Down the centre line, and ".......Fruitbat"........” I quit

[KBC]

I have a beautiful new unspoiled young horse, his favourite gait is halt, and he has been blessed, it seems with the ability to halt square and balanced…YAY.

We have done transitions on the wall, on the quarter line, on the circle, and they are more often than not, really nice halts. Then yesterday we rode out first centre lines and halt at X, well somewhere near X, somewhat straight, depends how you define somewhat, and most definitely not square!

I know it’s me, obviously it’s me, but it’s very frustrating. My current thoughts are to ride the line more often, making sure that we concentrate on the turn onto the line, and just riding straight, And relaxed, before we try halting again.

Help!

[RedHorses]

Kind of sounds like the time I tried to get my younger horse to stand on a “bridge” of the sort found in arena trail classes. He kept falling off the side with one or more feet until I rode him across the bridge and changed my mind, asking for the halt.

”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹Centreline halts are a bit like that. Better to ride the line like you’re going all the way and change your mind part way.

[endlessclimb]

@KBC

I have a beautiful new unspoiled young horse, his favourite gait is halt, and he has been blessed, it seems with the ability to halt square and balanced…YAY.

We have done transitions on the wall, on the quarter line, on the circle, and they are more often than not, really nice halts. Then yesterday we rode out first centre lines and halt at X, well somewhere near X, somewhat straight, depends how you define somewhat, and most definitely not square!

I know it’s me, obviously it’s me, but it’s very frustrating. My current thoughts are to ride the line more often, making sure that we concentrate on the turn onto the line, and just riding straight, And relaxed, before we try halting again.

Help!

I was given the tip to always turn the centerline a bit sharp, as it looks “less bad” to drift out to the center than it does to have to swerve back to it by overshooting, if that makes sense.

Of course, that’s all second choice to riding it correctly to start with, but when you can expect at most 80% performance at a show compared to home, turning a bit tighter at home might yield the result you want at shows?

[alibi_18]

It’s your first show, first test… Give it some time?

There really is no need to be frustrated with this, just keep training and riding like you are doing.

I sure would not make a big deal out of that.

[Jealoushe]

One of the best things I heard about riding the centerline was to ride it like you are making a grand entrance. It is the first impression so you really want to WOW the judge (even with no judge there). Just thinking this makes me look up and ride nice and forward and put on a bit of a show.

Mare sure you are keeping your body very still in the halt too!

[joiedevie99]

If you can do it on the quarterline, then you can do it on the centerline. Yup, just ride the centerline a whole bunch more until that line feels perfectly normal. Then add the halts back there.

[KBC]

@alibi_18

It’s your first show, first test… Give it some time?

There really is no need to be frustrated with this, just keep training and riding like you are doing.

I sure would not make a big deal out of that.

Not even at a show yet! Just starting to put our learning together, so literally first tries at riding the centre line…it’s just frustrating that as soon as we start working on tests, I seem to try to hard😡

[punchy]

Wait—You tried something new in practice one day and you’re so frustrated it didn’t go as planned that you want to quit? Really?

[Feathered_Feet]

@KBC

Not even at a show yet! Just starting to put our learning together, so literally first tries at riding the centre line…it’s just frustrating that as soon as we start working on tests, I seem to try to hard😡

Well, you said it yourself - it’s your first try! Give it some time. Focus on it, ride it, practice it, then at the same time, don’t - go do other things. Practice the elements of a nice halt (on the aids, straight, half halts, etc.). A good halt comes from other elements of good training - make sure those elements are excellent everywhere else in the arena.

A word on practicing the centerline (or any other element of the test): some horses you almost never want to practice your centerline and halt at x because they will anticipate and start stopping to early (or whatever your test element is). Some horses do best when they know what the elements are - we halt at x, or we canter at f, or whatever - some horses do really, really well knowing where each element starts and ends (like mine - she loves knowing what to expect when, and never anticipates). So, take some time to ride a test (or elements) both ways (eg., halting at x and halting anywhere else on the centerline) and learn what kind of horse you have, and how they can best get through a test.

[KBC]

@punchy

Wait—You tried something new in practice one day and you’re so frustrated it didn’t go as planned that you want to quit? Really?

My frustration is that we can do it beautifully elsewhere, but once we hit the centre line, it’s going wrong…sigh, not going to quit, but it is uber frustrating that for the first time in years I’m relaxed, having fun, and it seems as soon as I hit a centre line, I change…

[KBC]

@Feathered_Feet

Well, you said it yourself - it’s your first try! Give it some time. Focus on it, ride it, practice it, then at the same time, don’t - go do other things. Practice the elements of a nice halt (on the aids, straight, half halts, etc.). A good halt comes from other elements of good training - make sure those elements are excellent everywhere else in the arena.

