Balanced Rider Blog

Anticipation

Irina Yastrebova — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:13:00 -0600

Horses are very smart creatures in their own right. They do not use reason or abstract thinking. However, they have unbelievable memory and they like to anticipate. Even though, sometimes their anticipation is inconvenient, it is a great tool for smart and sympathetic training.

One of the ways to tap into your horse's ability to anticipate is always ask in the same order starting with the lightest aids possible. For example, you want your horse to go more forward. First of all make sure your hands are soft. Now you think - "forward" with your seat, pressing pelvis to the front of the saddle and putting more weight on your thighs (old masters used the aid of stepping more firmly into the stirrups), then lightly touching with your calfs, then bumping him more firmly, now it is time for a tap from the whip or a touch from the spur. If, during that sequence your horse responds correctly you cease all the aids except keeping your seat in forward mode (not pushing with your seat!!!) Every time you want more energy in the gait you follow the sequence. You may have your own I'm not saying that mine is the only way. The important part is to stick to it relentlessly. You will be surprised how quickly your horse starts to "grow" in his understanding of what is coming. Just remember, always the same sequence.

Repetition of the exercise is another way to use your horse's anticipation. You simply ride the figure and wait until it starts to flow and your horse responds to lightest aids because he knows what is coming. You want to impress upon your horse that he is smart, he knows what to do and how to do it. You want to cultivate pride in your horse, eagerness to show you how good he is. However, if you stay too long after things start to flow your horse may start to ignore you, get bored or tired. Be smart and change the subject after couple good runs. A precaution - do not choose very difficult exercise. This way no amount of repetition will help, things only get worse.

If you want your horse become very responsive to your aids do not be in a hurry to ask for a movement. Put your body in the position for the movement, then give your horse a moment to get ready before you ask for it. For example, canter depart. As you know for the canter you need your outside leg behind the girth, your outside seatbone slightly behind the inside one, the horse is positioned to the inside, soft on inside rein, slightly concave to inside leg. A few strides before the spot for the canter create all of the above in walk or trot and then simply wait until it is time to give an OK signal. Because you always prepare for your canter in the same way your horse will know what is coming. He will be anticipating canter and will strike off from the lightest indication from you. And it doesn't matter exactly what you use for the final GO. It can be inside leg, outside leg, outside seat bone, inside seatbone. Whatever works for you and your horse. And all the debate about which leg to use is rendered useless.

Yesterday, I have worked on canter departs through figure eight. Using the techniques I have described above I finished the exercise with absolutely balanced, light and smooth canter departs from trot. These departs gave me the feeling that I just need to think about canter and the horse responds. And I was working sensitive, very mobile and hyperactive Arab who is still learning how to settle in canter and listen to me instead of getting excited and run around.

Happy riding...

The Shaping

Irina Yastrebova — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 13:01:00 -0600

Think of a horse in a similar way a sculptor thinks about clay or marble. Only with the horse things are much more complicated because a horse is a living creature with it's own will and power. In a young horse you see power and beauty in a similar way a sculptor looks at the marble stone and can imagine his creation. Now the purpose of a trainer to tame the power and will and to shape the raw energy into a union of balance, control and agility without altering the horse's personality and while doing so developing a close partnership with the horse. Sculptor's marble stone no matter how unique can be replaced with the new stone if ruined. A horse if ruined has scars that stay inside forever altering his vision of humans and making his life miserable as long as he depends upon them for survival. However, in this blog, I wanted to talk about shaping horse's body not shaping horse's mind even though those two are very interlinked and depended on each other.

I know from the experience that the way a horse is ridden can make a great impact on his development. I do not like a word framing when it comes to riding a horse. Probably because it implies something stiff and unchangeable like a frame of a picture or a house. I prefer a word - Shaping. I like to shape my horse when I ride him. And I'm not talking about the neck and the head, these parts of a horse are last to shape. They are more of indicator of how everything else is moving. First, I observe and listen to the way a horse moves, keeps his balance and his posture.

