This week in lessons

The weather made last week pretty quiet, but I thought the grid was a good plan to really help rider's focus on their position, and further work on staying out of the horse's way. A grid helps in two ways: as we are trotting in there is no concern about a good distance, and secondly, because the jumps come up fairly quickly, any rider's mistakes build and are easier to see, while still allowing time to be corrected before the end of the grid.

This week we will again to a grid, but it will flow into a simple course. We are going to be focusing mostly on leg position, and proper angles. A common issue is for rider's to open their leg position too much, allowing their seat to come too far out of the saddle, resulting in being ahead of the motion. This puts additional weight on the horse's front end, and can lead to the horse landing too quickly, or even hitting rails with the front end.  The upper body jumping ahead is usually coupled with the lower leg sliding back, so often the jumping ahead can be addressed by keeping the lower leg forward. Shortening the stirrups for jumping can also be a help.

A rider should just maintain a two point, and then allow the horse's jump to close their hip angle...but easier said than done!

I will have neck straps available for anybody who is having trouble grabbing mane, as having a stable hand will really help keep the entire upper body, and as a result leg, more stable.

Anybody who wants me to video them through the grid should bring their camera/phone and remind me to video: watching what you are doing, so you can match what you feel with reality, is a great way to make improvements.

Karen