Ritter Clinic Report

[gwynne]

has nothing to do with the clinician.
<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>…and I could not understand most of what the clinician was saying. Therefor it was difficult to assess what he was telling her. She did explain, however, what was going on."

I think the above quote is exactly why the person tastefully requested for people wishing to hear her comments regarding the clinic should e-mail her privately. She was NOT there, the tape she made her assessments from was of poor quality, the audio was lacking in clarity, and her student translated the clinic session to her. There are many biased factors involved there, and I agree that her comments should be kept on a private level.
JMHO

[CarolineP]

Hi

I have to admit I agree with this. Riding can hurt and often until you get the muscles and body into the position you want it then he will be painful and initially stiff.

If you have been riding around in an incorrect position you have been hampering your horse and restricting its ability to fulfill your requests and restricting your ability to give these requests clearly, simply from an independent seat.

Now from one with narrow hips it takes a lot of work and effort to stretch your legs and body where it should be. These things don’t come easy and have to be worked at.

Any position correction will often leave the rider stiff and not soft initially as their body has to readjust to the status quo.

Unfortunately nothing comes easily hence me recently buying a yoga video. The woman keeps saying you will be able to reach her level in time - not unless you are a Russian gymnast I thing and then I may require an ambulance to unknot my limbs but it is helping me with my suppleness and flexibility.

Caroline.

[Marieke]

Am I the only one that thinks the statement’“your ride looked like a lot of work” is not a compliment but an indication that something was really wrong with your ride?

After my ride I frequently get asked “Are you sweating???” in surprise. I work hard on my horse, but it never shows. If it looks like hard work, you’re not really with the horse, a fundamental problem. I don’t want to critize you ride, rescuemom, but a statement like that would worry me, if it were my ride. My goal is to effectively influence my horse with the least (visible) aids.

[Trocadero]

In a thread on the Classical Dressage Forum, Dr. Ritter explains that a full-pass is a diagnostic tool to see whether the horse is accepting the calf aids. He says it improves obedience and can help bring the horse in front of the leg.

I have never tried a full-pass nor has any trainer ever requested I do one. If I tried this exercise on my current mount, it would screw up my lateral work, I think. I have enough trouble keeping forward at half-pass. I don’t see how this exercise can help get the horse in front of the leg, although I think it could certainly show that it wasn’t.

I currently have a problem using too much calf aid, so I’m not going to attempt full pass any time soon.

[Bumpkin]

Congratulations rescuemom, glad to hear you had donned the flame suit and made an honest through report.
Velvet you can order custom anytime
I know my horse is very naughty when his girth is too tight.
I was taught if you have a double ended elastic girth, perhaps that is h/j not dressage, to never tighten the girth too tight.

[Spyder]

for clarifying. I was only interested in what PARTICIPANTS or OBSERVERS thought and heard. Second- or third-hand opinions are of no consequence.

[rescuemom]

The following are explanations and comments from non-riders/auditors and the clinician that came in the wake of clinic reports on the list:

Full passes are a great diagnostic as well as gymnastic tool. They enable the rider to test whether the horse is accepting the calf aids or not, and at the same time, they improve the horse's obedience to the calf aids, i.e. they can help to bring the horse in front of the leg. They can be combined freely with turns on the forehand or on the haunches, reinback, going forward, whatever the horse needs most at the time. In this particular case, sending the mare forward into a big trot was the safest thing to do, so that she did not forget to Think Forward during the full pass.

Q:  Can someone please tell me which leg is supposed to cross in front of the other in full pass?  In half pass, the outside legs (to the bend and to the direction of travel) cross in front of the inside legs, so this seems logical for full pass too.  However, I've been trying to teach my mare this movement from the ground so she will be able to more easily do the exercise we did at the clinic (trot-walk-halt-full pass away from the wall then forward into big trot again).  She seems confused as to which leg to put in front of which but is willingly going directly to the side now. Also is she supposed to bend in the direction of travel like HP or away from the direction of travel like LY or not bent at all?  Thanks.

A:  In the full pass, you can bend the horse away from the direction of travel, as in the shoulder-in, which is easier for the horse. In this case, the inside legs cross over the outside legs. You can also bend the horse in the direction of travel, so that the outside legs cross over the inside ones, as in the travers, renvers, and half pass. This tends to be more difficult for the horse, especially going towards the stiffer side. It's good to practice the full pass with either bend, always starting with the easier demand.

[rescuemom]

Am I the only one that thinks the statement’“your ride looked like a lot of work” is not a compliment but an indication that something was really wrong with your ride?

I think this is an instance where internet description can’t show facial expression and vocal tone and other nuances of a face to face conversation. It was clear to me that the statement was made in admiration, not critique.

If Anky rode a test where a change was required every 2 or 3 strides for 45 minutes I think it is safe to say that most viewers would think her ride “a lot of work” without being critical of her ability.

I’m certain my ride was less than perfect, and I believe I noted where improvement could be made. If I was perfect, why the heck would I pay some clinician big bucks?

