I need to go back and read the DVD comments. I’ve been skipping all over.
I’ll say I am very upset and disappointed that I gave Old Trainer so much starry-eyed glory. From when I posted to now new trainer is… well, new. different. it’s not that it’s not “working” but i am also working with my very first dressage trainer again, after 2 years, and I like her way way better.
Horse went from a medium to a wide in 8 weeks after leaving old barn where she barely fit into a medium (too big) and needed serious shimming.
Back to roundness: so was what was presented in the video i posted “roundness?” we are currently having that debate at our barn (me and a few other of this new trainer’s students). First Dressage Trainer is telling me not to beat myself up for veering off the path a little and telling me horse still has those “second level buttons” (whatever those are) that we can reprogram but better when we return to that level of training.
Not sure whether you really want to be in Tryon… It sounds like there is a lot of chaos going on…
And about the DVDs… ignore some of the comments… There was originally a separate thread about these DVDs and the mods decided to combine your thread and my thread, because the general topic was “round” thats how my thread ended up in your thread…
No you don’t need to watch these DVDs they are from a USDF Symposium from 2001, which had Isabel Werth as a clinician.
The nice thing was that the participants were normal people and not high end riders from high end barns on million dollar horses like nowadays. So you could really see problems normal people have.
Isabel Werth explained her system very intensely with these riders and horses. It was pretty amazing to see some differences in the horses. A friend and trainer of me recommended these DVDs to me (I never heard about them before) and they helped me tremendously !! I think they were the basic for me to make it to 4th level and hopefully soon to Prix St George… And its really basic what she is talking about… I thought I could help people by presenting the DVDs here but obviously it was an affront and everybody bashed me for it… So be it… they helped me and everybody else can do what they want to do…
And because you asked… Its really basically the really basic tool to bend your horse with your inner leg against your outer rein… Its something extremely basic and still extremely efficient. You should do it with every horse and it will make a world of difference. And she is pushing the riders to do it the right way. Once your horse accepts it, you can do anything with your horse. It will be round, it will move over its back and you can do transitions so much easier!!! I have much more fun now with all my horses!!
@Manni01, oh ok no problem manni. i was slow to understand the DVD conversation but now I have no interest in reading it… I think your posts are helpful and informative. I have another good friend who is a dressage rider who learned through books and dvd’s. she is actually quite good for someone who doesn’t believe in lessons. I need to be in the thick of it to learn so DVD’s aren’t a great avenue for me to educate myself, but I do appreciate them.
The new trainer is not perfect either. she “scoffs” at the “dutch and german” dressage program. My Grand Prix trainer who I see at least once a month has a much more balanced approach and trained with a student trained by charlotte dujardin (if i can name drop for a second :yes:), so I take her advice more seriously than my daily trainer.
Old trainer was also a “pure dressage rider” before she turned into an eventer. I don’t know what school she came from but she trained similarly to my old dutch/anky-inspired dressage trainer (also an eventer). Both believed roundness comes from the hind, sure, but their extra spin on it was a rider had to literally hold their horse down to “force” it into roundness, as the biomechanical theory is since there is nowhere for the horse to go (aka up), they will lower their head even more and use their hind end thus creating roudness.
Two off-brand, unknown trainers believed this. I wonder how many others out there do too??? :no:
I am too. It’s frustrating that GP trainer can only see us once a month (she is 3 hours away, and she circuits our area), but she really gives me a ton of things to work on for four weeks until the next time we see her. Weekly trainer gets us show prepped but she’s also not the ideal match for us. but sometimes you have to deal with what you have. gotta eat your baby carrots and broccoli…
