Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Lesson #169: Transitions with Seat

With the previous day's clinic fresh in my mind, I keep in mind the things that I have to focus on based on the analysis of the videos. I told +ADW all about the clinic and told him I knew what I needed to focus my attention on: my lower leg and especially my right one. But we all already know about my loopy right side with a mind of its own!

The class is relatively low key in that we spent it on the flat. A brief warm-up was following by no stirrup work. A lot of no stirrup work. We get up to the trot and focus on maintaining our balance by keeping our heels downwards and remembering to not pinch. When I lose my balance, I feel myself tipping forward and my knees grip. Re-adjusting while moving is tricky but it does in fact get us both rebalanced properly. We're also asked to incorporate some posting--tricky!

If only Deb could ride correctly with her seat all the time! --Ariel
Finally, we finish the lesson with bareback riding. It was all about loosening our hips and letting them flow with the movement of the horse. Understanding the movement and being able to incorporate it into the exercise is really neat because I decided to try something that I read about: transitioning gaits with just your seat. Once I get the rhythm, I speed it up just a touch and I'm successful! It doesn't last long but works!!

2 comments:

  1. i love Ariel's speckled ears! i need way more no stirrups and bareback work in my life... trainers want me transitioning from the seat too, but like you say - it doesn't work unless your seat is already in sync with the horse...

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    1. thanks! she's an appaloosa cremillo mare who's got spots on her ears, legs and chest. the thing is, she always looks dirty :P
      hehehe it always feels like a lesson where not much has happened but i always find that following those types of lessons, things seem to be looser and going the way they should be.

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