Amanda Johnson Clinic - June 2014 - Bacara

Amanda Johnson was teaching in Western Wisconsin again on June 14th and 15th. I had done my homework with my mare Bacara and had made sure our canter was somewhat better then it was at the last clinic. I took the time to work on shoulder in, shoulder in with a counter bend, haunches in and haunches in with a counter bend on a 15 meter circle. I was able to have way more ability to adjust the canter. That was really helpful coming into this clinic. The biggest difference in this clinic was that it was away from home which allowed Amanda to see what my horse was like at a horse show. She is way higher in her energy. So with that going on - we came up with a different approach to warming her up and ultimately riding her. On the first day we really focused on honestly aligning her and not losing her shoulders to the left in the trot. We rode from quarterline to quarterline working out shoulder placement. When traveling to the right, what helped the most was shoulder-in to Renvers to Shoulder in and back again. This really aligned her body and allowed throughness and collection to take place. But when traveling to the left it was better solved by haunches in to shoulder in and back again. This trot work set us up for success in the canter. On the second day of the clinic - we started after our initial stretching, in the canter. With no trot work first she almost reared into the canter. (She does have a fair amount of stress away from home.) Amanda told me that we were going to alternate between collection and stretching her into a longer frame to warm her up. Well we did all sorts of things in that way. We did 20 meter circles 10 meter circles, half pass all with varying lengths in her neck. This calmed her down more effectively than anything I have ever come up with. So I am thinking this is a great way to ride the canter on this horse for now. In the past I had always stretched her out in the canter at the start of the ride but had never blended it like that before. I think that when she is a finished horse she will be able to come up and stay up and do all of her canter work. I guess it does not really matter if it is a strength issue now or a mental block for her. The blending sure makes a huge positive difference! The other really loud thing was I have always done my flying changes 1/2 halt, 1/2 halt and then a change request instead of a third 1/2 halt. Hmmmm crooked or on the forehand or late. . .I stand corrected the proper sequence is 1/2 halt, 1/2 halt and change. The change request is immediately following the second half halt. Yikes. . .all of these years I have not been asking at the right time. . .sigh but the good news is I was able to get the best straightest changes out of Bacara! You have to love that. She is so sensitive she tells on me every time! I did give Bacara a few days off and did play with this again on my own. I did have a little drama as she is so smart she started to think two half halts in the canter must mean change. . .I had to go random on her and do the collected canter, stretchy canter and collected canter and then I could slip in a really nice good clean change that did not get light in front or backed off in any way. But this playing with the canter frame and balance is truly going to be homework for both of us as we feel our way through it. We also did quite a bit of work on 1/2 steps on the second day. Bacara seems to have a natural ability in this area. I figured out that it is best to approach at least for now from the trot. She comes into the 1/2 steps really well if she is honestly in front of my leg. If she is at all behind my leg, she will be irregular in the 1/2 steps. It looks like I have new homework this month but I am looking forward to playing with everything I have learned this past weekend.

April 2014 Amanda Johnson Clinic

It is always interesting to taking lessons from others and begin to understand their ideas and add them to what you already know. Amanda Johnson was no exception. With lower level horses, it was common to place them on a 20 meter circle and then do a turn on the forhand (a complete 360 degrees) and then back to the 20 meter circle. This really helped the young horses move better and had them bringing their inside hind leg up under and more engaged right away. This movement was very effective and easy for the young horses to understand right away. If you were riding a more advanced horse your warm-up was more likely to have a mix of shoulder for on the 20 meter circle to medium trot to shoulder for and repeat. This was a very powerful way to engage and loosen your horse. The horse used collection muscles briefly and then extension muscles breifly and the end result was a better moving horse fairly quickly. We all like this warm-up a lot! Another concept that was new for me was with horses that brace or get heavy in the bridle. Amanda said to juggle or basically systematically raise one hand and lower it as you raise the other and continue in that fashion. I rode a Lipizzan mare with this and it worked really well. She became softer in the bridle than ever before. I am thinking that there is just nothing for them to brace and lock into. This is very different than a lateral see saw, it is a slow longitudinal random rein that is hard for the horse to brace against. Then specifically I worked on canter improvement on my advanced mare. We have been doing changes for a while now and my biggest quality hole is that she get too crooked during the changes. We worked on a 15 meter circle doing shoulder for, shoulder for in counter bend, haunches in, haunches in with a counter bend. As a rider I am thinking it would be easier to do a canter pirouette. But I think the object of the game was to improve my ability to laterally adjust my horse without having an accidental flying change. I have been working on haunches in with a counter bend to a flying change. The changes from left to right are getting really good. The changes from right to left are still a little crooked but I can feel the position essentially blocking the crookedness. So I am finding this really effective in showing my mare how to be straighter during her changes. I look forward to the next Amanda Johnson clinic for more clarification and refinement. These clinics sure do make a difference us as we plan our training.