A word on practicing the centerline (or any other element of the test): some horses you almost never want to practice your centerline and halt at x because they will anticipate and start stopping to early (or whatever your test element is). Some horses do best when they know what the elements are - we halt at x, or we canter at f, or whatever - some horses do really, really well knowing where each element starts and ends (like mine - she loves knowing what to expect when, and never anticipates). So, take some time to ride a test (or elements) both ways (eg., halting at x and halting anywhere else on the centerline) and learn what kind of horse you have, and how they can best get through a test.

Boy is smart, so I think we will not ride too many full tests, or he will anticipate I think.

I’m wonderI guess if just riding the line and asking for the halt when he feels ready…well when we are balanced, forward and straight, focus on the quality first, placement second…

[Jealoushe]

@KBC

My frustration is that we can do it beautifully elsewhere, but once we hit the centre line, it’s going wrong…sigh, not going to quit, but it is uber frustrating that for the first time in years I’m relaxed, having fun, and it seems as soon as I hit a centre line, I change…

Practice riding it without the halt, once the tension leaves then try adding the halt.

[outerbanks77]

It’s a lot to ask of a green horse to ride a half volte and then a perfectly straight line to a halt. Try breaking it down, so turn on the quarterline and ride straight. Then add a down transition to that (either T/W or W/H, then work up to a T/H) to that. Ride the half volte and back to the wall, and when that’s good, go straight but don’t halt, then just to a T/W transition and keep going, etc. Other than riding onto the final centerline, half voltes aren’t required until first level, so it is not a trivial thing for an intro or TL horse to accomplish.

[ParadoxFarm]

@Jealoushe

Practice riding it without the halt, once the tension leaves then try adding the halt.

Yep, this is what I would suggest as well. Just practice the center line, and when you’re at the halt location, just ride through. Then maybe only add it some times, but not all. Make sure you’re not tensing up anticipating it thinking you are in show mode. Just ease into it just like you do the other halts. It will come. I’m working on this, too, so you’re not alone!

[alibi_18]

@KBC

My frustration is that we can do it beautifully elsewhere, but once we hit the centre line, it’s going wrong…sigh, not going to quit, but it is uber frustrating that for the first time in years I’m relaxed, having fun, and it seems as soon as I hit a centre line, I change…

Well, see how you are reacting here, you sure are not relaxed and having fun when you turn down centerline.

And my last piece of advice for you is that you’ll never succeed if you get frustrated about your riding/your horse.
You need to approach riding differently.

[2tempe]

You can also halt elsewhere on center line, not just at X. So ride all the way, then maybe halt at the next middle letter after X ( I never can remember those letters) or halt all the way at the last middle letter. Mix it up. You can also ride a diagonal and halt mid way somewhere. If you are riding nice and relaxed when you get the halts elsewhere, then take a breath and ride nice and relaxed down the middle. Dont even try to hit X the first few times. Ask for halt when if feels right. Then work on refining the location.

[KBC]

Today was a lot better, concentrated much more on nice balanced turn, and forward down the line. Then some transitions,. Discovering that some of the problems come from my lack of preparation for the turn in…riding a Greenie is making me use all the skills I do have, that’s for sure, it’s fun.

We were sharing the ring for a while, when the other rider left we had the worst turn and centre line so far, tried one more, great turn, nice line, beautiful halt at G…called it a day on a good one!

[RedHorses]

@2tempe

You can also halt elsewhere on center line, not just at X. So ride all the way, then maybe halt at the next middle letter after X ( I never can remember those letters) or halt all the way at the last middle letter. Mix it up. You can also ride a diagonal and halt mid way somewhere. If you are riding nice and relaxed when you get the halts elsewhere, then take a breath and ride nice and relaxed down the middle. Dont even try to hit X the first few times. Ask for halt when if feels right. Then work on refining the location.

All
Day
Long
X
Is
Ground
Centre

[alibi_18]

@RedHorses

All
Day
Long
X
Is
Ground
Centre

ETA : ahahaha Sorry.

2Tempe’s suggestion is way more clever training wise than focusing/fixating on « X » - and I say this from the judge’s perspective as I scribe a lot.
You’ll get higher marks if you’re before/after yet correct than at X but incorrect.

[blue_heron]

@alibi_18

And?

2Tempe’s suggestion is way more clever training wise than focusing/fixating on « X » - and I say this from the judge’s perspective as I scribe a lot.
You’ll get higher marks if you’re before/after yet correct than at X but incorrect.

That’s how to remember the letters on centerline.