Confessions of a "Perch-er"

[polo]

My name is Polo…

I perch, and I pinch… the deadly duo.

I too am unable to sit trot with stirrups and when I do execute a lovey sit trot without, I make strange grinchy faces that spoil it entirely.

I also insist on pulling on my horses face and throwing myself up his neck in front of any jump over 3’6".

I, need help.

[thecowboyway]

my name is leaper and I love to crawl to the first jump. I could have sworn I was galloping…

[JRG]

Hi, my name is Jackie and I drop my left shoulder tracking left. I also in the zeal of getting my OTTB to stay cantering (kind of an oxymoron, I know) I earge and drive on the flat…

I have now isolated the problem and will take my licks accordingly. Whats the second step?

[Regalmeans]

My name is Sarah
I always round my back when I land off jumps - I’m find on the takeoff but it slips to a roach in the air. I also either close my angle to much or not enough and I either slip the reins to much in hacks or don’t follow at all. All of this greatly annoys my trainer whose goal in life is to fix these habits. I confess I have faults.

On the other hand I now trust my horse, jump on a looser rein, can see spots, and don’t chip. See…i’m improving…really Chrissy I am (Chrissy is my trainer)

Sarah

[AHC]

I’m AHC, and I’ve just found this great thread! After watching my video from last Sunday’s horse show where my horse was a perfect angel…

I drop my left shoulder and lean to the left, but that’s getting better. Like DMK, I look down for my leads around the course even though I feel them. Every once in a while I make too much of a move with my body when I want my horse to move up to a distance. If I don’t concentrate really, really hard on it, I snap my upper body back a fraction of a second too soon on landing, interfering with the very end of my horse’s arc over the jump. Going along with that, sometimes my release is perfect, sometimes it’s too skimpy. I am a long-time knee pincher – it’s gotten better but I always resort to it when I’m tired or nervous. And last but not least, my leg swings at the canter. I’m rationalizing the last one, which I don’t do on other horses, and saying that it’s because I have short legs and my mare has very round sides.
So much to work on, so difficult to figure out what to focus on first!!!

[Twister]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DebS:

Do you consider these “imperfections” as a temporary stage in the learning process or a bad habit that you can live with?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Oh, temporary! I have only been doing some fo these things for 15 years.

[Cactuskate]

DebS to digresss from the original topic…
I would die if someone took away my dressage whip. My latest H/J clinic I asked if I could please keep “my false sense of a leg” i.e. my dressage whip. I was allowed. I of course traded it for a bat when we started actually working over fences.

For some reason alot of H/J people seem to think that because we dressage-types carry long whips, we use them to unmercifully whip, slash and tear at our horseys.

My conversation with the whip goes as such, Psst…hey left leg here. No response(tap with whip). No response, hello left leg again(stronger tap, tap)…No response HELLO(as in whack) LEFT LEG WOULD YOU PLEASE RESPOND!!! Thank you, good boy, pat, pat left hand up neck. Review next left leg yield Psst…hey left leg… horse moving sideways and forward.
TaDa…end of conversation for that moment.

I would much rather have the ability to quickly reinforce a leg aid with a long whip, not having to give up rein contact than regroup with a hunt bat. Or resort to the feeble tap stick on the shoulder, which does nothing for forward and is not associated with the leg at all.

The purpose of the school with the whip is too reinforce the leg and work away from having to use the whip. No picking allowed, use it and get it over with.

[jrmasm]

My name is Anne and I can’t count strides…

My non-horsy, smart pants husband (never ridden a canter in his life) CAN!!!

[Smiles]

I must confess that at times my heels will be up not down. Which in turn during my jump lessons my leg will slip back. Everyday I ask Why me? Why can’t it be some other person? I’m getting help now for this problem, but is there hope for the many of heel up folks out there? One may never know???

[Beezer]

My name is Beezer and let my horse talk me into playing tug of war. She pulls, I pull, she pulls, I pull… All the while my coach is saying, “Let go! Stop pulling!” as we head on down to some oxer. Heck, the mare pulled first!

Just for today, I will half halt, release; half halt, release; half halt, release…PULL!

[DebS]

My name is DebS and I perch.
I am on the road to recovery (in less than 12 steps), here is my testimonial.