Blending Torso, Leg and Rein aids for improving your horse's movement

Strategies for mixing torso, rein and leg aids to add volume to a horse’s movement. When we, as riders, think about how to mix torso, rein and leg aid, the subject can seem overwhelming. Here are some simple ideas on how to mix these aids: The rider can come in with his/her torso tight and just hold it while half halting with the outside rein and pushing with the legs within the timing (not half halting for more than one beat). This helps a great deal to not get the horse locked in its neck or back. This applies to the walk and trot. But riders must remember to release their torso as the horse responds correctly to the half halts. As the horse improves its balance as a result of the half halt, the rider should loosen her/his torso for a reward. This works well for the walk and trot. For the canter, the rider should hold only as the horse swings the rider’s hips forward and release as the horse swings the hips backwards. This helps the horse balance better without constricting it. This is in addition to alignment not instead of it. Relative straightness in the canter will allow your horse to have an uphill canter. Over many years I have worked with many horses that are not warmbloods. These horses tend to need help in freedom of movement and collection both. As a result I have tried like crazy to aid them in the best possible timing and then release, and then aid them in the best possible timing and release . This builds their freedom in movement and then I ask for better balance and collection. The rider needs flexion in the horse to one side or the other to define an outside rein. The half halt then comes through really well on the rein that is opposite of the bend. This is required to a lesser degree on the loose moving warmbloods . They tend to really need more balancing then they need loosening. The rider will need their core engaged more to help them with their balance. I say this because if a rider has ridden mostly loose moving warmbloods, they are going to wonder what I am talking about. For example, I have been working on piaffe on one horse for 6 - 9 months. She tends to stress. In the past she has sometimes stressed out and I would release her from the movement and try again. Now she is mature enough in her thoughts about Piaffe that last week when I approached it and she stressed out, I just stayed in the Piaffe request until she found her way there. This horse is an example of a loose moving warmblood. She was stressing and worrying about the balancing aid. She really needs the longitudinal balance help more than she needs help loosening her gait. The approach to non- warmbloods is for me very different because they need to maximize their movement before they can be collected. When riding a loose moving warmblood, I can almost at the same time ask for more movement and better balance, but that would not work on a horse that had tighter movement. For a horse with tighter movement it is a step by step process. I really enjoy loosening tight horses and then have the riders elevate them into collection.