Is his rhythm regular: four beat in walk, two in trot and three in canter?
Is he tense and/or frightened?
Is there any asymmetry to the movement - hips are swinging more to one direction than other, landing heavier on one diagonal than another, leaning more into one side of his body than the other, etc?
Does he feel stiff or sort of clunky in his movement or he is supple and fluid? One side stiffer than the other?
How does he carry his head and neck when there is no contact on the reins?
Does he like to go slow or fast?
Which direction he likes to turn and which he doesn't?

So many questions to ask. And then I take time to "listen" with great deal of attention and focus to what the horse is "telling" me about himself. For this I need to be very quiet in the saddle and as balanced as possible. I do not want to create "noise" in our "conversation".

After I get a general picture I start working toward changing his natural idiosyncrasies toward symmetrical, regular and unconstrained movement. This process is what I call shaping. I use my whole body to shape the whole body of the horse. This shaping is slow and methodical process that never cease to exist as long as I'm on a horse. It is not about pulling, restricting or kicking. It is about directing horse's raw energy into the channel of balanced and correct movement.

With green or young horses riding a simple 20 m circle correctly is a challenge and it will take sometime before they can do it properly. They have their own idea how to move their bodies and they do not give up the familiar way of going easily. Being impatient or punishing the horse for not being able to keep the correct posture or balance will not get you far. Imagine that you are trying to learn to write with the other hand you usually do not use for writing. Now, imagine someone hitting you with the stick every time you did it slower or more crooked than that person wants. Now, imagine the hitter changes his mind now and then and hits you when you think you did pretty well for his standards. The difference between you and the horse is that you may sincerely want to learn how to write with the other hand. However, the horse has no intention or desire to go differently than he does. You are only betting on his natural desire to have as minimum discomfort as possible. If you can show your horse that correct way of going is more comfortable than incorrect and you do it the same way every single time you have a chance to convince him to try for you. Even that doesn't guarantee that he will succeed. Remember, trying to write with the other hand. If your messages unclear because of your luck of balance there is very little chance your horse will "get it." If you cloud your communication with emotions and inconsistency your chances are minimum to none. Your brain during riding must work at it's full capacity. There is so much information to process at such speeds you do not have time for emotions, family problems or wishful thinking.

That is what I love about riding and dressage in particular. This approach makes me so sympathetic toward horses and to see things with a sense of humor. The horses are so clever at finding loopholes around our requests for them. The green and young horses are especially because they are not mentally conditioned to obey, yet. They ask so many questions and present a rider with so many challenges. I sometimes feel mentally drained after riding them, because they were stretching my patience and reserves of my abilities to the limit. A few years ago I would brake into pieces, fall into ugly abusive and angry state of mind. That didn't do me or my horse any good. Now, I'm able to stand on my own and keep "conversation" going without "hysterics". I must tell you the progress in training and partnership is so much faster and more enjoyable because of that. Shaping a horse into beautiful and graceful partner who can carry you with ease calmly listening to your requests is long and unique for every horse. Enjoy the process, enjoy the grow you see in your horse and yourself, the only limit is your imagination.

Happy riding...

Olympics 2008

Irina Yastrebova — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 17:11:00 -0600

Canada wins Silver medal in team Show Jumping in jump off with US for gold. What a great effort! It gets even better. Canadian Eric Lamaze with his amazing horse Hickstead wins gold in individual Show Jumping! Canada is ecstatic :) It was a long time ago when we had a medal and we never had a gold one in jumping until now!

Canada was broadcasting equestrian Olympics from start to finish, everything. What a treat! I finally saw Eventing from start to finish including all dressage and stadium jumping. Interestingly enough eventing dressage reminded me the local dressage shows. The test wasn't very difficult and horses were good but they were not brilliant movers that you usually see in high caliber Grand Prix dressage. Some riders rode very well. However, most of the riders need improvement in sitting trot. They were not connected to their horses and bounced all over the saddle. In cross-country the course was built on a golf course, right between fairways and through the bankers. Because of that the cross-country course had lots of turns and ups and downs. It became very technical and demanded a good partnership and skills from horses and riders. People who bossed their horses around didn't have very good rounds. It was interesting to see that riders who didn't do well in dressage didn't have a chance for a medal and many of them didn't do well in cross-country or stadium jumping phases.