Step 1. Recognizing there’s a problem is half the battle.
None of my instructors or riding buddies told me I perched. I did hear “sit up” a lot, and then I started to hear “relax” a lot because I was working so hard at “sitting up” that I became “stiff” from trying so hard… Suddenly, I couldn’t get a decent canter depart and lessons became a source of frustration. And so began a cycle of confused riding. I realized I needed help.

Step 2. Bring a camera/camcorder to the barn.
The camera doesn’t lie. One picture may not tell the whole story, but a whole roll gets pretty close and the video tape, besides adding 5 pounds, is brutally honest. I showed the pics to a rider friend at work who uttered those fateful words “Oh, you’re perched!”
The Horror.

Step 3. No bad horses
Now, we all know, we can’t blame the horse.
I do think less-than-forward school horses compound the problem, but the fault lies with the rider.
I do think educated and willing school horses will help fix the problem, as long as the rider works hard.

Step 4. Instructors
The kind of instructor you have can help or hinder the percher.

“The Natural” Sometimes the nicest riders make the poorest instructors. Particularly someone who’s “a natural”. These are the ones who are gifted with balance and feel. Great for them, not necessarily good for the student. They can’t always articulate what you’re doing wrong and how to correct it. They “just do it”, why can’t you? This can be a frustrating, demoralizing experience for the percher. As nice as they may be, it might benefit you to find someone else.

“Back to Basics”. Then there’s the instructor who will not let you progress until you get it right. This is not a particularly bad thing, as long as they’re actually helping you to improve and not just waiting for you to “get it”. Repeating the same lessons/mistakes over and over again. Some students recognize the futility of this type of training after 3 lesson, some after 3 years. But all of them usually move on toÂ…

“A Good Match”. This is an instructor who can communicate with you, has a good eye, and tries different methods for you to improve. You stick with them, see and feel the difference and just about “get it” but…you still need some fine tuning to allow you to progress furtherÂ…and you search outÂ…

“Centered Riding” I’ve read the book, I can visualize with the best of them, but until I actually took a lesson with a certified instructor, I was missing a big piece of the puzzle. There’s so much more to correcting perching than just sitting up. You really need to retrain your muscles, understand how your bones and joints hang together, breath, relax, focus and unfocus and all kinds of neat things that just improve your balance. An open mind is necesssary and mirrors help, too.

Step 5. Better horses

Now that you’ve improved your seat and balance you need to validate your progress. Find a horse that is confirmed in its gaits and likes its job. Get the feel of “What’s Right”. Really ingrain that feeling in your body and mind. This takes a lot of time, but unlike the “back to basics” instructor, you’re repeating the correct things and not the incorrect over and over. It feels soooo much better.

Now you can go back and ride the more challenging horses because you have an idea of what you want to achieve.

That’s about it. It only takes a few years, some soul searching, lots of reading and money. Good luck to all those perchers out there. You’re not alone.

[This message has been edited by DebS (edited 11-24-2000).]

[This message has been edited by DebS (edited 11-24-2000).]

[Louise]

Ah, but DebS, we all know riding is a continual “work in process”. As long as we follow your program and, by the way, I think it is a very good one, and are seeing improvement, then we are thinking, caring riders.

Personally, I have found that learning more about my body and the way it relates to the horse’s body as it moves has helped me the most in my striving for betterment. (Of course, having a horse I could ride, instead of two very wonderful retirees, would help even more, lol)

The hardest thing – accepting that the whole process is so darn slow.

[Blinky]

My name is Blinky.

I tend to hunch my shoulders. Sit up!

I chip fences because I panic in the last few strides. (okay-that’s the fear of an adult rider that is getting back into it after 10 years-sucks).

My toes stick out to much-is that the pinched knee thing?

[VTrider]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by leaper3:
my name is leaper and I love to crawl to the first jump. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

…and then yell F*** b/c you know that there is no way in hell (unless you sprout wings) you will make it to your next jump without adding a stride!!!

[tecumsea]

I just like to ride crooked. But to both directions…Does this mean I’M Straight!!!Of course I try to ride the horses straight when I’m crooked!!!Now that I have a young horse that goes straight naturally, I’m all out of sink!!!