Horse Discussions » General Horse Talk » Demo at Addington Last Night
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Demo at Addington Last Night
Post by pompeyhorsey on Oct 24, 2007, 10:53am
right so who was there?! Looked for Louise c with her flynn cap on but you must have been hiding!
I really enjoyed it. Thought it was a lovely format and 'mixture' of groundwork and ridden work. Monty and the stallion just amazed me, the control, speed, and lightness was magical.
Thought it was also very interesting to see three different styles of riding in the arena at the same time. And fell in Love with Pie's bouncy 'happy trot' during the leg yielding exercises Although my bum muscles hurt from all the tensing i did when we were practising the clapping for Ascot View (was that his name?) and that was just watching!!
Thought Monty did wonders with the lovely Cairo and the plastic situation. (Was also a bit pleased with myself as during the join up i said about two seconds before monty to my friend 'his ears locked on'. Feeling smug as it seems i do know something! even thought monty had probably clocked it 10 mins previously )
The only thing that surprised me was how confined they made the pen during the loading exercise. Of course, it didnt cause a problem, but just made me a bit anxious a) of him hurting himself and b) that it closed his options down a bit more. I wonder if this was due to time constraints, or whether it was because Cairo needed the 'extra push'. Not being critical...just curious!
Another thing, am i remembering rightly that Monty said to ask for left lead canter, you use your right rein and right leg? The principle being that 'pressure'/'bend' (not sure what the right term would be there) on one side frees up the other. I found this interesting as for left lead i would automatically use left rein and right leg. ..just the riding school way iv been taught.
A thoroughly enjoyable and inspiring evening. Kicking myself that i didnt take the camera! Im now a IH member, and want to do my five day foundation next summer when i finish uni. Thanks to Kelly, Monty and the Team!
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Re: Demo at Addington Last Night
Post by suewhitmore on Oct 24, 2007, 11:20am
Oct 24, 2007, 10:53am, pompeyhorsey wrote: right so who was there?! Another thing, am i remembering rightly that Monty said to ask for left lead canter, you use your right rein and right leg?
That's interesting, I heard that too and I assumed I'd misheard the rein thing, or he'd got the words out wrong. Your strike off leg in canter is the outside hind, so even using his explanation of freeing up for action, you would still ask with the inside rein.
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Re: Demo at Addington Last Night
Post by jill on Oct 24, 2007, 11:36am
If you have a horse who has problems with correct lead, it can help them if you have a slight outside rein, just to turn their head slightly to the outside frees up the inside shoulder and allows them to use it in the correct lead. Until she was better balanced my old mare always needed that bit of help, and then could do a correct lead.
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Re: Demo at Addington Last Night
Post by casper on Oct 24, 2007, 11:42am
Oct 24, 2007, 10:53am, pompeyhorsey wrote: right so who was there?!
Hi Pompeyhorsey, I was there with one of my friends. And saw lots of other lovely DG'ers there too.
The Demo was fab. Will try to do a mini write up later, but yours pretty much says it all anyway PompeyHorsey. It was a brilliant evening, and the time just seemed to fly by, it really did.
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Re: Demo at Addington Last Night
Post by pompeyhorsey on Oct 24, 2007, 11:52am
oh! i wish i had gotten organised an i could have met some of you never mind there will be more!
Sue-glad i wasnt hearing things! Will have to have a play about next time i canter...
Casper- a mini write up would be brill, there was just so much to take in wasnt there?!
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Re: Demo at Addington Last Night
Post by june on Oct 24, 2007, 11:57am
The exercise Monty had the audience do, putting their chin on their left shoulder and then asking them to point was to illustrate why bending the horse to the outside, yes, the outside, helps to get the correct canter transition. Just as putting your chin on your left shoulder frees up your right arm, bending the horse to the outside frees up the inside shoulder. Having had a few polo ponies come to us that would only strike off on the right canter lead I've found over the years that a slight bend to the outside really helps them until they get the idea.
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Re: Demo at Addington Last Night
Post by suewhitmore on Oct 24, 2007, 12:13pm
I do wonder if the exercise is of more benefit to the rider tho', so many people slump forward onto the inside when they are trying to get canter, so that by asking with the outside you are actually getting the rider up and away. The amount of hand aid that you use should be no more than a closing of the fingers, you ask not haul!
The bits that made me laugh out loud were the clapping exercise - after hearing earlier that "horses are animals of synchronicity" - a very nice and useful concept - it was hilarious to see the super smart and clever Archie, synchronising with the hyper-tense dressage horse and starting violently in time to him, when I'm quite sure he didn't give a hoot about the noise.
I also found the gate very funny, as I was thinking that surely Kelly, given her background, has been in the position of having to open and shut 12ft farm gates, that are dropped off their hinges, are wedged in mud, and have been tied up with wire, while leading another horse - i.e. normal gate opening while out hacking.
