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Post by suewhitmore on Dec 31, 2007 17:59:57 GMT 1
Well, I think you can tell by looking. It just depends on how many riders you have seen. June & I and other teachers have probably seen thousands, ranging from awful to so wonderful you could cry. You learn to discriminate. *Everything* to do with horses is about learning from your experience and developing that knowledge by study.
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Vicky&Beenie
Olympic Poster
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"The wind of heaven is that which blows between a horse's ears..."
Posts: 779
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Post by Vicky&Beenie on Dec 31, 2007 18:34:23 GMT 1
I notice a good rider by how well the horse is going and his outline. If the horse is well underneath himself you can tell he is listening to the rider. I think a good rider has good hands, good lower leg position and nice hands
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Post by Donnalex on Dec 31, 2007 19:20:54 GMT 1
By the horse under them. The ones who are enjoying their work to a good standard with no tail swishing, scowling but unbelievably compliant and willing without being worried or sharp. They are the ones with good riders.
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Post by jennyf on Dec 31, 2007 19:27:30 GMT 1
When a good rider gets on a horse and you find it difficult to see where the horse stops and the rider begins - sort of melting into each other. This may sound dead wierd, but if you see it then you know immediately.
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Post by june on Dec 31, 2007 19:48:41 GMT 1
Funny jennyf, I was just about to post exactly the same thing. Doesn't sound weird at all!
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potto
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I have a large spotty and the privilage once of the most beautiful big Ass!
Posts: 1,384
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Post by potto on Dec 31, 2007 22:38:50 GMT 1
Oh god... i think i'd better give up.... i've just been looking at some photos of a me and the spotster on a hack on sunday... Had such a fab time but my lower leg is flapping despite continually reading mary wanless my heals are digging in, i have the wrong position totally, holding the reins all wrong. Definately no outline to speak of yet.
However i can ride a horse bareback in walk trot and canter and over a few jumps a few feet high.... but where is the sense in that? Not sure you can do dressage without a saddle and my lower leg is only still in canter with a saddle not in any other pace? So is there a good rider category for bareback riders or speedy cantering saddled ones with no reins?
I guess the thing is to analyse the bits you feel good about enjoy them and then work on the other bits and always aim to improve everything, but not be too hard on yourself and make yourself and your horse miserable.
In the parelli masterclass on horse and country tv they suggest riding bareback is a goodway to develop feel and good riding.... i dunno it might be for some... for another it might be a good way to loose a lot of confidence quick... find your own way.... thats the beauty of the intelligent way..... What is your goal?
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Post by heather on Dec 31, 2007 23:33:59 GMT 1
A really good rider should look like a centaur, synchronised imperceptibly with the movement of the horse, and should almost be unnoticeable, not distracting the eye of the onlooker from the beauty of the horse, a melding of two living entities, in harmony and partnership.
Heather
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Post by sarahfox on Dec 31, 2007 23:44:25 GMT 1
a good rider? erm,if they can stay on and steer without upsetting the horse thats not bad! A great rider? look for the centaur!.....
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Post by Susan on Jan 1, 2008 1:49:43 GMT 1
I was with June that day at Addington we stood at the high level and looked down and that rider she speaks of was sheer brilliant.. every horse he sat on he got so much out of each one, and yes Jen he melted into them. We also saw the same horses ridden by other riders and explode and argue..and be forced and they simply would not work with the rider at all.
I have got to the stage of trying to not watch riders and so often I see so much wrong and it upsets me to see the horse trying it best and the rider simply believing force wins the day. It does not.
The be and end of all riding to me is to Be at one with the horse! and when you see a rider be at one, it is breathtaking.. and I describe all trans as melting into each other like icecream.. Oh to be that rider.
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Post by suewhitmore on Jan 1, 2008 1:54:53 GMT 1
A great rider? look for the centaur!..... Sagitarians only then ......
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Post by geeup on Jan 1, 2008 8:27:58 GMT 1
Potto: know what you mean about bareback. taught my duaghter for hours bare back, at 10 she could jump 2' and gallop on a small pony bareback. Did her little good in Pony club because said pony couldn't jump higher than 1'6" with saddle so she got put down rides and got bored. Like you when she used stirrups her lower leg went akward untill I got her to tell me what she was doing when rididng bareback to with the saddle, bareback to her felt normal, the horse melt moment, the saddle was when you pushed your feet in different positions! Now she rides with saddle like she does bareback. try riding and see whar you muscels are doing compared with bareback.
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Post by geeup on Jan 1, 2008 8:31:49 GMT 1
Thanks for your thougths everyone, I guess I'm still a little stuck, I agree with the melting marmony and movement part, but wondered when you can see the horsemanship part, the IH part. Does the IH turn you form OK to good or from good to excellent. Do we think ih has increased our own riding?
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Post by sarahfox on Jan 1, 2008 9:07:33 GMT 1
LOL! at sue! Geeup,I would say that the IH attitude is what gives the rider the feel and the communication from their horse which would also be part of the centaur effect,as its not enough to simply sit well to acheive this,one must also be able to understand and communicate with the horse. I think that the IH attitude improves our riding by helping to those channels and changing it from a mechanical aiding process into a 2 way communication. Not to say that you can just go on a few courses to acheive this,its a lifetime spent lietening to and working on talking to your horse,coupled with good natural feel imo,but the IH attitude would certainly be a prerequisite imho.
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Post by heather on Jan 1, 2008 10:21:21 GMT 1
This is why I do my simulator workshops- to teach the rider the exact synchronisation of their movement with that of the horse- it is so simple, and also so achievable, once riders are shown precisely HOW!! This then allows an independent seat, which is classical in appearance, and also allows wonderful transitions that meld into each pace!
But this is also why I am turning my attention back to complete beginners. I feel more than ever that if taught correctly from day one, they achieve in a fraction of the time.
My ex partner was 48 before he ever got on a horse. In only one month, he was able to ride a horse with ease at all paces, work the horse in the correct outline, perform leg yield and shoulder in on my schoolmaster mare.
Think riding is EASY- it really is actually SIMPLE!!! If you think it is going to be hard and complex, then you are setting up barriers before you even get on!
The beauty about beginners is that they have no expectations, or preconceptions, they are a blank canvas, and so rewarding to see the extremely rapid progress that they make.
I have written a book for beginners, to go out as an ebook from the middle of this month, and hope this year to do a DVD for beginners. Start them off right, and they turn into good riders, without having to go back and correct the long established faults that I find in the riders who come here every month on the remedial workshops!
Heather
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Post by horsiehelen on Jan 1, 2008 12:03:39 GMT 1
Sadly though Heather not all instructors are wonderful and some of us beginners or returning riders find it *really* hard to find the right instructors. It is one thing for someone to be able to be a good rider and another to be able to convey that to a beginner.
Will look forward to the E book though.
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