Cari Swanson

Canter Walk Transitions

The canter walk transition is an important excercise to introduce after your horse is cantering in a relaxed rhythm. The rider should be ale to lengthen and shorten the stride of canter before attempting the transition. Start by cantering a 15 meter circle and as you come to the track, shorten the canter stride with half halts, then ask for a downward transition by sinking both heels and half halting with the outside rein, immediately give the reins and establish a relaxed walk before cantering again. Repeat this until the transition is seamless and smooth. Common problems arise when the rider hangs in the reins in the half halt, or forgets to shorten the stride before asking for the transition. The rider must remain relaxed and balanced in order to have a successful transition. Think about sitting on the hind legs rather than stopping the motion with the hands.

Technique, Timing and Temperament

These are sometimes referred to as the three “T’s” of training. Work on your technique, be clear and precise and always check and correct the riders position to be most effective. The timing of the aids is critical, learn when the feet are leaving the ground so that you apply the aid at the actual moment when it is possible to directly influence the horse. And most important of all, Temperament, that is of the rider, not the horse. The rider must be relaxed, calm and confident. Nothing can be accomplished with force, anger or frustration. Perhaps the rider is working above the horse’s level or ability. When this occurs, go back to walk and relax, do something easy before going back to the movement that resulted in frustration or call it a day and go on a hack. The rider must always be fair to the horse by clearly communicating and do not forget to listen to the horse.

Transitions

The purpose of transitions are to increase the horse’s obedience, engagement and throughness. The horse must show a clear rhythm before, during and after a transition. The transition should be seamless, prompt but calm and smooth with no intermediate steps of any other gait or pace not asked for in the transition. They should be well-balanced and engaged relative to the level ridden. Transitions are a very important element of the horses training program and should be practiced frequently. Take care that the horse is not rushed or hurried and that the departure is straight. Remember if you are in perfect balance and your horse is obedient to your aids, the transitions will be successful.

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Turn on the Haunches

The purpose of the turn on the haunches is to improve the horse’s obedience to the aids and to improve balance and collection. This movement is introduced at second level when collection becomes important. The proper execution of this movement is the horse’s forehand moves in even, quiet, regular steps around the horse’s inner hind leg while maintaining the rhythm of the walk. The horse is slightly bent in the direction in which he is turning. In the half turn on the haunches, the horse is not required to step with its inside hind leg in the same spot each time it leaves the ground but may move slightly forward. Backing or loss of rhythm are serious faults. Other common faults include the horse getting stuck, lack of energy, the horse is not obedient to the aids, the horse comes above the bit or steps out. Take care to maintain the rhythm and energy for a successful turn on the haunches.

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Impove your Dressage Scores with Geometry

Many students find it very difficult to ride a circle, they create eggs, squares, and other strange configurations in an effort to perform the requisite 20 meter or 10 meter figure in a test. One of the easiest ways to raise your dressage scores it to ride the correct geometry and perform each movement accurately at the specified letter. A simple way to learn the feeling of the correct circles is to draw a 10 and 20 meter circle in your arena with lime. Next, count the strides it takes to ride each quarter and you will determine if you are symmetrical. This is a fun and easy exercise to work on perfecting. Once you know your horses number of strides you can count and know if you are on a perfect circle. The end result will be a more supple, relaxed and balanced horse which will translate into higher scores.

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Travers

Travers is a movement used to perfect and manivest the results of the shoulder-in; engagement of the quarters, collection, as well as lateral bend, and suppleness of the quarters. It is the increased engagement of the inside hind leg, which has to bend more to carry the increased weight. The execution is that the horse is slightly bent around the inside leg of the rider. The horse’s outside hind leg passes and crosses in front of the inside leg. the outside foreleg is placed in front of the inside foreleg. The horse is looking in the direction in which he is moving. The rider should feel the increased engagement of the hindquarters, in other words the inside hind leg taking up more weight. The horse should maintain the rhythm and balance without losing impulsion. The most common faults in this movement is too much or too little angle, lack of bend or even counter bent, and loss of rhythm. This is an important movement in the training scale which prepares the horse for half pass and eventually pirouettes.

Shoulder In

In this movement the horse is slightly bent round the inside leg of the rider. The horse’s inside foreleg passes and crosses in front of the outside leg; the inside hind leg is placed in front of the outside leg. The horse is looking away from the direction in which he is moving. Shoulder-in, if performed in correctly, with the horse slightly bent around the inside leg of the rder, is not only a suppling movement but also a collecting movement, because the horse at every step must move his inside hind leg underneath his body and place it in front of the outside, while lowering his inside hip. If the rider is having difficulty keeping the hind legs on the track, think renvers to move the haunches out. If the rider is drifting off the track use the inside aids to block the horse from falling in, thus keeping him on the track with the correct angle.

How do I prevent my horse from swinging her haunches?

This weeks question is from a rider who has a problem riding her horse straight from free walk to medium walk. In the transition, the mare swings her haunches inside the track and does not travel straight. First of all, check that the riders position is correct, relaxed and balanced. Any tension in the rider will be mirrored in the horse. The connection must be elastic with the horse’s neck soft and relaxed. If this is true, try to maintain the same rhythm of the free walk into the medium walk. If the shoulders are constricted by a tight or uneven connection, the horse will slow down and lose the forward march. If the haunches tend to swing in, the rider should think renvers to straighten the haunches. A simple excercise to learn to control the haunches is to ride up the long side 3 steps straight, 3 steps leg yielding toward the quarter line, 3 steps straight, etc. until reaching the center line. The horse is parallel to the long side while flowing forward and sideways. Any problem will be clarified if the horse is not moving forward in a clear rhythm.

How do I learn to ride the sitting trot?

In a recent lesson, a student requested we work on her sitting trot. She has a lovely Selle Francais, with correct gaits that are easy to ride to, however, she found herself unable to sit the trot. First, we checked the riders postion. The upper body must remain stable, lifted and relaxed. She tends to lean forward thus throwing off the balance of the horse. Once we established a correct postion, we slowed the trot down and began by posting several strides then sitting several strides, repeating the excercise until the rhythm and tempo did not change. Gradually we increased the sitting strides until she could maintain the correct postion. Be careful that when you slow the trot down, you are not allowing the horse to fall behind the aids, he must still remain active and in front of the riders aids.

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How do I become a Working Student?

Many farms offer working student positions throughout the year at varying intervals. First of all identify what you want to learn and then find a farm that teaches your disicpline. Be prepared to ask some basic questions, what are the farm’s expectations of you and what do you want to learn out of the experience. Are accomadation and meals included? Are there other students at the same time? Windrock Farm offers this opportunity to day students as well as those from other countries who stay at the farm. During the summer there may be as many as 6 students at one time. In addition to barn chores and riding several horses each day, we take field trips around the region as well as into NYC for some cultural outings. The riding experience includes lessons in dressage, jumping, cross country and occasionally swimming in a nearby pond. Many students travel from France and Germany to visit the farm and learn about horses in America.

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