Show Jumping was very impressive. Jumps were works of art. I have never seen such beautiful jumps. And they were big and wide - 150-160 cm high. Difficult combinations: tight turn into 14 feet of water after vertical in the first day, or, water and 5 strides into tight vertical-vertical combination. So many horses couldn't handle that. Again, you could pick out horses who were pushed or punished to jump clean in their training. These horses didn't come through at the moment their riders needed them most. One horse decided he doesn't care and jumped through every jump without even trying. The successful jumper must love to jump. Yes, he need technique and scope and power. But all of it will not cost a dime if he doesn't enjoy jumping and doesn't honestly try for the rider. It is really encouraging to see all the safety caps and light rails. Horses do not hurt themselves when they hit the jumps, jumps fall to pieces from the lightest touch. It was interesting to see that some horses really stopped trying when they discovered that jumps do not hurt them. Watching that made me wonder about people who use all kinds of tricks including pain to make a horse jump clean...

Dressage was some what predictable as usual, especially for the first two spots in team and individual competition. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see that some combinations were awarded good scores for good correct riding even if their horses were not big, flashy movers. There was only two times where I really didn't agree with the judges.One was Andalusian stallion from Spain team Fuego XII that did a very good Grand Prix test. He is so gorgeous and he moves very well. He got surprisingly low score, even Cara Whitham, Canadian "O" judge, was very surprised at the number. Another was Isabel Werth's Sachmo who managed to stay on top with 76% in Grand Prix Special after major resistance you can say rebellion in piaffe. It was very interesting to listen to Cara Whitham commenting on the rides. Most of the time I agreed with her. She was very good at pointing out good executions or mistakes. I taped the whole Olympic dressage to watch it again, listen and develop my eye. Last time I did that with World Equestrian Games it really improved my ability to "see"..

Happy riding...

Coaching Camp and Exams. Part IV

Irina Yastrebova — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 20:03:00 -0600

On Saturday I had to teach 3 students. For my lesson I was given only 20 minutes. These 20 minutes included introduction, explanation, demonstration, actual practice and conclusion. My lesson subject was given to me on the first day of the camp - Simple change of lead through trot. I have practiced teaching it for my evaluation. I had to write a complete lesson plan for an hour lesson using the NCCP standards and present it before I start teaching. I have spent 2 hours Friday night making a final copy of my lesson plan. I knew what to say I just needed to organize and write it down. Because I was in a hotel and we had only a notebook computer with us I couldn't print my lesson plan I wrote it by hand. It took 4 pages :)) I used mental visualization and timed myself rehearsing in my head. That was a good idea because I had to change wording and emphasis to shorten my explanation otherwise it took too long. All in all I felt prepared when I fell asleep on Friday night.

On Saturday morning I have realized that I'm nervous when I felt sick to my stomach coming closer and closer to the barn. It was a strange feeling. My head was calm and clear but my stomach was full of squirming creatures of unknown origin :) I was first to teach and felt very lucky about that. I knew when I get inside the ring and start working with the students I will be fine. Before I started I have checked safety issues such as closed gates, loose jumping caps, etc. Other candidates helped me to move jumps around so I have a clear room for my exercise. Introduction was brief. I checked girl's tack and started explaining the subject of our lesson. Explanation included what, why, how, where, when and who. For the demonstration I drew a picture on the sand - diagonal with simple change and articulated important moments and points of the exercise. When girls started riding I forgot I'm doing a test. I simply worked with them on ongoing issues they were having such as not enough impulsion, running on the diagonal, leaning too much forward, constant kicking with the legs, etc. After two runs of the exercise I was told to rap up my lesson. Girls improved on the second run, I pointed out what was good, what they need to work on and why it is important for them as jumper riders.

When I came up to the examinator's booth I was expecting questions about my teaching. There was no questions for me only two requests:

Examinators wanted to keep my lesson plan and use it as an example for the future candidates.
I was told that I'm a wonderful teacher and I should establish a student base and get on with my education to become a Level 2 English Coach because the Coaching program needs coaches like me.

