Ryeissa wrote:Dressur has her silver medal and shows lovely work. I'm inclined to believe she is just fine how she is and doesn't need anonymous assistance from unknown persons who may or may not be able to implement results.
I don't see anyone telling her to change, just discussing the different styles. I appreciate the questions and Dresseur's willingness to explain how it works on different horses. It's important to have that information out there so people don't try to mimic something they don't understand. Personally, I find this discussion really interesting.
Blob, I didn't really take notes, but on the 4th level horse when I arrived yesterday, they were working on changes. He is a big long tank of a horse, and would tend to get one change and go way too flat to achieve a line of changes. They ended up pushing his canter way out around the whole school to get him moving, then keep the energy on canter voltes. After several minutes of that, his changes got way more airtime and she was able to keep him round. She was instructed to get 100# off of him and get his fitness up so he would be sharp enough to keep the energy for the PSG work.
The green horse the first day (probably not quite a TL horse yet) was I think a FriesianX with a big, upright neck. She talked about degrees of contact with that horse on a scale of 1-10. The priority was getting the horse to go FDO to the bit, and keep the contact very light, never going over a 3. She had the rider comb the reins in walk and trot to get her reaching down. She said it would take about 9 months to get the horse's topline built so the underneck would go away, but it was really important to be able to put her neck FDO before trying to ride her more on contact, because she would just end up in a false frame and tight in the back. The mare was also nervous and going over tempo at first, so she made sure she slowed down, and said don't mistake running flat with going forward
An exercise she recommended for everyone is the "box" - sidepass about 10' from the rail, reinback 10', then sidepass back to the rail with very deliberate, slow steps and keeping the horse parallel to the rail. She said this is more for the rider to learn how subtle they can be with the weight aids.
As far as judging, she said if an average-moving horse is between scores on a movement, she will tend to go up on the score because the rider is getting the best work possible out of the horse. She said if you have an 8 mover, than you really need to be looking at your lower movement scores and figuring out where your basics are lacking, because each movement can be an 8.
And Ding's face should be a bit more fwd and open at the gullet, and that's one of the 'good' photos! So much to work on. 