust. Clearly the pelvis itself can't narrow, and narrowing right up at the hip joint would just pop the rider out of the saddle.


I am sure you are right but in the three seconds of instruct, relay respond, dont make me guess what you might mean.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby blob » Mon Jul 15, 2019 1:02 am

Piedmont-- a 'lightbulb' moment for me a few years ago was a clinician saying that when you go from canter to walk, you should do so on the down part of the canter, but for the trot you should actually ask as the horse is coming up in the canter stride so the horse can stay balanced and uphill and power up into the trot rather than fall down into it. Rethinking my timing for the canter-trot transitions made a lot of difference in quality and made it easier for seat to go from canter motion to the quicker trot motion because you don't have that downbeat where you have to recalibrate.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby StraightForward » Mon Jul 15, 2019 1:52 am

Chisamba wrote:
StraightForward wrote:Maybe it depends on how inclusive one is in what they think of as seat? If it extends down to the knee joint, then to me, narrowing the seat means narrowing the side-to-side swing of the barrel to push the momentum more forward, kind of like if a hose with water moving through were to narrow, the water comes out the end with more thrust. Clearly the pelvis itself can't narrow, and narrowing right up at the hip joint would just pop the rider out of the saddle.


I am sure you are right but in the three seconds of instruct, relay respond, dont make me guess what you might mean.


That's why different students need different teaching styles. Visualizations work well for me.
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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby Chisamba » Mon Jul 15, 2019 1:57 am

It is my opinion that if you have to think about it. If you have to think about what part of the stride to give an aid, or which seat bone to weight, or how to hip... if you have to think as bout it it's too late.

Like a friend said, once you type well you no longer think about where the keys are. You have to train your body to feel and do automatically, to do something well you don't have time to think about it.

I genuinely believe that. I think the kind of clinic Piedmont described would not suit me. For this reason in very grateful to P for sharing the information. Thanks P

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby Chisamba » Mon Jul 15, 2019 1:57 am

Agreed straightforward. People learn so many different ways.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby piedmontfields » Mon Jul 15, 2019 12:19 pm

blob wrote:Piedmont-- a 'lightbulb' moment for me a few years ago was a clinician saying that when you go from canter to walk, you should do so on the down part of the canter, but for the trot you should actually ask as the horse is coming up in the canter stride so the horse can stay balanced and uphill and power up into the trot rather than fall down into it.


This completely makes sense. Thank you!

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby demi » Mon Jul 15, 2019 1:32 pm

piedmontfields wrote:
blob wrote:Piedmont-- a 'lightbulb' moment for me a few years ago was a clinician saying that when you go from canter to walk, you should do so on the down part of the canter, but for the trot you should actually ask as the horse is coming up in the canter stride so the horse can stay balanced and uphill and power up into the trot rather than fall down into it.


This completely makes sense. Thank you!


I like this, too! I think I do this without thinking about it, but it helps so much (for me, anyway) to actually think about what I’m doing. I think this is because knowing “why” I do something allows me to build on it, making a stronger network in my mind.

When Piedmont started this thread I got out my SvD “Balance in Motion” book and reviewed the chapter on “Pelvis-Center of Movement”, and the one on “Perfet Body Coordination- The Appliction of the AIDS”. Very helpful for working on the seat. Two things SvD said have stuck solidly in my mind for the last 5 rides: 1) concentration on a mutual balance and 2) Getting your seat into the movement will get your horse into movement!

I know not everyone learns the same way, and I’m not saying “this is the only way”!. Just one possibility.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby piedmontfields » Mon Jul 15, 2019 5:59 pm

piedmontfields wrote:
blob wrote:Piedmont-- a 'lightbulb' moment for me a few years ago was a clinician saying that when you go from canter to walk, you should do so on the down part of the canter, but for the trot you should actually ask as the horse is coming up in the canter stride so the horse can stay balanced and uphill and power up into the trot rather than fall down into it.


This completely makes sense. Thank you!


Although, I realized later that I use the up part of canter to land like a snowflake in walk, too! I supposed it's part of "ride uphill, no matter the gait."

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby Ponichiwa » Mon Jul 15, 2019 6:15 pm

RE: canter timing... I always ask for transitions (incl. lengthening/compression of the canter) so that they happen in the "up" beat of the canter. That's when the canter stride begins, which means you're not breaking the canter stride to end up in a different gait. By the time the hind legs have landed, you've lost any ability to change what happens next. But unless your horse is VERY on-the-aids or your timing is absolutely impeccable, you'll need some time for your horse to process your aids. So ultimately, at the downbeat of the stride (inside fore hits the ground, hind legs get ready to leave the ground for the next up-beat) is the best time to be asking for something new so that the horse can use the suspension phase of the canter to get organized for the next move.

I also will provide some amount of core/seat half-halting a stride or two before I ask for the next thing. A quick "hey heads up I'm going to ask you to change up what we're doing soon" so the horse doesn't get surprised/out of balance by the actual aid.

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby blob » Mon Jul 15, 2019 6:20 pm

piedmontfields wrote:
piedmontfields wrote:
blob wrote:Piedmont-- a 'lightbulb' moment for me a few years ago was a clinician saying that when you go from canter to walk, you should do so on the down part of the canter, but for the trot you should actually ask as the horse is coming up in the canter stride so the horse can stay balanced and uphill and power up into the trot rather than fall down into it.


This completely makes sense. Thank you!


Although, I realized later that I use the up part of canter to land like a snowflake in walk, too! I supposed it's part of "ride uphill, no matter the gait."



Yes, I think the difference is, going from canter to walk, you ride the upbeat and then as you come down you drop down to walk or halt. You don't want that drop part in the trot.

But I think riding uphill is a good rule of thumb!

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby Chisamba » Tue Jul 16, 2019 3:36 am

I think you ride uphill legs under in all downward transitions. I think you prepare the horse by changing its shape before the transition, then you ask for the down transition and sit light so the horse balances itself and doesn't use the reins as a fifth leg.

As for timing, it's like shoulder-in on the circle. It's so technical that most of the time people think they are doing it, but they aren't. ;) :D

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby piedmontfields » Tue Jul 16, 2019 4:56 pm

Thank you all again. Today I again tested the "only do transitions from the up phase of canter." It works great! And it also solves my sometime need to catch up to the motion in trot during canter-trot transitions.

Really, it's so easy I feel like an idiot for not paying attention and doing it very, very consistently. :oops:

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Re: Seat Aids for Transitions - clinic notes and thoughts

Postby Tsavo » Sat Aug 31, 2019 3:48 pm

Crowding the pommel as a default solves a lot. I stay to the front because everything is easier when I do so. I think it works to flatten the lumbar which causes better alignment which make weight aiding more clear with less overt aiding. Breath and thought as aids work better when crowding the pommel.


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