Falling off the Tracks

Alright, alright. I know it's no longer April, so this post is far overdue; however, I just recently decided I should post my notes from the clinics, and so I'll start with my notes from April, and later I'll post the notes from the May clinic.

This clinic (well, more like a private lesson) was put on by Sherry Guess, a "L" judge and USDF bronze medalist, who was a participant in six USDF instructor seminars with Major Anders Lindgren (and attended clinics with him for ten years), and was also involved in Sally Swift's alumni programme for Centered Riding instructors. Miss Sherry trained with Dennis Callin for seven years and Mette Rosencrantz for four.

So, that's your introduction to Miss Sherry.

Below, in bold are the notes she wrote for me as I was riding, and in italics are notes I've added on (both for myself, and for the benefit of the blog).


April 2012 - Grimsey

How much weight in seat versus thigh?
Seat (70), thigh (30). Sherry helped me find and isolate the top of the hamstring (a surprisingly difficult muscle to isolate); tightening this muscle shifted much of the weight off of my seat, creating a more even pressure between my seat and thigh. 

Back: Hammock - Flat - RoundFeel how Grimsey's back moves; goes from being a hammock (inverted when his head goes up), to flat, to round (when he is in collection).

1-2-3-4 Aids:
1 - Inside Rein
2 - Inside Leg
3 - Outside Rein
4 - Outside Leg
The order of the aids, in which the horse can most readily understand them. Starting with a green horse, he learns first what the inside rein means (to turn), and then what the inside leg means (to move off of it), followed by the outside rein (inside leg to outside rein), and lastly the outside leg.

Heel back, roll right thigh in to push heel away
Precisely how it sounds - in order to move my heel away from Grimsey's side (my toe was pointed out), I was to roll the top of my thigh in (towards the direction of the pommel, for instance), which in turn shifted the position of my femur and shin bone making my toe come in and my heel go out.

Where does the top of your thigh point?
Towards his shoulders, or his feet? If I were to draw a line from my hip, down my thigh, where would it point? I discovered that the line from my right thigh was higher (more above his shoulder) than the left. This led to the conversation of "Bloody Stumps" (described later). Sherry instructed me to simply  move my heel back and think about dropping my thigh down. 

Exercise:

1) Walk - Stay up - Heel level, tummy tight - shoulders down, 1 touch, GO
The exercise is to stand in the stirrups and find the centre of balance. If the rider forces the heels down, that centre can be impossible to find, and so the heel must be level. Tightening up my abdominal muscles helped to engage my core in order to make it stronger and allow me to stay up and out of my tack. As I came forward, I was stooping my shoulders; pulling them back helped me to find better balance.


The "one touch, go" is simply very lightly bringing your seat back to the saddle for a beat, and rising up again; the purpose is not to flop back into the saddle, but to control your downward movement so as to not fall onto your horse's back. "Go" as in, go forward.

2) Trot
a) Stay up at rise of the trot
b) Touch
Identical to the previous exercise, but at a trot. Grab mane if needed, but do not balance on the neck or snatch the horse's mouth. When you find your balance, don't use the mane to hold yourself up, but call upon it when needed.
c) Post vs. Stay Up
d) 2 up, 1 down
This is done at the trot. The rider will sit one beat and stand two, the seated movement going back to the previous exercise (one touch, go). Again, do not force the heel down, but keep it level. You may be surprised at how far forward you have to come to find your balance. Grab mane if it's needed, but do not snatch the horse's mouth or balance on the neck.


Steering - Drunken Line - /\/\/\/\/\ -
1.) Step inside - 1oz - into TOES
2.) Push with outside thigh
3.) Go even
This exercise is a zig-zag (thus the /\/\/\/\); it can be done at the walk, and eventually the trot. The goal is to push your horse over without using the calf. Instead, a millisecond of weight in the stirrup of the direction in which you wish to go, simultaneously pushing over with the thigh. You don't want to just push and hold, you want to push, push, push; otherwise, the horse will lean on you.


The goal is to yield into the centre of the arena (with forward movement, we aren't going sideways!), and then yield back to the wall. Repeat. 

Keep your hips moving

Bloody Stumps
A metaphor for letting the thigh drop. The story behind "Bloody Stumps" is that Sherry was teaching a young woman out in California who was a playwright for Sweeny Todd; As Sherry described to her the "sensation of walking on the back of your kneecaps," the woman says, "ahh, bloody stumps." And so the Stumps was born.


As I said, the picture Sherry is aiming for is that the rider is to envision (or "feel") what it would be like to walk on the back of your knee, with no lower leg to push off of. It's as though the lower leg is not there. This was especially important to me in the posting trot, as my right thigh tended to creep up. 

Exercise:
1) Standing, hook foot behind opposite ankle, stand on toe, squat.
2) Stand with feet flat, knees against arms of a chair. Keep knees touching as you "post."


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There were many more insights I gleaned from this lesson than I could possibly share. Very soon I will be posting notes from the May clinic, and the June clinic is coming up fast!