These two requests and praise that I received was the most gratifying experience I had for a long time. I know my students recognize my work and that is very important to me. However, recognition from the peers of such experience who are themselves are wonderful teachers (I know I had lessons from them) gave me extra boost :)

I would like to thank my students for believing in me and letting me polish my teaching skills over the last year. I couldn't have done it without them.

Happy riding...

Coaching Camp and Exams. Part III

Irina Yastrebova — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:12:00 -0600

Friday was the exams day. We had to teach a student on the longe line, ride flat test, jump a course, put bandages and answer questions about barn management (feeding, conformation, hooves and shoeing, equestrian facilities, unsoundness sites and causes, tack and it's use).

For longing lesson candidates were paired up with each other and one horse. We were given 10 minutes to show that we can longe a horse to prepare it for the rider and to teach a subject. I have chosen rising trot. I explained what to do on a standing horse and asked the rider to do rising trot in walk and then in trot. I had to give ongoing feedback on the subject I was teaching and on the general position and aids of the rider.

After that I had an hour to prepare B2 for my flat test. Luckily, he was in his stall and had a flysheet on so he was decently clean. Braiding his mane took me about 30 minutes. I said to myself if I do not braid half of the mane in 15 minutes I will not braid at all. B2 was very nice and stood still. I have trimmed his ears and made his tail full of body and flow, he has such beautiful tail. When I was ready to go and stepped out of the barn and saw how gorgeous B2 looks I have realized I did not have my camera :( I was so busy with preparation and studying I forgot about pictures. My plan to prepare B2 for the test was to get his attention, get him nice and round, sharpen him to the leg a little but not drill too much and not let him stand and wait before test. We were running late and I was worried that B2 gets tired, annoyed and inattentive. I walked him on free rein then did couple minutes of trot and canter than walked again. When I did that routine for the third time B2 started to get stubborn. I was thinking:"Oh, no!" I decided to walk and pray that my time will be very soon. My strategy paid off. B2 was great! The test went according to my expectations and even a little better. The test was simple. I memorized it after seeing for the first time: working trot and canter, lengthenings, free walk, figures eight in trot and canter. On 20 m circle I had to let B2 chew reins out of my hands, he put his head right to the ground, we lost a little bit of balance at the end because of lack of engagement. But that is something I didn't insist on. Not knowing B2's limits I didn't want to blow my test. Besides, it wasn't a competition. I analyzed my performance for examinators to show that I understand what has happened during my ride and what needs more work.

Now I have an hour to cool down and groom B2, get Kopper, groom, tack and warm him up before jumping test starts. I decided not to braid his mane and just work on his tail. My plan for warm up was to make him very sharp to my legs. By the time we were allowed to jump gymnastics Kopper was flying from the slightest request. I kept him in his natural frame not asking for any collection, that was Trish's advice from Thursday. It was working beautifully. The whole gymnastics exercise went very smooth. We got all the distances right and it felt easier than on Thursday. Our course was 3 feet high with 9 jumps, one double combination, one trot jump, roll back, two changes of direction, two jumps on bending line with related distances and two jumps on straight line with related distances, two oxers. We jumped clean, however, not smooth :) I lost energy and had to scramble to get two strides in combination, overrode last turn and came too close to a jump, luckily Kopper knew what to do and I was quick enough to get out of his way. I was worried about jumping bending line because of my inexperience in jumping. So I focused on riding a line and not thinking about jumps. I got a little close to the first one, but we got a good distance to the second one. After the ride I had to explain what went right and wrong during my ride, how many strides I got here and there and what I need to do to ride the course better. I was very pleased with Kopper, we did better than many who claimed to be jumper riders. I know I was given a school jumping horse. But I also know that horse does only as well as a rider rides it. In general I was very pleased with the horses I rode and the performances we did. I was pleased with myself and the way I have handled everything.

Bandages and barn management was easier than I thought. Because I studied and practiced at home I felt prepared. My bandages were tidy and correct and I was confident with my answers to barn management questions.

