Stephen Clarke Saturday 18th August 2018 - Unicorn Trust

A few notes from a fabulous day

• If struggling for consistent contact in both reins , try taking reins in one hand
• Walk to canter needs to be established AND sharp before changes
• On a circle use a steep shoulder in to get a horse off the stiff rein
• For travers and shoulder in the rider position should not change

• On the  long diagonal  straight  -> travers -> straight    neck shouldn't need to move - keeps forward thinking

• Shoulder in long side, travel to centre line in half pass then centre line in shoulder in
• Always shoulder fore into canter
• Do NOT kill the impulsion before the transition
• When giving the rein give in the direction of the bit NOT the easr

• Half pass to centre line then shoulder in then half pass

• To remedy BTV and poll low issues raise hands without pulling back 

More Valegro kisses

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Sunday Afternoon Q & A At Dovecot Stables Charles De Kunffy And Gerd Heuschmann

GH Bitless bridle does not communicate with TMJ and jaw, contact in bitless is to nose and poll, so riding in a bitless is different contact to bitted.

GH Lunging for young horse is about head control and getting used to handler; otherwise GH goes to ridden work asap.

GH Would ride 3 yo three times a week, 4 yo four.

GH 99.9% of time now lunges without side reins, strident dislike of Pessoa

GH does NOT like treeless saddle.

GH most horses shoulders are not when viewed from top symmetrical, right shoulder usually 2" - 3" further forward.

CdeK  always yield inside rein in shoulder in

CdeK How to correct BTV in medium trot?

Overflexion (BTV) needs to be resolved before  the nedium trot, start at the beginning every day every ride.

Overflexion  is a symptom the solution is behind

1. Slow
2. Abruptly give rein
3. Drive

Saturday And Sunday Afternoon Lessons At Dovecot Stables Charles De Kunffy And Gerd Heuschmann

Saturday 

 13:00 lesson

 To correct btv

1. Slow down
2. Abruptly yield reins
3. Drive

 C de K uses both legs to aid for canter.

 13:30 lesson

 Had both riders leaning back to improve their seats and that was pretty much their lesson.

 14:00 lesson Had both riders leaning back to improve their seats and that was pretty much the lesson for one rider, the other he had doing SI

 14:30 lesson

 Had one rider lean back

 15:00 lesson

 Had one rider lean back and that was their lesson, other horse was more advanced and very nicely trained / ridden but he had both doing same exercises with other rider struggling.

 Sunday

 13:30 lesson

 Stopped rider following nod of head in walk with her lower arm and had her move her torso to follow.
14:00 lesson 

Lovely PRE had her doing various exercises very insistent she only yield for four steps

 14:30

lesson with GH Stretch every 15 minutes

 15:00 lesson

 The advanced rider from 15:00 yesterday had her doing school canter on her seat

 From what I saw over the two days CdeK is much better with the trained rider who needs refinement he is to my mind unpleasantly sarcastic to those he has to say "close fingers" to more than once or twice from his talk he thinks it is lack of rider discipline or can't be assed.

 He seems to have one correction for the seat and that is lean back, he is insistent on vertical upper arm by sides at all times and use the torso to yield left or right and to follow the movement in walk.

Charles de Kunffy and Gerd Heuschmann Sunday morning

Charles de Kunffy - training as therapy for horses

Always alternate

1/ Long <-------> short frame
2/ Long <-------> short strides
3/ Bending / straightness

You can always do four changes of something on a 20m circle

Hegel Dialectic

Wiki link here

C de K described it as


OBSERVE ============================= ANTHESIS                    
                                                                SYNTHESIS

Observe is the existing reality
Synthesis the reality we wish to achieve
Anthesis the flip (bad) side

Riding is surfing with your pelvis

1. Leg energises
2. Seat modifies
3. Rein verifies

Focus on task in hand but do not compromise future

Make an ally of your horse

Duty ahead of mood

Duty versus inclination

Do not punish for perceived wrongdoing

Gerd Heuschmann - True lameness or bridle lameness?

We as riders create a problem but then 'fight' the symptoms rather than addressing the problem

Preserve the natural gaits

A young horse should have a long neck and hanging nose

Stiffen the back and you stiffen the hindquarters then the only joint free to flex is the pastern and fetlock joints so the suspensory end up taking too much load and you then get suspensory issues.

The swinging back is where riding starts

Kissing spines GH has seen > 1 unbacked horse with impinging dorsal processes so not solely caused by riding. Possibly we are breeding horses with narrower spaces, however impinging dorsal processes rarely the primary cause of lameness.

95% of 'back problems' are rider related, how can we as vets ignore the influence of 80 kg of rider on the horse's back?

