Speaking of Amelia Newcomb, here is a video on how to quiet hands and create a better contact. I noticed she also opens and lowers the inside rein at times. As always, look at the entire horses and not just the head. All horses duck behind the vertical at times as they learn to seek contact and balance along with developing enough strength behind to carry themselves.
It looks to me like the horse in is passage, in which case the knee action doesn’t bother me one bit. Again it’s impossible to provide any meaningful critique from a fraction of a second still shot. Do you have a video clip? That might make for a more productive discussion.
As others have said a cresty stallion will look different to the poll being the highest than a gelding.
If you are throwing your reins away AND have a safe horse in a round yard then you could try how I was taught. I would also suggest on the lunge with a lunging cavesson, so the lunger has control.
I was in the middle of the pony club not in a safe arena however I think my riding at the time was a bit better than where you are at the moment. I was not lunged but rode with no safety net.
So you take the bit off the bridle. The lunger places the bit in the horse’s mouth. You have the reins. Forward to trot. If you throw the reins away the bit will fall out of the horse’s mouth. You will learn pretty quickly.
In my case the bit did not fall out of Pepper’s mouth. I was able to ride. When I halted near my instructor he spit the bit out. She put it back in and told me to go again.
Everyone here is nicely trying to explain where you are incorrect here. I will try to be a little more direct, maybe it will make sense to you. Your critique of this picture, and other things you’ve seen at the highest levels of dressage sport, show one thing clearly: your ignorance of high level dressage. The horse in that photo is in no way, shape, or form, “cranked in.” He’s not struggling to breathe. The curb is not tight. The rider in the picture is using the curb at the time this picture was snapped, yes. You want to see a tight curb rein, find a picture where the shank of the curb is horizontal to the ground - that does happen and it is incorrect.
I get the impression that you are a beginner. As the saying goes, “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.” It’s good that you come on these forums to learn and discuss. That’s why we are all here. But when people try to educate you, you double down on your incorrect assertions. I don’t get it.
i do not see anything beautiful happening between horse and rider in most of the videos i watched.
Did you watch a video of Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and TSF Dalera BB winning the FEI World Cup Dressage? Did you find “anything beautiful happening” in those rides? Because if you didn’t then you just don’t get dressage, sorry.
Here’s the video for you to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inD21WpFW3c
It takes a long time to develop your eye. I recommend watching videos from FEI classes that have expert commentary, such as the World Cup ones. It’s like auditing a clinic with the world’s best riders for free.
OMG. I am now kicking myself for not attending Omaha.
and that was beautiful, yes. Would-that there was always such a nice connection between human and animal. When the horse is so obviously willing and plugged in…and not anxious it is a beautiful thing.
Do you ever wonder what the railbirds say about you when you ride?
Please, be kind.
I will pull hubby up on this. He will not ride in Public or compete. If he says something I point out that they are at least out and riding in Public and competing. He has not.
Riding at home and at a usual lesson place is not the same as going out in Public and competing, which is something also to remember with the online competitions where they film themself at home.
And I was told what the railbirds who were sitting on a car and dissing every rider. I thought I would give them something to rail about and let Pepper go past them with his whole head and neck out in beginner mode.
They put the arenas up in dust the night before. Mother nature belted them that night and we were competing in mud. It was not just mud, Pepper’s hooves would go down through the mud and go either North, South East or West. It took every drop of skill to keep him on his feet. Some juniors mounts did go over in that arena later in the day.
We came out of that arena with sweat dripping off us. It took every muscle both of us had to stay upright. It was impossible, poor Pepper, my reaction was to laugh each time his hooves went where they shouldn’t.
The railbirds:- look at that girl she is so happy, that is someone who should be riding a horse.
Judging by the orange, I’d bet that’s at a Dutch stallion testing. Remember that the DHH is in the same registry as other “Dutch” horses - so, like Totillas, some have knee action. Perhaps this is a Tottilas son or grandson…
lol, no. but i suppose that i’d hope anyone watching me ride has not something nice to say, but rather something constructive to say.
It’s not about other people…it’s about me, and my horse. I’m not committed to the sport of dressage, but i do love the dressage instruction, the discipline of dressage, i’m getting from my coach.
Competition (in almost anything in my life) is not my feel-good place. Putting it out there…i guess there’s plenty of value in that for a lot of people. And, if they do, i’ll certainly watch, learn and share my opinions.
You are getting a lot of constructive feedback from some very knowledgeable people in this forum. There’s much to be learned here.
This is finally sinking in for me. So tempting to play with the fingers but it does NOT do anything but move the head (and piss off my horse).
My trainer has me practice by bringing my hand all the way to my hip, flexing my horse, and then following my horse’s mouth back to neutral, to teach the feeling to both of us, and it has helped a lot. A constant hand holding, as you describe.
Today I rode with a little mantra, “closed fingers and bent elbows” and it just made such a difference to insist on that before anything else. Much more kind than straight arms and open fingers that snatch at my horse’s mouth periodically. It is hard to retrain though.
feedback and pushback on my opinion. yeah, well…that is fine. go for it.
I do not …in any way, shape or form, glorify people without good reason. I see, in too many rides, on higher or lower echelons, examples of ugliness toward horses all in the name of competition. I’m not going to rally-round a rider just on general principal…just because s/he is a participant. I"m not a PETA person, but i am a true believer in ethical treatment of animals. And often what i see in RL and vids…just feels hurtful. Do you think i’m alone in this critique of Dressage as a sport? There’s a reason why people like me rile when warm-ups are closed to public view… And if it weren’t for empathetic folks rollkur would still be the name-of the game more than it is now.
I suspect a lot of of the people commenting here spend far more time viewing competition warm ups and tests, than you do, along with seeing training behind closed doors from a number of riders and trainers. Their opinions are worth listening to.
Nobody is saying that the sport is perfect or that there aren’t instances of bad riding / poor horsemanship. But the whole “modern dressage is abuse” schtick is way overblown and does not reflect reality for the vast majority of horses and riders.
in watching the world cup vids i saw more unlovely rides than beautiful ones.
Yeah, but that’s the thing. I think you “see” a very small sample of what’s out there. I don’t know where you are located geographically, but I don’t think you are seeing a representative sample. It’s easy to critique when you don’t have an educated eye, which I think you don’t. Shrug. You are certainly entitled to your opinion, you just have a very limited worldview when it comes to dressage. Also, your unfailing trust in your own coach is admirable, but you know, sometimes it’s good to ask questions. If your coach always agrees with you, then it’s probably time to attend a few clinics to broaden your experience. You might change your mind about some things, you might feel confirmed in your point of view, who knows? But I think, just MHO only, that you need to get out more. Also I recommend reading. Everything you can get your hands on, but maybe start with some of the classics: Complete Training of Horse and Rider, by Podhajsky. Ahlerich, Making of a World Champion, by Klimke to name a few.
It sounds as though you prefer the French school. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. But don’t go dissing the German school, which is what you’re going to see in competition. I’ve studied both and prefer the latter. YMMV. (Wish I had a buck for every “classically schooled” horse that I had to completely restart because they were so confused and unhappy.) And, since you mentioned that you aren’t interested in competing, then keep studying in your current vein. Maybe just don’t rail against competitive riders.
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