The day went well and only teaching test was left for Saturday. I spent 2 hours at night writing my lesson plan and drawing a layout of the facility. Emergency Action Plan I did on Thursday night. I even managed to sleep at night :)

Happy riding...

Coaching Camp and Exams. Part III

Irina Yastrebova — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 09:06:00 -0600

Thursday was riding day for me. I had a jumping lesson with Trish Mrakawa in the morning and I have worked B2 in the afternoon.

Trish has a wonderful technical knowledge and experience in jumping. Her approach is serious and very solid. She puts a lot of emphasis on correct riding between fences. All that made her lesson extremely interesting and valuable for me. We did gymnastics to start with and then rode a course similar to Friday's jumping test. Trish told us that after gymnastics line we must decide either to halt or continue and canter the corner and short side. Horses that rushed through gymnastics were usually halted, others could continue and even encouraged to canter forward. The point was to have control but not to teach your horse he may stop after every line. I had to remind Kopper to go forward before, during and after gymnastics. Later we did a line of two jumps with related distance. You could ride it as 6 normal strides, 5 lengthened strides or 7 short strides. Kopper wanted 7 short ones, I managed to get 6 normal. The biggest issue for me was to look where I go next. I would fix my eyes on the second jump and than would not look further beyond it. Another issue of mine is wait for the jump to come to me and not try "jumping" ahead of the horse. All these mistakes are very typical of someone with not enough jumping practice :) Trish told me to keep Kopper's natural balance and just ride him forward and he will do his job. That advice really paid off on Friday.

Many other candidates did rider levels riding tests after lunch. Because I already had mine done in November I wanted to ride B2 but his saddle was in use so I did my coach level 1 written test instead. I tried to find a quiet place but that was impossible. Kids were everywhere. They were doing rider level written tests and discussing it with each other :) My test was easier than I thought and I finished it pretty quickly. There was 14 questions on the subjects of teaching, feeding, training, soundness issues, first aid treatment.

I wanted to work B2 by myself to prepare for my flat test. The place I could work was the galloping grass ring. All other rings were busy. I forgot to put a fly spray on him and during warm up walk he bucked couple times being bitten by a horse fly. I have decided not to walk for long :) B2 was very inattentive at the beginning, yelling to other horses, looking around, etc. It took me a while to settle him down into work. After that he was wonderful. I decided not to ride the whole test but practice pieces of it that needed most work. So we did lots of transitions - trot-walk-trot, canter-trot-canter, figures eight, lengthenings, chewing reins out of the hand on a circle. He was hard to put together. He would go behind the bit or above it. I decided for my test tomorrow I rather keep him slightly behind the bit and not press too much with forward issue. I wanted him to be with me and not take over. I quit when transitions started to flow and became sharper, when he started to anticipate them and responded to the leg quite decently. I felt that I did enough preparation for Friday's test, I felt that I'm ready. I enjoyed working B2 enormously. I have realized that I love dressage for that quiet "conversation" and connection that develops during such work. After my ride I felt like I know him better, like we got acquainted with each other.

Happy riding...

Coaching Camp and Exams. Part II

Irina Yastrebova — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:09:00 -0600

On Wednesday we had a workshop with physiotherapist Sandra Sokoloski. She is a sport therapist and has been working with riders for a long time. Together with Trish Mrakawa and Jenny Vincent, computer analyst, they developed a program called "Beyond the Gaze". Sandra gave very interesting and entertaining power-point presentation on what components are important for developing an athlete. For example, proper breathing, core strength, mental preparation, skill development, and etc. Because riding involves balance and it's constant readjustment human body imbalances and habits can create real problem in the correct development of a rider as an athlete.