[rescuemom]

Donning my flame-proof suit, I offer my perspective on the Ritter clinic I rode in this weekend.

This was one of the best lessons I have ever had, and I hope to be able to clinic with Thomas again this summer/fall. I planned and schooled for this clinic for weeks because I was afraid my NSH mare, Ivy, would blow up and we would provide the entertainment section of the clinic. As it was, she was very relaxed for her, about a 4 where 10 is tornado wind behavior. I think the barn setup helped with this. The stalls are adjacent to and viewing into the indoor arena, with each stall separated by small wire mesh. She could watch everything that was going on, and since I switched my ride time from 11:30 to 2:15 she had plenty of time to relax.

I rode without flash and on a longer rein than I have used lately. This seemed to have the effect of encouraging Ivy to round and think about coming
on the bit more readily than she normally would. The only time I was instructed to pick up more rein was before cantering, and even then the rein
was longer than our usual for walk/trot.

The first thing corrected was a loosening of the girth by one hole, followed by shortening my stirrups one hole. Thomas tried to adjust my leg position, knee more in and leg back. This was quite difficult to do while maintaining my seat position. I just love finding these previously undiscovered muscles, but it gives me something else to work on. This was followed up by
reminders to sit back (one of my weaknesses), which somehow put me in a slightly different sitting position than I have experienced before. At the end of our lesson I thanked Thomas for helping me get the best sitting trot I have ever achieved on this horse!

Dr. Ritter asked questions of Ivy’s capabilities and problems, and something of my riding level. I told him Ivy knew more than I did and what she was
working on when I got her. Our initial lap was quite quick with Ivy racing around ignoring me. He started us on small transitions of walk-halt,
trot-halt, with the halt requested through alternating reins rather than both reins at the same time. We progressed to 20m. circles, and voltes at walk and trot with Ivy showing some of her counterflexion. His fix for this was to lighten the outside rein, which was more quickly effective than previous fixes.

On to more intensive transitions: full pass, from centerline to wall, turn on forehand, halt, reinback to trot, in varying sequence, and then done every two strides, and into tight corners I thought even small and flexible Ivy couldn’t negotiate. It got both of us very focused and she was quite soft. Back to trot circles and shoulder in, spiraling in and out. Ivy would volunteer a canter when she did not care to exert herself as much as asked, and I managed to stay out of two point when she did this, another hard-to-break habit, after the first time. We finished with a bit of canter work, getting soft and non-racing departs. I think we could have gone on for
another 15 mins. even though the work was pretty intensive, especially those tight transitions. One of the auditors told me later that to her my ride looked like a lot of work, very difficult, but it didn’t seem that way to me nor feel like it was for Ivy.

I have nothing negative to say about Mr. Ritter, the venue, the horses, their treatment, or anything else. It was a wonderful experience and I took away lessons upon which, judging from my ride at home last night, my horse and I can build (instead of fight) our way up the scale.

[jl1]

but why’d he have you loosen the girth?
Otherwise. thanks so much for the report!

[Velvet]

But they don’t always get it right and the cost is prohibitive. Too bad the saddler isn’t right on the corner, like they once were. (Well, at least they aren’t in my neck of the woods.)

[anita_m]

I rode with Dr. Ritter. Although I am a student of Rebecca’s I was not the student that was videotaped. However, I do have a first-hand opinion of the clinic and of Dr. Ritter.

At first I thought the clinic was very good, but then soon after the clinic when my whole pelvis/hip/lower back locked up in a great big huge muscle spasm, I began to reconsider.

While the points he mentioned to me about my position, and the areas he focused on my horse where I think for the most part correct, I have some concerns about his teaching style and methods since they caused me a good deal of body pain. I missed several days of work and am still recuperating from the strain more than 2 weeks afterward. I could barely ride in the de Kunffy clinic last weekend (and in contrast, my rides with Mr. de Kunffy were actually therapeutic rather than hurtful).

My impressions were that Dr. Ritter is a good writer but perhaps due to his youth or personality factors is not a very good teacher, at least for me. I think he tried to force changes to my position without perhaps recognizing the potential for causing harm.

He also has a habit of walking around the ring swinging a longe whip with a big long lash, making both me and my horse somewhat tense. Still, there was something to be learned, but I don’t think I’ll be riding with him again anytime soon.

[anita_m]

I don’t think that riding should be painful in the sense of being debilitating. It definitely takes time and effort to stretch out those tight muscles. That is not what I objected to. What I did object to was Dr. Ritter (whether it was intentional or not) expectation that I should be able to assume the new riding position and maintain it right away, regardless of the amount of pain I was experiencing. Whereas in contrast, Mr. de Kunffy was clear to point out similar weaknesses in my position, but he gave me constructive exercises to work on to achieve the same result over time without pain or force. He was able to work with me where I was at that moment in time.

I guess I have a little bit of resentment because to date, I have lost more than 5 days of work, attended 2 1/2 weeks of physical therapy, and have been severely limited in my physical abilities, and in a lot of pain since this injury, when I feel the whole thing could have been avoided.