The Riding Journal – Pt. II

Last week, we went for a ride down memory lane. I blew the dust off my forty-year-old riding journals and have been reading, remembering, soaking it all in, ever since. Join me for a few lessons from my late riding mentor, E.M. Boerschmann… and be prepared to change how you ride.

 

April 20, 1980. On Ali. Today was all about ‘diagonal aids’.

Whenever we have our horse on some sort of a bend, we will have one asking hand and one passive hand…. we will also have one asking leg and one passive leg. An asking hand is most usually shared with a passive leg on that side and vice versa.

 

So… the passive inside hand on a circle is shared with the asking leg. The outside hand, the framing/rounding hand, is paired with a passive, simply holding outside leg. Clear as mud, right? It helps to think of ourselves as divided into quadrants and it’s up to us to learn how to use each individual quadrant independent of the rest.

 

Care must be taken to ride the bendy line off the outside rein. The inside rein is only there to reintroduce the bend if it is lost. A horse will turn beautifully if he is ridden into this outside rein and it is given, ever so slightly, allowing him to bend as he turns. But not too much! If so, all is lost and you have to start asking with the inside rein again.

 

Don’t be ugly and awkward when changing your whip hand!

(This was Mrs. B’s pet peeve. She would scoff and snort in disgust watching people do this poorly at shows.) When carrying a whip or stick it is always held in the inside hand. This is because we want the horse’s inside leg to be the more active of the two driving legs.

The whip is always changed from hand to hand as you change rein, except during a serpentine. Rather than explain, I’ve drawn a nifty diagram! (Said my fifteen-year-old self.) Also, a whip is never carried any way except by the handle, or the heaviest end. Whips are never leaned against a wall or stood up in a box or a boot because they will become bowed over time. They must be hung in a wall holder from the heavy end, or else laid flat. Good whips are treasures and are not to be left lying around.

 

April 27, 1980. On Ali. We kept on with the diagonal aids thing today. I am starting to suspect it will be the real key to riding any horse well.

 

At first, I couldn’t persuade Ali to go towards the bit but we finished with him trying his best, ever. I realize now that with the outside rein, I do not wait long enough for the horse to feel and respond… so I give the rein and try by taking it up again. This becomes an irritation, rather than an invitation to the poor horse. I can see this now.

 

At the same time, I am trying to learn how to really sit.

Find the deepest part of your saddle – and here is where the saddle is either well made or not, because it is the key to your position. Sit deeply, your legs stretched long and knees a bit back, your body as tall as can be from the waist up with your shoulder blades pressed flat. Only in this position can a rider use her lower back correctly. Breathe deeply.

 

‘Using the back’ accompanies all changes of pace, halts, etc. To use your back, do not bear down or lean backwards. Instead, send your hipbones forward toward the pommel of the saddle, much like the pelvic tilt that comes when you correctly climb stairs.  We see a rider using his or her back correctly and we think that they are leaning back but the hips move forward while the shoulders stay in the same position. This is why so many riders are leaning back at the trot! There is much art and education that goes into teaching hips to move forward on a big trot… (and I was about to find out!)

 

Ali finally began to really trot today and I’m learning that my horse isn’t moving well at all if I can sit there like I’m in a big chair. Even though he is an Arabian, he can round his back and push off from behind! I am seeing that few Arabs are encouraged to do that. I was embarrassed because I could only sit well for so long, then there would be a huge amount of air between me and my saddle. I am determined to stick it! The rider must learn to adjust to every horse she rides… and not change each horse’s stride in order to be more comfortable. Even though I was struggling, my new-feeling horse felt great.

 

May 11, 1980. Three one-hour-long lessons today!

The first, on Ali. (Who in mere weeks, was unrecognizable. He loved Mrs. B, even when she was hollering at me and would leave the rail and come any distance for praise, petting and a treat). The second, on Monty. (Who was improving also but being too small for me, was being prepared to find a new home.) The third lesson, most amazingly, was on my new horse, Eclipse! (Despite a rocky start, this horse would go on to become the horse by which all others were judged.)

 

Even fitting my new horse with his stiff, new bridle, I learned today. I learned that two good-sized fingers must be able to pass between the prominent nose bone and the plain, flat cavesson. If the snaffle reins touch the cavesson when contact is made with the reins, the cavesson is adjusted too low and must be brought up to be two fingers below the cheekbones. Check the levelness of cavesson and browband from the front. The width of the hand should pass easily between the throat latch and the horse when his head is held naturally. It will usually lie directly across the middle of each jowl. The flat of the hand must be able to pass between the throatlatch and the horse when he is in a collected position. Often photographs of the horse working will help us adjust a bridle best of all. Photos will show what our eyes no longer see.

 

 

June 8, 1980. On Ali. Today, we started working the serpentine figure.