Sandra and Trish identified several common compensations riders use to deal with their lack of proper balance:

"Over-equitator" - rider with very stiff overarched back, shoulders artificially pulled backwards, upper chest usually collapsed.
"Butt clencher" - rider who grabs the saddle with her gluteal maximus muscles (big buttocks muscles). This rotates the whole leg outward and encourages grabbing with the calfs. Characteristic feature of such rider is toes turned way out.
"Arm bracer" - rider with very strong and stiff latissimus dorsi muscles. During the jump, arms are not released forward but stay bent in the elbow close to the body. Rider leans too much forward instead of allowing her arms to follow horse's mouth.
"Twister" - rider who twists when the seat is not in the saddle (rising trot, two-point position, during jump), imbalances in thigh muscles strength and endurance. Especially inner thigh muscles, adductors, that are responsible for stabilizing us in the center of a saddle. Most riders that I work with including myself have a weak left inner thigh muscle. Characteristic features: stirrups feel uneven, left feels longer than the right one, right circles feels easy, left circles feel unbalanced (fear of falling over to the outside).

After lunch we had a practical application of the theory. We have watched riders and with Sandra's help identified "butt clenchers", this one was popular, "twisters", "arm bracers" and "over-equitators". One of the points that Sandra was stressing out for jumper riders is butt moving backwards in two-point position. Most of the riders simply stand up in the stirrups and lean forward. That compromises their balance. If upper body moves forward in two-point something has to move backwards, buttocks! This creates balance in distribution of mass and center of gravity stays above the feet giving rider feel of security and stability. Another comment that Sandra repeated many times is using your outside hip to turn the horse on the circle. Sandra said: "Move your outside hip forward more than inside in every step." I, personally, would say it differently but the idea is correct - to use your hip to direct your horse into the turn. My word of caution about hips in turns is being aware that one hip naturally forward than the other and directing it even more forward may create balance issues and horse's haunches swinging out.

To ride with Sandra I was given Blondy, Trish's 4-year-old beautiful sorrel mare. I didn't know she was 4 when I rode her. She was so calm, steady, obedient I didn't realize she is that young. My first issue was sitting a little bit too much on my seatbones. I wonder if that was because of the jumping saddle with very narrow twist. I need nice and wide support for my crouch area. If I don't get that I feel like I'm falling forward, my crouch is pinched and I must fix it anyway I can. Not all jumping saddles are like that. The one I used on B2 was very comfortable. My second issue is my left inner thigh. Interestingly enough, I know about it. However, Sandra stressing it again made me more aware of the problem and renewed my focus. The difference in strength is such that riding through the left turns I must consciously "let go" with my right thigh to stay centered in the saddle. This naturally puts my right seatbone down in the saddle and I can use my hip to direct a horse on the left circle. I have checked it with all horses that I ride, they all responded in the correct way.

I have truly enjoyed the workshop. Analyzing riders sharpens your eye and understanding of correct biomechanics of riding. I will talk about Thursday in my next blog. I didn't realize how much I have learned participating in the workshop.

Happy riding...

Coaching Camp and Exams.Part I

Irina Yastrebova — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:27:00 -0600

I'm back from my camp. And I have passed!!! Thank you everyone for your good lucks and encouragement. Your thoughts kept me together through the chaos of the week. The schedule was so intense and so much had to be done that some people were on the verge of a hysteric. But what a fun week it was. So much learning, watching, riding, listening. All our senses were engaged 150% :) There was three camps running at the same time: children, training (jumping) and coaching. I do not know how they did it but they did it. Everybody got a horse to ride and things were done that had to be done. I'm taking my hat off to the organizers of the camps: Trish Mrakawa, owner of Willow Grove Stable, EL 3, Kathy Chalack, EL 2 and Rita Condon, EL 2. Plus their crew Allison, barn manager and coach, EL 1, and Jennifer, coach EL 1. Allison and Jennifer dealt with children and all our questions about horses and tack for them. Stephanie Mah, EL 1 and NCCP Learning Facilitator, conducted the NCCP course for us.

First two days Monday and Tuesday we had an NCCP course for the first half of each day. I found out that I'm a visual learner. I always thought that I learn best when I hear information. I started watching myself :) and realized that it is not true, I learn best when I see. The third type of learning is through feel. We have studied how learning happens and what instructor should do to help her students. For our teaching test we had to write a lesson plan by NCCP standards. I have spent 3 hours drafting and then making final copy. My hard work was acknowledged. My lesson plan was taken as an example for future candidates.

