This is my report of a German rider, who plans to participate in Study-Horsemanship's research 'How to Teach Riding' next year.
First ride. After a few corrections the seat is balanced and legs are hanging. The hands are pressed down and cause the upper body to lean forward and stress. After raising the hands the stress eases. Left turns are good. When turning to the right, however, she does not rotate her shoulders to take the horse into the right turn, but continues to indicate a left turn. In other words, in the left turn the right shoulder comes forward. In the right turn the right shoulder comes forward as well. She tends to lean to the right.
Second ride. She asks permission to go on a ride out. On the way difficulties arise. The horse shows signs of disobience. Fear arises and she returns.
Third ride. In a prolonged walking phase, during which I walk behind her and indicate all I see, she corrects her posture. That is, she brings the seat forward, balance the pelvis and brings the vertebra into upright position. She raises the hands, brings them close together and carries them as if holding two candles. Gently she leans the relaxed upper arms against the chest's sides, thus stabilising them.
She begins the trot, seated, on a circle left hand. Her horse, due to a reluctant right hind leg is clearly uneven in its strides. She begins to correct this irregularity in the rising trot, remaining seated for a stride every couple of steps, thus distibuting her weight from one hind leg to the other and activating the lazy leg.
As she changes to circle right hand, yesterday's problem reoccurs. After a whole battery of approaches, which amount to a corrections of her unconsciously false indications by further structural distortions, reenforced by muscular action, I walk behind her again to indicate what I see.
Some of what I see from this angle has to do with this horse's warp, some with a false correction of this warp and some with this rider's warp. I can distinguish these three causes, because I know this horse and its developments (good and bad), because I did a test ride before this rider's first ride and because of similar experiences.
The correction is easy. It amounts to stretching diagonally, by lowering the right heel and bringing the tip of the left shouder forward, while garding and guiding the horse on the left (that is the outside) rein, hand lifted. In the course of a few moments the horse begins to copy the rider's diagonal stretching, puts more weight on the right hind leg and becomes straight. And - alas - a door opens. The resulting self-evident ease and the horse's complete d'accord come as the rider's surprise and pleasure. They reconfirm my approach.
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