I thought that if she'd only had a fag and a mobile while she was carrying her cup, she would have been approaching my vision of the ideal rider.....
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Re: Demo at Addington Last Night
Post by Susan on Oct 24, 2007, 1:55pm
I was there with June, we had my Paj mobile fully laden.. Jo with Ben and Schooner other non IH members but all very interested including Junes Argentine groom who finds Monty amazing.
I know I watched and saw far more then I ever saw a couple of years ago at Keysoe when I saw him last.
It seems it is like the more you do and learn the more you understand.
The canter lead of using the left rein/leg for right lead.. was actually used by one of the past instructors I had. It was when Flynn stopped cantering on correct lead. Funny you often forget what you have done before or seeen in the past.
The reason the instructor suggested it was never explained, sadly. Perhaps she didnt know, but was trying something that was new to her.
Not sure about other IHDG folks but I came away with more to test the waters with. Flynn will be saying Oh No she has been to another demo watch it lads! in for it now..
As I am one of those people who MUST get her horse to stand 100% still on mounting as many of you know I took one nasty fall recently because Flynn moved. So this is high on the agenda and I also intend to test out canter leads and I am going to play even more on loading because I enjoy it! and I want Flynn to self load and get over the sticky we sometimes have.
Great Night.. lovely to meet you at last Kelly..
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Re: Demo at Addington Last Night
Post by suewhitmore on Oct 24, 2007, 2:10pm
I've been thinking about the canter thing, and I realised that head out is how foals and youngsters canter. So it would seem that if your horse needs head out to canter, it is because it is not properly balanced under the rider, the back end is not engaged sufficiently. How that squares with trained polo ponies I am not sure, unless it is because they are only confident on one lead and need to go back to baby balance on the other.
I can see that if the lead is the be all and end all of what you are doing, it is a useful thing, but personally I would concentrate on having the horse in balance under the rider to start with.
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Re: Demo at Addington Last Night
Post by Louise C on Oct 24, 2007, 6:10pm
I was there honest - with my Flynn cap on!! The trouble with helping is that you don't know where you will be and don't have time to talk anyway!
I loved the Demo - very different from before - and was great to see Kelly and Monty riding in the afternoon as well so a very special time was had - got into bed ten to one buzzing though and very dehydrated so took ages to get to sleep!
Re the loading - I think because Monty had done a lot of groundwork with Cairo with him being a nervous horse he knew exactly how far he could push him without it being dangerous. And it was getting late - we had been busy having fun!
I loved thw way Monty clearly enjoyed it so much - and thought the canter work was really interesting.
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Re: Demo at Addington Last Night
Post by pompeyhorsey on Oct 24, 2007, 6:45pm
i believe you louise
Thats what i thought was probably the reason for using the roundpen with the loading, just that extra bit of oomph.
The canter thing, i reckon its what helps your individual horse tbh. I know jack will go on the correct lead if i use inside rein, may or may not be correct, but i will have a little play. I guess if you have bend to the inside then just 'tweak' to the outside when you ask for the transition this may encourage them...although as sue said i wonder if its more to do with the position of the rider. Maybe it would encourage you to shift your weight into the outside, therefore freeing up the inside shoulder?! i dont know, im not very good at this just thinking as i type...
I loved the way monty had a constant dialogue going between him and the horse. 'mr cairo' he truely loves his job doesnt he
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Re: Demo at Addington Last Night
Post by june on Oct 24, 2007, 6:53pm
Polo ponies do most of their canter on the right lead as the most commonly played shots are on the offside of the horse. The game is played anticlockwise so they are generally in counter canter but they need to be on the right lead to be balanced for the shots! We always exercise ours on both leads but when they come to us they have often only been taught to strike off on the right lead and do a flying change to the left lead if necessary. A slight bend to the outside really helps when teaching them to strike off on the other lead, but it isn't only the bend that matters. The rider being in balance, with the inside seat bone forward and allowing the inside shoulder to lift is also important but the outside bend helps to make it really clear to them.
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Re: Demo at Addington Last Night
Post by Tim M on Oct 24, 2007, 8:18pm
So why was Susan the only one to come over to my stand and say 'Hi'
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Re: Demo at Addington Last Night
Post by Tim M on Oct 24, 2007, 8:29pm
Sorry, and June and the crew from Model Farm, how could I forget my esteemed host
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Re: Demo at Addington Last Night
Post by pompeyhorsey on Oct 24, 2007, 8:44pm
argh guilty as charged! it was a bit crowded and my bum was numb so just sorta shuffled about a bit!! lol
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Re: Demo at Addington Last Night
Post by Furiey on Oct 24, 2007, 10:37pm
I was there (took my mum along too) and thoroughly enjoyed it. Watching the difference in the way the 3 horses moved was lovely, and even though Pie's bouncy trot got a laugh I'm sure it would have been different if it was the dressage horse in the pen trying to negotiate the obstacles.