The second half of the day on Monday and Tuesday was riding. Monday - dressage with Loraine Hill, EL 2, and Tuesday - jumping with Rita Condon. I was told that for my exams I will have to ride two different horses. One for the dressage test and one for the jumping: gymnastics and course. Trish's own beautiful big black gelding, barn nickname - B2, was my dressage partner. And my jumping partner was a solid school horse - Kopper. He has a beautiful copper chestnut coat. My first rides on these horses were a little bit shaky. B2 plowed through all transitions and didn't want to go long and low. Loraine Hill gave me a very good advice about my hands. I was trying to encourage B2 to lower his head by lowering my hands. This made me carry my hands too low and my elbow angle too open. It locked my elbows. As soon as I started to carry my hands better and ask for softness through my fingers and half-halts B2 became much better. He chewed reins from my fingers down to the ground and then got stuck behind the leg :) Kopper jumped very solid. However, he is stiff and it unseated me a little bit over the jumps. After gymnastics Rita made us jump an interesting line with turns and related distances. First try I overrode and messed things up, second one was much better. Watching Rita teach other riders was a wonderful learning experience. She is very enthusiastic and direct coach. I like that in coaches.

Plus at the end of each day we had an evaluation: on Monday - longeing a rider and on Tuesday - teaching a riding lesson.

In the next blog I will talk about Wednesday and Thursday. We had very interesting workshop with physiotherapist on Wednesday and jumping lesson with Trish Mrakawa on Thursday.

Happy riding...

Coaching Camp and Exams

Irina Yastrebova — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 15:10:00 -0600

Wish me luck, everyone! I'm leaving today for a week of intensive coaching training and preparation for the exams. At the end of the week on Friday and Saturday I'm going to take the exams for Equine Canada English Coach Level I. The exams include riding on the flat and jumping 3' course, written test, barn management, horse conformation and soundness, basic veterinary knowledge, bandages, lungeing a horse and rider and teaching a rider. During the week we are going to audit an NCCP course (National Coaching Certification Program), practice teaching, dressage, jumping, preparation for competition and exams.

I'm very excited to go and immerse in the atmosphere of riding, teaching and learning. I will tell you about my experiences when I get back.

Happy riding...

Figure eight for simple change of lead II

Irina Yastrebova — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 09:42:00 -0600

Now it is time to do the figure eight in canter. Warm up your horse as usual incorporating figure eight exercises in walk and trot from the previous blog. When you are ready for canter work start on 20 m circle that goes through the "gate" (see the previous blog). Work on trot-canter-trot transitions. Keep your trot forward but steady. At the beginning canter at least the whole 20 m circle before bringing your horse back to trot, establish steady balanced trot before asking for a canter depart. If your horse brakes into trot do not ask for canter immediately, and especially with "angry leg". Reestablish his balance in trot and ask for canter again. Work on transitions until your horse settles down into exercise and starts to anticipate them. Change direction in trot through figure eight. But make sure you have good balanced trot before changing direction.

As you can see in some way we already started working on a figure eight in canter. We just put lots of circles in between and long stretches of trot work. The development of exercise is to start diminishing number of circles between changes of direction through figure eight and number of trot steps until it becomes true figure eight. Now ride only one transition to canter on a new lead, canter 1 or 2 circles and ask for trot again. As soon as trot is balanced change direction through the figure eight. Same thing on another rein. If your horse feels prompt, steady and balanced make only one circle in canter. Make your transition to trot at least half-circle before the"gate". Establish good trot and change direction. Pick up a new lead as soon as you establish a new bend. Again just one circle in canter and transition to trot half-circle before the "gate". Gradually bring your transition to trot closer to the gate and pick up a new lead as soon as you change your bend. Your horse will tell you how quickly you should approach true figure eight. Do not be tempted to ride it when your horse is loosing his balance, rushing, on the forehand, hard to turn, behind your legs. Wait until it feels almost easy to execute. You will be rewarded with nice and balanced figure eight that looks effortless.

Always remember, if things are not working out today you can try again tomorrow. There is a reason it is not working. Something is not right, either you or your horse is not ready. Always listen to your horse, he will tell you where to go next.

Happy riding...