At a walk. I learned that I, like many people, reduce the serpentine into a wiggle. A wiggle is of no value to the horse gymnastically because it does not require him to be elastic, to bend. A proper serpentine looks like a series of wine bottles set end to end, like this:

A row of serpentines are formed down an imaginary centre line. They can be from quarter line to quarter line or the entire width of the arena. The serpentine is started by the rider making a circle on the short end of the arena to encourage the horse to bend. The circle is maintained until the horse understands and accepts. The rider then continues from this circle to the centre line where the horse will cross it and be ridden straight for approximately three strides. Then the other bend is taken up and the serpentine is continued.

 

A green horse will usually resist the change in bend, especially to the stiffer side, so the rider calmly rides a small circle until the new bend is established. Then they continue on with the serpentine as planned. If at any time the horse is resistant, the small training circle is offered until he is able to change his bend.

 

A correct serpentine is a very valuable training aid and as a regular warm up. Why? Because it teaches the horse suppleness and with this exercise, the rider is made more aware of her legs. Always, the inside leg is on the girth, pulsing and creating impulsion and the outside leg is just behind the girth, waiting quietly to prevent the horse’s quarters from swinging out. (By the way, the ‘S word’ can correctly rhyme with either seen or sign.)

 

On dressage arenas and whether or not riding mainly in them, or out of them, is too much of a good thing.

These are of two sizes. The larger is 20’x60′ metres, as shown and the smaller is 20’x 40′. While it is an excellent exercise to ride in wide, open spaces for dressage – it frees up the horse’s movement and expression – the accuracy will be lost if one does not learn to ride figures in a marked location. Freedom and movement are very important in dressage and should not be sacrificed for accuracy! The first is very valuable, the essence of the horse, and is encouraged with cross country riding and schooling along trails. The second is valuable in competition and must be mastered before one thinks to compete.

 

June 15, 1980. On Eclipse. Exciting tonight because my saddle has arrived. It was shipped from Germany and got lost – and found again – in New York. But it is here and feeling marvelous even though it is new, slippery, not broken-in. After some flocking adjustments by Mrs. B, it is on my new horse. The breaking-in period is important to the life and usefulness of a new saddle. There are many things to be done to a new saddle so that it sits straight. Firstly, the tightness of the girth must be checked often, as the saddle will spread and lower onto the horse’s back as it is used. The girth straps may even stretch some, including the girth, if new.

 

Secondly, while the saddle is new, the rider must not mount unless there is another person to grab the off-side stirrup leather and put his whole weight on it as the rider mounts. This is a good habit to get into with any horse when a mounting block is not around. Otherwise, the rider should swing a leg over the saddle from a tall mounting block. New stirrup leathers must be changed from side-to-side often as the nearside one has a tendency to stretch.

 

Thirdly, the new saddle will have to be reset often throughout the ride as if the horse is moving correctly, it will tend to shift forward. It has not taken on the shape of the horse’s back yet. Wool flock is best but it must be warmed, moistened and pressed into a holding shape for the correct fit. This bears repeating: once a saddle is broken-in, that is how it will remain.

 

Eclipse at the canter… and reining back.

(You’d think this would be extra-easy on an ex-racehorse. Alas, not.) My new, large, powerful horse is willing to canter but the second stride is twice as big as the first and then, he’s off. I have never paid much attention to the first half-halt before asking for canter, as my ponies have all rocked back into little round canters. Eclipse has blown my cover! This aid is important in readying the horse to use his hocks, to remind him to stay round and not run into his canter. I must remind myself to sit down and push my horse on, because my first thought is to hang on to him to keep him from running away. I must think ‘upward’, like climbing stairs, to encourage him to stay light in front.

 

As it was, twice, I was forced to run him into the wall to get stopped.

 

So back to the trot! We did trot-to-halt transitions. Very valuable in improving the canter and mindset of the horse. The rider uses the back and keeps the shoulders back. After the halts, we reined back several steps. The rider can activate the hing legs while reining back by alternating the legs as in walk. Not as strongly though, so barely seen. Also, the walk aids are behind the girth slightly for the best energizing response. This means ‘go forward’. The rein back should have the legs slightly ahead of this for the best results. This is for a forward, two-time rein back…. and few people seem to understand this.

 

If the rein back is forward, which doesn’t at first make sense, then the transition into trot is effortless. No dragging back of the feet. The rider pushes upwards into trot with the pelvis, keeping her shoulders well back and elbows softly receiving, while the horse rises up to meet her. Voila, an impulsive trot!

 

 

 

Thank you for joining me in a ride down memory lane. This was the start of my riding journal (a practice I still maintain) with the most influential teacher thus far in my life. She was not a riding coach but a mentor… through every. single. thing. I remember about horses. I see that I have forgotten a lot, that I have become slack and have sometimes strayed too far from her guiding principle of the well-being of the horse. This must be why I am again reading this journal, focusing on my eager yearning for knowledge, skipping lightly over the entries of frustration and teenage angst. To be continued.

 

Please share with us some pearl of wisdom, a golden nugget taught to you by an influential teacher in your life. Cheers for now, Lee.