2013 USDF Annual Convention - December 4th through December 8th.

The Annual Convention was located in Lexingto KY this year, right in the middle of horse country. December can be a little tricky and this early December was no exception. We left Wisconsin a day early to drive out of a storm and left Lexington Saturday evening instead of Sunday to avoid an ice storm. The convention was great - driving conditions were fair to poor. The Board of Governers was really not overwhelmed with decision making. The only contested office that needed to be voted upon was Secretary of the Board for USDF. Margaret Freeman was elected to this position. She has a masters degree in journalism, an excellent choice. Lisa Gorretta, from region 2, ran unopposed for the position of Vice President. The USDF is very proud of the National championship show that was held in Lexington this year. Next year the championships are scheduled to be at Gladstone. There was a fair amount of talk about Intermediare being changed from 1 and 2 to A and B. This was done to make the steps towards grand Prix more gradual. Some of the educational classes that I had time to attend were Degenerative Joint Diseas, Equine Rehabilitation and Preventative care, Schleese Saddle fit for life, colic and equine emergencies, and gastro intestinal health in the equine athlete. There were some ey opening facts in each session. Degenerative Joint Disease and Equine Rehabilitation to me seemed fairly linked. It seems that giving Adequan every four days for 7 injections, was a helpful thing to do for your equine athlete. It really was one of those preventative options that can help your horse's joints long term. Adequan and Legend are the only FDA approved drugs that we have available for prevention and repair. Feeding joint supplements can help, but their absorbtion rate is quite a bit lower. Shoeing and soundness were talked about as well. Someone asked about shoeing versus natural farrier trimming. The response was that it really depended on the ground you were working on. Some areas of the country were so rocky, that it would be hard to make the natural trimming work well even if it was done very well. The other statement was that the natural trimmer would have to trim the hoof once every 3 weeks and the owner could not rely on the natural wear pattern of the horse. That being said, may folks who show dressage ride their horses often enough and long enough that added support is frequently needed. The training recommendation that was talked about was giving breaks during the training sessions. Allowing the joints to recover before moving on, is beneficial to your horse's joint health. The Schleese saddle fitting classes were also interesting. Jochen Schleese talked about the different saddles needed for men and women. He showed a the difference in how the femur was tied into the pelvis and why the difference was needed. He stated that girls or women needed a narrower twist and a wider seat to be comfortable and secure in the saddle. The placement of the stirrup bars also needed to be adjusted. Jochen stated that lower back pain and pelvis pain are associated with women riding in saddles made for men. Equine nutrition was also discussed and we talked about what kind of oil was best to use on feeds. Soybean Oil was the best option for oil that the horse would like the taste. Apparently, fish oil was even better but the horses are not liking the taste. The University of KY was playing with flavoring the fish oil with Cherry to make it easier for the horses to get used to. Oil decisions were made on which oils had more omega 3 verses omega 6 fats in them. The higher the ratio of Omega 3 the better. When talking about horse feeds, the issue of insulin resistant horses came up. Those horses are fed a low carb diet to keep the sugar to a minimum to avoid founder issues. The other specialty group seemed to be the horses that tie up. Those horses also did better on high fat feeds. Also horses with ulcer symptoms seemed to do better on higher fats feeds as well. There is a lot of research going on right now about which feeds should be fed to which horses. Feeding your horses for peak performance is going to be an interesting field to watch. The awards banquet on Saturday night was really nice. It is fun to see people doing well at all levels. This year I was there to pick up a bronze Freestyle Bar for the freestyles that I have ridden on Hazel and Bacara. The amount of equine knowledge in the room was very inspiring. One of the people that sat at our table was a trainer from California that trained at two farms, one for Hilda Gurney (trakehners), and then for a morgan breeding farm. I took the opportunity to talk with him about flying changes for horses with rounder more baroque bodies (like the Morgans). He shared with me some excersises that he likes for their body types. You never know where you will pick up more ideas! If you would like to talk about any of these things in detail, let me know. I took many photos of the slides! Thank you WWDA for sedning me to this conference as your GMO Rep!

Flying Changes - Tempi Changes - Straightness

In 2013, I showed my mare Bacara 4th level and am looking forward to showing Prix St. Georges in 2014. I really like to play with the movements before I actually need them for a test. Tempi changes are no exception. As I work alone much of the time, I have to figure out how to make quality improvements each week. In 4th level tempi changes were required in sets of three. In Prix St. Georges tempi changes are required in sets of five. You would not think this is a big deal but as it turns out, it sure can be. Bacara likes to carry her haunches a little to the right and if that happens, then I am unable to get a nice line of tempi chages and the whole line looks crooked. In fourth level, when only 3 changes were needed, it seemed like I had a little more time to get things straight and to get the series of changes started. Now looking towards Prix St. Georges, I either had a nice line or not and I was a bit frustrated on my lack of consistancy. I kept trying to slightly adjust the shoulders for straightness and sometimes it went well and other times it was just not enough. Finally, I decided that the solution to my issue was a full body solution. Now as I approach a flying change line from the left lead, I ask for a little bit of haunches in to obtain the straightness before I begin. And as you may guess, if I am approaching a flying change series from the right I do a little shoulder fore in the canter to align my horse. This reminds me once again to focus on the concept at hand and solve the straightness through the whole horse. This may sound like a simple solution, I wish I would have thought of it earlier! Live and learn! I thought I would share this in case anyone else has this issue.

