Post by kelpie on Sept 9, 2010 23:51:52 GMT
Well, it was the right decision to take young Seamus to the Steve clinic rather than Fin, not just because we were out in the field (too hard and uneven for Fin to have coped with), but because I think I've finally cracked the contact stuff with him 
So, to summarise what I found to be the highlights (and I may come back to add other things on here if I realise there's something I forgot, as it's getting a bit late to be up writing!):
The Contact Stuff
First thing, stop worrying about it!!! Well, that's not entirely true, this is me we're talking about it, of course I'm not going to stop worrying about it! But, the key is to view the contact stuff as a by-product of the other stuff below. If you get the other stuff right you can get the contact stuff that I'm after.
So, what stuff did I need to do?
Well, first off, get the lateral bending working properly on the neck and in particular at the C1/C2 joint.
Remember while doing this that all the time you are just looking for the horse to "follow a feel" and you are looking for softness in so doing. At this point you are not looking for the illusive contact.
Finding that soft fele laterally can be done initially at halt, and later at walk, trot, and canter.
When on the move, finding the soft feel laterally can mean regularly changing bends (e.g. serpentines). It can also mean asking for greater or lesser degrees of flexion within a circle (or for that matter on a straight line, tho it's harder on a straight line).
What REALLY helps the soft feel + flexion stuff is TIMING (... what a surprise
). So, if you want flexion to the left + a step to the left, ask for that while the front left leg is in it's upward arc of movement but then release rather than hold - and repeat as necessary. (I knew that for using the reins to ask the horse to shorten the stride but previously I'd never really got very good at doing that to obtain flexion).
By the time you are getting the soft lateral flexion on just one rein working properly, you're actualy already half way there to getting that nice soft contact and the flexion at the pole.
By the time you've got it working on both reins, hey presto, soft flexion at the pole, as well as soft "contact"
Maintaining Contact Stuff
Getting a "contact" is really just getting a soft feel. This should be something we look for every time we pick up the reins. The simple practice of picking up the reins, having your horse offer you the soft feel (or requesting the soft feel if needs be) and then putting the reins back down is not quite so simple at first but is most certainally achievable and you should not settle for less than this - EVERY TIME you pick up the reins.
Quite often you would pick up the reins, get the soft contact and put the reins back down again (you get what you release to - see below).
You Get What You Release To
This I thought I knew. Now I realise I knew it less well before the clinic than I do now.
Biggest point is to remember what you are doing!!! - i.e. when you are releasing. IT'S NOT ENOUGH to relase just because your horse (yes, even your 4yo) has taken a step backwards in response to a request to do so - that step must be soft in all senses of the word (soft in the mouth, soft mentally, soft across the back, etc). Just because you're on a baby horse doesn't mean you should settle for less than this (or else you'll then wonder why you are getting what you release to...).
Other point is to reflect on an interesting little chat I had with Steve. Steve is prepared to get to the point pretty quickly with a horse - and to be fair to him he has the skill and timing and desire to do that. Even if I had the first two, I'm not sure I have the third - sometimes I am actually happier taking the longer road and making that road a bit less stressfull. However, does that mean that this would be "wrong" well no, so long as I release to the right things, I can still get to the same destination as Steve might have, even if I don't take the exact same road as him (it might just take me longer...).
Consider What is Available To You
This was another big layer of the onion unpeeled for me (this particular onion being the one about working within the horse's comfort zone and also softness).
Steve had a really big emphasis on making your asks soft (why would you get a soft response if your ask was not soft). However, a soft ask might not register on the horse if he's not in a place where he can respond to it.
So, for example, horse is walking fast and you want him to stop. Horse for whatever reason isn't in a place where he's likely to listen quickly to you asking for stop. You could ask, and then "ask big" but it wouldn't be pretty. However, what if you first ask for each stride in turn to, say, get shorter and slower, and THEN you ask for stop. Can you keep all of those component parts soft?
Of course if NOTHING is available to you, you may need to do something that is not soft, but if SOMETHING is available to you, try to work with that and expand from there.
And Of Course.....
I got to "tick a few more boxes" in my baby horse's education, namely:
- Riding in a field with multiple other new horses (good preparation for some shows over the winter).
- Riding in said field with multiple other new horses cantering around you.
