Today I did my usual Sunday morning lesson with Max. Recently, we've been working on our usual activities such as collection and working on the beginnings of flying lead changes (and I mean VERY beginning and basic flying lead changes) but now using mostly just one hand on the reins.
OK, the dressage purest will probably sniff and laugh but I'm approaching this from a cavalry perspective (and at root, isn't that what dressage is descended from- getting the horse from Point A to Point B so you can kill the opposition?). One of the most basic things about cavalry is that most cavalries throughout history have used the sword as their basic arm (OK, you have knights with lances, mounted spearmen, or more recently pistol-armed cavalry like many found in the American Civil War). Even if you're using a pistol or other weapon, you still have one hand on the reins (I don't think anyone is up to trying reinless riding in a battle situation, at least voluntarily).
For me, my trainer introduced me to a new way of holding my reins and she explained that there are several ways to do so but the bottom line is that each allows you to acheive an independent rein for each side. This is easily done when riding two-handed and with finesse and skill, you can effectively communicate with you horse. One-hand reining is a bit more difficult and for me, the conversation goes like this:
"Hey Max, wake up!"
"Huh?"
"Move to the right so I can swing my sword at my opponent!"
"Huh? Why can't I go left? I ALWAYS go left!"
"Dammit Max, just do it!"
"Ouch! You're being mean! I don't want to play anymore!"
"MAX!"
"SCREW YOU!"
And it then descends into a fight and I have to back off and regroup.
Hopefully, most of this can be reduced/eliminated by being able to more effectively communicate with Max and so that's been the recent focus in training.
Basically, the goal is to be able to send a more direct message rather than a muddied one to the horse and I've noticed that when I have the reins arranged properly (rein maangement is sometimes tricky and it's slowly coming to me) to that they're even and not dragging on one side of the face or the other, it does halp to sharpen the message you're giving the horse. One good example of this is when leg yielding. Normally, you use the leg opposite of the side you're moving towards and then slowly flex it (kind of a pulsating effect). When combined wiht a gentle twistin movement that puts pressure on the side of bit (we're talking snaffle bit here) towards the direction of movement, it seems to sharpen the horses response. In actuality, I find that simply squeezng gently on the rein leading to the desired side often works as well. This is a subtle movement and when combined with the leg aids, seems to get good results- assuming thave eventhing is lined up correctly, my seat is correct, and Max is in the right frame of mind.
This is hard to describe without pictures but it does appear to be having a positive effect. The basic idea is to get be able to effectively communicate while having to deal with manipluating a sword or pistol. Also, in my case, Max has a bad habit of refusing to follow the opponent to the right when I'm mock sword-fighting. Sometimes he'll do it but often he'll refuse. Part of the problem is my seat- it's actually pushing him away from the opponent's horse but at the same time, he's able to take advantage of my only having one hand on the reins to refuse and I don't have much leverage like I would if I were riding with two hands on the reins. Also, the indpendent rein should help hammer a more precise and sharp command to "MOVE RIGHT!"
So, for now, in all my movements I'm using one hand to rein but at the same time using direct reining to move the horse rather than relying on neck-reining (which works when the horse is compliant but if he doesn't want to move in the direction you want, you're only recourse is to intensify the use of the leg aids (even with spurs, this only works sometimes). In Max's case, this simply doesn't work so we need to be able to engage ALL of Max. Or at least that's theory but it seems to be working some although I have yet to try this in a battle re-creation situation.
Now to PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE! :-)
OK, the dressage purest will probably sniff and laugh but I'm approaching this from a cavalry perspective (and at root, isn't that what dressage is descended from- getting the horse from Point A to Point B so you can kill the opposition?). One of the most basic things about cavalry is that most cavalries throughout history have used the sword as their basic arm (OK, you have knights with lances, mounted spearmen, or more recently pistol-armed cavalry like many found in the American Civil War). Even if you're using a pistol or other weapon, you still have one hand on the reins (I don't think anyone is up to trying reinless riding in a battle situation, at least voluntarily).
For me, my trainer introduced me to a new way of holding my reins and she explained that there are several ways to do so but the bottom line is that each allows you to acheive an independent rein for each side. This is easily done when riding two-handed and with finesse and skill, you can effectively communicate with you horse. One-hand reining is a bit more difficult and for me, the conversation goes like this:
"Hey Max, wake up!"
"Huh?"
"Move to the right so I can swing my sword at my opponent!"
"Huh? Why can't I go left? I ALWAYS go left!"
"Dammit Max, just do it!"
"Ouch! You're being mean! I don't want to play anymore!"
"MAX!"
"SCREW YOU!"
And it then descends into a fight and I have to back off and regroup.
Hopefully, most of this can be reduced/eliminated by being able to more effectively communicate with Max and so that's been the recent focus in training.
Basically, the goal is to be able to send a more direct message rather than a muddied one to the horse and I've noticed that when I have the reins arranged properly (rein maangement is sometimes tricky and it's slowly coming to me) to that they're even and not dragging on one side of the face or the other, it does halp to sharpen the message you're giving the horse. One good example of this is when leg yielding. Normally, you use the leg opposite of the side you're moving towards and then slowly flex it (kind of a pulsating effect). When combined wiht a gentle twistin movement that puts pressure on the side of bit (we're talking snaffle bit here) towards the direction of movement, it seems to sharpen the horses response. In actuality, I find that simply squeezng gently on the rein leading to the desired side often works as well. This is a subtle movement and when combined with the leg aids, seems to get good results- assuming thave eventhing is lined up correctly, my seat is correct, and Max is in the right frame of mind.
This is hard to describe without pictures but it does appear to be having a positive effect. The basic idea is to get be able to effectively communicate while having to deal with manipluating a sword or pistol. Also, in my case, Max has a bad habit of refusing to follow the opponent to the right when I'm mock sword-fighting. Sometimes he'll do it but often he'll refuse. Part of the problem is my seat- it's actually pushing him away from the opponent's horse but at the same time, he's able to take advantage of my only having one hand on the reins to refuse and I don't have much leverage like I would if I were riding with two hands on the reins. Also, the indpendent rein should help hammer a more precise and sharp command to "MOVE RIGHT!"
So, for now, in all my movements I'm using one hand to rein but at the same time using direct reining to move the horse rather than relying on neck-reining (which works when the horse is compliant but if he doesn't want to move in the direction you want, you're only recourse is to intensify the use of the leg aids (even with spurs, this only works sometimes). In Max's case, this simply doesn't work so we need to be able to engage ALL of Max. Or at least that's theory but it seems to be working some although I have yet to try this in a battle re-creation situation.
Now to PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE! :-)
2 comments:
Hah, I used to have that conversation all the time. Now we don't usually get to the screw you point - but I'm not asking for anything nearly as complicated as what you're asking for.
I try to avoid the last phase but sometimes it seems to happen. Fortunately, not anything as often as a few years ago. :-)
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