Keeping the Dressage Horse's Energy Centered

We all know what a nicely moving dressage horse looks like moving nicely forward with a light contact on the reins. The light contact is the key. If there is no contact with the horse, it is really hard to have the horse hear any of your rein aids that tell him what is coming next. If there is too much contact and it feels like the horse is dragging you out of the saddle, you are not going to be able to communicate well either. There are also horses that alternate between no contact and heavy contact. The first order of business in this situation is to have a steady outside rein for your horse to use as a guide. If the horse is able to pull your rein out of position or you as a rider accidently move it too much then the horse has no outside rein to guide him on the best place to be. I frequently place a leather strap or even twine string from one D ring to the other on the front of a dressage saddle so the rider can hold the outside rein and the strap at the same time. This teaches the rider who accidently moves their outside rein to keep it steady. This also helps the rider not be pulled forward if the horse is pulling on them. One of the worst things you can do is see saw your reins. Becuase if your horse is heavy in the rein, he will either brace into the see saw or he will go completely light and have no contact with the bit. Neither of these options makes your horse easier to ride or more correct. The energy of the horse should feel like it is centered under the saddle and the horse has his balance. To make this happen, there must be a light feel in the rein. For the horse that is emptying the rein contact steadying the outside rein (even if you need to hold onto a strap with your outside hand) gives them a steady rein they can trust. Then gently push the horse forward into the contact. Some horses will go from no contact to heavy contact. That is o.k. if the contact gets heavy, flex the horse with your inside rein to encourage the horse to drop their head and neck and relax into the reins. The steady contact is really important as it will show the horse where to go. No contact means you need to push your horse forward to the bridle. Then there are the horses which pull and are really hard to ride as they try to out muscle the rider. Oddly the same steady outside rein helps. The steady outside rein that holds the strap makes the outside rein secure. Then flex the horse's head and neck to the inside while you push him forward. Repeatedly reward forward and soft. This kind of horse uses bracing and blocking to make his job easier hoping his rider will give up. Instead the rider is going to push him actively into the bridle with a until he takes a softer contact and give this horse frequent breaks. If it is hard to get a softer contact, think mini lengthenings whenever you do not feel like you have enough effort. This horse gets physical breaks following a short period of nice forward work with a soft following neck and topline. In this way you can teach your bracing horse to go forward and soft.

Training Process For Independent Riders

In Western WI there are two kinds of students I routinely help. The first kind is the independent kind that wants to do the training themselves and the second kind is the kind who would like more interactive help but cannot afford it. It really makes no difference to me if the owner wants to or needs to do it themselves. The result is the same. I have to create a normal feel to show them how to train their horses. I learned that BJ Ragatz was one of the best equine dentists through the school of hard knocks. I have had probably 10 different float people over the last 30 years and no one can even come close to his skill level. When he floats a horse, the rider gets a normal mouth feel and that will help them in their training. Saddle fitting I have learned over the last 30 years by the school of hard knocks as well. Saddle fitters are a useful tool but you have to be very aware of your horses preferences. For Pete's sake, I now have several different makes and models of saddles at the barn and it really does help. Making a horse comfortable with its saddle creates a normal feel for the rider as well. Lameness or gait irregularity was learned along the way but pounded into my head in the L program or the learner judges training program. This was a year long program that focused on how to numerically score the horse. If I scored a horse in my test with a numerical score higher than a 5 which had any gait irregularity, I was going to fail the course. My instrucors were mainly Janet Foy (Olympic judge) and Thomas Poulin, (Grand Prix judge). It was not good enough to say irregular or unlevel steps, you had to say if the irregularity originated in the front or the back. You were asked publicly to state your ideas and defend them. The pressure to be sure was immense - so I studied like a crazy fool. I could not afford to flush the money I paid for the program down the drain - I wanted to make the most of the education and to pass. Heck I even went and sat with Marilyn Heath, another Grand Prix judge/instructor who was sometimes a bit abrupt but very bright, because her strength was one of my weaknesses. Riding and training a horse is a personal journey. I get that as there are some horses that I have had for extended personal journeys. But there is a system that governs the personal journey and makes it work. The L Program helped me understand dressage as a system which needed to be personaized to each horse and rider but was still a system non the less. My system for helping independent riders is as follows: 1. Make the horse completely comfortable and that means teeth, saddle, feet and Chiropractic (no exceptions!) At that point the rider who is learning to train will be able to feel that horse's normal. (Otherwise all the rider feels are the blocks that have not been solved) This step may have to be revisited from time to time especially in the saddle fitting area or in the soundness area if the rider increases the intensity of the work for the horse. For example, shoes may be needed as the work load of the horse increases. 2. Teach the basics step by step and help the rider develop the proper feel. At this stage the rider gets to do a lot of fun things and has a variety of things to work on and think about. 3. Help the rider develop a deeper understanding of how movements are connected to each other and what they do for the horse. This is when the rider is able to move up the levels successfully. Oddly, if there is a disagreement between the trainer and the student it usually is in reference to step one. I am not sure how step one - making the horse comfortable can be a stressy thing. The only thing I can think is that people are offended if it is pointed out that they inadvertantly made their horse uncomfortable. We all have had to learn the subtle signs of discomfort over the years and it is not a perfect science. Give yourself a break, solve the comfort piece and move on and enjoy your horses!