- Standing around in said field with multiple other horses standing next to you/ walking around you.
So all in all, time well spent and thanx to Kas for organising
So, to summarise what I found to be the highlights (and I may come back to add other things on here if I realise there's something I forgot, as it's getting a bit late to be up writing!):
The Contact Stuff
First thing, stop worrying about it!!! Well, that's not entirely true, this is me we're talking about it, of course I'm not going to stop worrying about it! But, the key is to view the contact stuff as a by-product of the other stuff below. If you get the other stuff right you can get the contact stuff that I'm after.
So, what stuff did I need to do?
Well, first off, get the lateral bending working properly on the neck and in particular at the C1/C2 joint.
Remember while doing this that all the time you are just looking for the horse to "follow a feel" and you are looking for softness in so doing. At this point you are not looking for the illusive contact.
Finding that soft fele laterally can be done initially at halt, and later at walk, trot, and canter.
When on the move, finding the soft feel laterally can mean regularly changing bends (e.g. serpentines). It can also mean asking for greater or lesser degrees of flexion within a circle (or for that matter on a straight line, tho it's harder on a straight line).
What REALLY helps the soft feel + flexion stuff is TIMING (... what a surprise
). So, if you want flexion to the left + a step to the left, ask for that while the front left leg is in it's upward arc of movement but then release rather than hold - and repeat as necessary. (I knew that for using the reins to ask the horse to shorten the stride but previously I'd never really got very good at doing that to obtain flexion).By the time you are getting the soft lateral flexion on just one rein working properly, you're actualy already half way there to getting that nice soft contact and the flexion at the pole.
By the time you've got it working on both reins, hey presto, soft flexion at the pole, as well as soft "contact"
Maintaining Contact Stuff
Getting a "contact" is really just getting a soft feel. This should be something we look for every time we pick up the reins. The simple practice of picking up the reins, having your horse offer you the soft feel (or requesting the soft feel if needs be) and then putting the reins back down is not quite so simple at first but is most certainally achievable and you should not settle for less than this - EVERY TIME you pick up the reins.
Quite often you would pick up the reins, get the soft contact and put the reins back down again (you get what you release to - see below).
You Get What You Release To
This I thought I knew. Now I realise I knew it less well before the clinic than I do now.
Biggest point is to remember what you are doing!!! - i.e. when you are releasing. IT'S NOT ENOUGH to relase just because your horse (yes, even your 4yo) has taken a step backwards in response to a request to do so - that step must be soft in all senses of the word (soft in the mouth, soft mentally, soft across the back, etc). Just because you're on a baby horse doesn't mean you should settle for less than this (or else you'll then wonder why you are getting what you release to...).
Other point is to reflect on an interesting little chat I had with Steve. Steve is prepared to get to the point pretty quickly with a horse - and to be fair to him he has the skill and timing and desire to do that. Even if I had the first two, I'm not sure I have the third - sometimes I am actually happier taking the longer road and making that road a bit less stressfull. However, does that mean that this would be "wrong" well no, so long as I release to the right things, I can still get to the same destination as Steve might have, even if I don't take the exact same road as him (it might just take me longer...).
Consider What is Available To You
This was another big layer of the onion unpeeled for me (this particular onion being the one about working within the horse's comfort zone and also softness).
Steve had a really big emphasis on making your asks soft (why would you get a soft response if your ask was not soft). However, a soft ask might not register on the horse if he's not in a place where he can respond to it.
So, for example, horse is walking fast and you want him to stop. Horse for whatever reason isn't in a place where he's likely to listen quickly to you asking for stop. You could ask, and then "ask big" but it wouldn't be pretty. However, what if you first ask for each stride in turn to, say, get shorter and slower, and THEN you ask for stop. Can you keep all of those component parts soft?
Of course if NOTHING is available to you, you may need to do something that is not soft, but if SOMETHING is available to you, try to work with that and expand from there.
And Of Course.....
I got to "tick a few more boxes" in my baby horse's education, namely:
- Riding in a field with multiple other new horses (good preparation for some shows over the winter).
- Riding in said field with multiple other new horses cantering around you.
- Standing around in said field with multiple other horses standing next to you/ walking around you.
So all in all, time well spent and thanx to Kas for organising
