The Pony Club Area 8 CPD Workshop
15th April 2015
The Correct Way of Going
C+ and beyond
Hilary Wakefield
Aim of session
To discuss and observe the correct riding position and its influence on the horse and discuss The Scale of Training as it relates to our demo rider.
Quote from Manual
We are all Pony Club coaches/instructors so we need to have an awareness of our enormous influence on our Members and then take on the responsibility of teaching them well for the benefit of the ponies and horses they all ride.
In Centres you have total control of the way your horses and ponies are ridden, as they belong to the riding school.
In Branches you have partial control.
Riding needs to be fun, at whatever level you ride, otherwise why would children join The Pony Club in the first place?
Up to C Test, let the riders have fun and introduce all the necessary requirements for the tests into your rallies. If everyone insists on really good basics (position, correct mounting, rein shortening etc.) the information gets drip fed into children from a very early age and stays with them for life!
Then, at C+ and beyond, this can be developed.
So many top trainers, who take Pony Club Members on later in their career, implore us to, and I quote “just teach them the correct basics”.
We are all going to look at the rider’s position and the horse’s way of going with the demo rider.
But first, three things to mention that you can all help our four legged friends with:
1 – BITS – simple snaffle to help way of going – stronger bits fine for small children, cross country riding, sj jump offs, but why leave them in for a flat rally then wonder why they won’t settle when they do their next dressage test?
2 – SADDLES – can you check they are comfy and level and move them back slightly so they are not sitting tight against the back of the scapula. Something as simple as a thick polypad, on an old saddle with rock hard panels, can help an older pony be comfier and manage the rider better.
3 – SPURS – please teach your riders correct leg aids or correct use of whip. Spurs were intended to be used with light brushing effect to refine the leg aids, not for an unbalanced rider to kick with when a pony is approaching a spooky fence, the like of which he’s never seen in his life.
Any rider at any level will lose their balance at some point when they ride. W F-P wears a neck strap on all the horses he rides for this reason – tell your Members the same!
C+ test and beyond
If a rider loses their balance, becomes crooked etc. they should, by this stage, have the ability to find it again.
In The Manual it states “Until a rider can ride in good balance himself, he is unable to influence the balance of his horse”.
We have the opportunity to make a difference with this.
How does a horse balance himself?
PHOTOS
TASK: Chair = horse on forehand & crooked horse
Discuss rider position dismounted on chair and /or equipment
Discuss habitual patterns (fold arms exercise) and crookedness
Practical Demo
Safety checks
Bits, saddles, level stirrups
RIDER POSITION
Starting point with group of riders at a rally;
1. Are your stirrups the same length?
2. Is the saddle central i.e. pommel of saddle in middle of wither? (saddles don’t have feet so can’t move on their own, unless the flocking/back muscle is uneven, the rider/horse may have moved it).
3. Have you got even weight in both seat bones?
4. Have you got even weight in both stirrups?
These are good thoughts for whenever you get on any horse.
Discuss habitual patterns
· TAKE CARE NOT TO CONCENTRATE ON THE EXTREMITIES. THINK FIRST AID: If someone’s hands are turning blue, their heart may have stopped!
Pelvis and Seat – the “heart” – “seat feet” - we ‘stand’ on horse’s back with them! Pelvis follows hind leg movement, is it central?
Thigh and Lower Leg – use of leg – need for thigh to lie softly, this allows rib cage swing of horse.
Upper Body – is it upright - or behind/in front of vertical – can the riders turn left and right equally.
Contact – SEAT – LEGS – HANDS – rein contact – arm follows pelvis through spine. Holding little bird.
Do Hand shakes
Through the pelvis movement, do the hands also follow the movement of the hind leg and nodding of head in walk? D test exercise – often prevents small ponies from snatching?
THOUGHT – If there isn’t a link from the rider’s pelvis, through the body to the hands, there won’t be a link from the horse’s hind leg, over his back, to the mouth, via the bit.
Crookedness – check that pelvis is in centre of horse, even weight both seat bones, and rider isn’t “twisting” the torso.
A horse can be 90% unsound before he shows it ... predators, deviant movement ... he doesn’t tell us, he just follows the line of least resistance and only tells us when he’s really uncomfy.
Why do so many riders not compete beyond Prelim and Novice? They find it hard to train their horses to develop SELF CARRIAGE.
SELF CARRIAGE
What is it?
The horse’s ability to step through far enough with the hind leg, with a lifted back, thus starting to lower the quarters and lighten the forehand (remember the chair?), enabling the horse to carry the rider with greater ease and perform the same movements he does when playing in the field!