Natural crookedness is intercostals and deep abdominals less inclined to stretch on one side, 2007 gene discovered in humans for handedness, similar in horses? Thus a horse is unwilling to stretch his stiff side

Charles de Kunffy and Gerd Heuschmann Saturday morning

So this weekend I went to Dovecot Stables to see Gerd H and C de K together.

Started off with Charles talking and then Gerd talking, have to admit to not warming to Charles got somewhat bored of his constant refrain regarding the lack of microphone, yes I know his voice is weak but the mike got fried and best efforts to sort it had come to naught. Really didn't like his referring to leg movers as 'cockroaches' simply not necessary in my opinion.

Charles de Kunffy - The rider forms the horse

Not entirely sure Charles did the advertised topic well it wasn't what I was expecting.

We ride for the well being of the horse

Do not mix emotions with your actions

The more physical skill you have as a rider the more harm you can do if your attitude is wrong

The seat is to sit integrated in the horse's movement

Gerd Heuschmann - The basics of biomechanics

The soft / hollow side is the most difficult side for training

Swing the horse forward

Longissimus dorsi is strongest at loins ( c/f Crisp)

Forward canter can help to release a blocked horse due to the action of longissimus dorsi

Swing THROUGH the back

The back should swing in a wave not just alternate up/down

Think of hindquarters as a water pump and the back as the connected water hose going to the bit. If you as a rider block the back (the hose) the water will back up and over time will shut down the water pump.

Think of the hindquarters as a vertical spring and the back as a horizontal one, to compress the 'spring' of the haunches the 'spring' of the back must lengthen.

The rider's spine should have a soft swing (will not be visible) that should harmonise with the swing of the horse's back.

Form follows function for both horse and rider.

Because the longissimus dorsi is connected to the cervical vertebrae as the croup (pelvis) lowers the neck will raise (relative rising of the forehand)

Bending

9th -> 18th thoracic vertebrae have the maximum ability to bend BUT still not by much

The truck (ribs) of the horse can also rotate down SLIGHTLY

So (my words) bend is an illusion.

Visit to Carl Hester

So went to Carl's place thanks to BD Central region  organising the trip.

Sat in the car park at 09:35 at Carl's looking out over the outdoor that I have seen on DVD was amazing. It made me realise how as adults we (well me anyway) rarely feel pure excitement and it felt like being a child on Christmas Eve  As adults we tend to have excitement and apprehension/fear/whatever 

Felt like being at school again with Kim M   reminding us of the rules, all it needed was for K to say we were representing the school and to be on our best behaviour and it would have been school all over again. Well other than there was one smelly boy 

So we trooped into the school sat down and Carl was on Uti and Charlotte on Blueberry  they finished a groom took Uti and Carl went into host with the most   mode.

Katie came in on a four year old (by Nero) that was sat on briefly at three then came in again at four and has been in work three weeks. Carl worked this horse very lightly.

Then Charlotte on her own 5yo the one that was at the Convention you could see how he has matured since then 

Then it was ?

Charlotte rode a Breitling W chestnut that Carl described as a naughty wilful toad 'just like Charlotte'   

Then we had Don Archie (Dimaggio) who had been so so difficult then the lovely Nip Tuck and finally ? Golly

I really like Golly and yes he has brought home to me that what you see in 'competition' may be very very different to what you'd see at home. Totally different horse to even day two of the Convention. Relaxed and just lovely.

So other than kissing Blueberry, seeing the yard loo (very nice btw) what did I take away?

1/ Carl is very down to earth and come across as a thoroughly nice human being.

2/ They never throttle forwards, steeper half pass or whatever but no pulling (unless emergency obvs)

3/ They work a lot in canter

4/ Use LY rather than half pass when training.

5/ If I heard correctly he pretty much only uses two head positions either up on the bit or stretched,

Convention Reminder

Was even brave enough to ask a question  I wanted to know how CH's training had changed (assuming it had) since he left Dr B's to date.

Carl thought self carriage was the biggest change, learning what it meant and how to achieve it.

A grand day out  

British Dressage Convention 2012

Taken from the Horse & Hound Twitter Account 

Carl Hester: "There's no such thing as dressage for eventers and dressage for dressage riders. It's all just dressage"

Carl Hester: "Half-halts are invisible - or should be - that's why they're so hard to explain. It's what works for you."

Carl Hester: "You often have to ask a mare, not tell them - as you wives out there will understand"

Carl Hester: "Use lots of forwards and back transitions within the canter to spice up the hindleg"

Carl Hester: "When flying changes were introduced in eventing it was one of the most spectacularly amusing days"

Carl Hester: "Escapado took three years to learn - it was all flying and no changing"

Carl Hester: "Straightness is more difficult than piaffe/passage." 

Carl Hester: "Everybody should have to ride quarter lines - they show if the horse is contained in the outside aids."

Carl Hester: "To teach horses to land from changes in uphill way, ride fwds into them then collect straight afterwards."

Carl Hester: "Riders blame saddles when the problem is usually that the horse isn't straight and throws them off to side."

Carl Hester: "Valegro's so special because if you ask for nothing you get nothing, he moves normally & looks after himself"

Carl Hester: "Charlotte calls me Grandad and I call her Edwina Scissorhands as she had to learn to soften her hands & arms"

Carl Hester on Valegro: "He is gorgeous. Anyone says he isn't come and see me afterwards! He only ever wants to please"

Carl Hester: "In tempi changes let the wall help do the work of keeping the horse straight rather than always on diagonals"

Carl Hester: "Totilas proved that the lack of bond between horse and rider when compared with Charlotte and Valegro matters"

Carl Hester: "You should ride about 200 transitions per session - fwd & back to make the horse rideable & on the aids"

Carl Hester: "In the trot you have the piaffe/passage to get them light in front, in the canter you have the pirouettes."

Carl Hester: "Nip Tuck would love to be a front leg mover so we do lots of 10m circles and shoulder-in to engage hindlegs"

Carl Hester: "If Sam [Thurman-Baker] survives this session she'll be a star," - Dances With Wolves is super hot today!

Carl Hester: "With big young horses let the upper body and the corner do the work, not the rein

Carl Hester: "If you're doing young horse classes, take a box of tissues- not all judges will agree with you about yr horse"

Carl Hester: "Obedience to the hand and leg must start in the warm-up"

Carl Hester: "If a horse won't stretch at the beginning of session, work on a contact sooner then stretch when he is ready"

Carl Hester: "Walking for just 2 mins and sitting trot too early on in a session is not future-making for horses"

Carl Hester: "If you carry a whip just to make your horse go, you shouldn't carry one. They are just for small corrections."

Carl Hester: "I use the outside leg not the inside to give aid to canter because that's the aid in the tempi changes later"

Carl Hester: "Teach and practice flying changes on lines that aren't in tests, like the R-C line"

Carl Hester: "Don't panic if horse makes a mistake in changes, it's repetition repetition until he gets the hang of it."

Carl Hester: "A tense horse's lateral suppleness can be improved by very forward canter leg yields."

Carl Hester: "The only way to improve/influence horses' paces is to ride forward in a balanced way."

Carl Hester: "If horse isn't even in both reins don't keep pulling the heavy one - work to put the weight in the empty rein"

Carl Hester: "If horse is stiff on outside rein, use renvers to soften them up and add weight to other rein."

Carl Hester: "Horses in self-carriage will get tired esp if not used to holding themselves so intersperse with stretching"

Carl Hester: "Horses shouldn't be in box for 23 hrs/day & just ridden - it isn't fair. To keep healthy they must keep moving"

Carl Hester: "The trot is the easiest page to change & improve but you need to buy a good walk and a good canter"

Carl Hester: "Use half transitions to bring a horse back in trot and teach him to wait in balance rather than full half-halt"

Carl Hester: "I don't care what they say in young horse classes but Charlotte still thinks it's My Little Pony & gets upset."

Next up the hot boys, Dances With Wolves and Nip Tuck, whom Carl tried to sell but accidentally mixed up passports

Carl Hester: "It doesn't matter what type of horse you have, you can teach it square halts - they're 'free' marks."

Carl Hester: "If horse is strong, don't go in straight lines, circle & circle until he's not pulling & is balancing himself"

Carl Hester: "Valegro is the professor of dressage and has taught both Charlotte and I so so much."

Carl Hester: "Valegro has the best ability of all the horses in the world now to show a good hindleg."

Carl Hester: "Teach suspension in the trot and there in that moment you'll find the beautiful picture."

Carl Hester: "For lateral work always remember to sit on your inside seatbone."

Carl Hester: "Even with a straight horse like Valegro we keep the tempi changes on the long side to keep the straightness."

Claire Lilley

So off to a 'Position, aids and confidence' workshop with Claire Lilley, a very thoughtful Christmas present from the lovely Marianne.

Claire is lovely, playing at horse and rider was useful especially seeing how the 'horse' was confused when the outside rein was dropped.

Very glad have been to SFO as none of it was new but was excellent revision.

Think will think of pedal down for inside leg when wanting bend when SFO wants me 'down' my inside leg.

Excellent excellent afternoon thinking of going to her lunging workshop and might get her scales of training book,

Chuffed I am :-)