Video of me and Max. W/T

[rodriguezpoultry]

http://s58.photobucket.com/albums/g259/jrsygntbrdr1/Horses/?action=view&current=DSCF1374.mp4

I see that I need to loosen up on the reins to let his head down but if I don't keep pressure, he starts looking every which way.

Is there a way I can keep him from looking everywhere?

Is his trot smooth enough? Can you make any comments on my riding?

 

[helmstead]

His looking around will stop with correction and training. Green horses tend to be less focused. I'm more english, but I train all horses english and western in the beginning 'plow reined' (two hands on the rein) so I can have a loose rein, but fine control of each rein so when they rubberneck I can make a verbal and manual correction. Eventually, I go down to a single rein hand and only need the verbal correction.

You look a little tight in the back and upper body, and don't have enough weight in your heels. Roll a little forward on your pelvis - so you're sitting on 3 points (buttocks and pubic bone) and really stretch down into your heels. You shouldn't be 'sitting' on the horse like a chair, more like distributing your weight between the seat and the feet. Try to relax that free arm and release the tension in your lower back...

I love the video, and his pace (he still looks alive and engaged, which sooo many WP riders ride dead, standing still at the trot & canter these days). Keep up the good work!

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Could it be that my stirrups are still too long? I've shortened them a bit, but it doesn't feel as though I'm able to put the majority of my weight in them unless I'm actually standing up on his back. Is that how it's supposed to be? Or should I be able to balance on his back without having to stand up in the saddle?

It seems as though I have to choose to stand up or squeeze my legs together...is it just that I'm that uncoordinated?

 

[helmstead]

:/ I always think western riders have too-long stirrups. IMO You should have no more than 110* angle in your knee - and a 90* when you're doing anything athletic!.

You're not uncoordinated, your muscles are simply untrained. It's been a LONG time since I've ridden regularly, and when I get up these days I feel like jello - it takes a lot of riding to get your muscles to do what they're supposed to on a horse.

No, you shouldn't need to stand. Has anyone taught you to post? Posting is good for a couple things - saves you when you're loosing your cool at the sitting trot AND helps you get a feel for having weight in your heels.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

No, I wasn't ever taught how to post. I thought that was for english riders...and I'm FAR from English. My knees like to dislocate if I move wrong, so I never attempted it.

I'll try moving the stirrups up another notch and see if that helps anything. Right now, I feel as though my legs just kind of hang there other than when I stand up. I can feel pressure in the balls of my feet, so I know there is some weight there.

Thank you for your feedback!

 

[ducks4you]

Could it be that my stirrups are still too long? I've shortened them a bit, but it doesn't feel as though I'm able to put the majority of my weight in them unless I'm actually standing up on his back. Is that how it's supposed to be? Or should I be able to balance on his back without having to stand up in the saddle?

It seems as though I have to choose to stand up or squeeze my legs together...is it just that I'm that uncoordinated?

The standard measurement for your stirrups is that when your leg hangs down, your ankle bone should be just above the stirrup. This length requires your toes to be slightly higher than your heel and it is the average length for both English and Western. Hence, "heels down". When I taught lessons, I worked on my student's heels at the end of the lesson hour, after they had gotten tired doing things like working without stirrups, or posting (with/without stirrups), and just keeping their legs on my horses. Their legs were too tired then to keep their heels up.
If you get RFD.tv, start watching Clinton Anderson's programs. You'll be comfortable since he uses Western tack and trains a lot of QH's. His training methods are universal, though. He believes that doing just circles is counterproductive. He'll bend his horses, back them up (in circles), turn them around trees, do circles bent to the outside--stuff like that.
When I am training my two four year olds, I do lots of serpentines, figure-eights, teardrop change of reins, halts, and backing up. Also, I push the outside shoulder and push the inside hindquarters when I make every turn in my small training area (almost square), so that my horses know that these are also cues to turn. (PM me if you have any questions. )
Definitely start direct-reining him, but don't worry that you don't know how. The MOST IMPORTANT thing is that you are spending time in the saddle with Max. He will LEARN how you ride and cue and he will improve.

 

[helmstead]

Posting isn't just for english riders. It is a 'must-know' for all riders.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Direct rein? But he knows how to neck rein? He's also working off of leg cues.

Ah...I have a feeling my stirrups are too long then. The high point of my foot is just above the stirrup.

I've been working on keeping the three points down. (Tail bone and two hips right?) As well as maintaining a squeeze on my upper legs. After awhile, my heels definitely dipped.

We were on a trail ride today..2 hours of it. All he wanted to do was trot. At the end of the trail, he was doing a beautiful trot. So smooth it felt like he was walking except with the 2-beat. It was wonderful...

My butt was killing me though.

 

[helmstead]

Sounds like fun!

No, three point seat isn't tail bone and two hips...it's buttocks and, ahem..front pubic bone. You need to roll more forward on your pelvis.

You shouldn't be squeezing or gripping with any part of your leg, it should just comfortably wrap around the horse. If you put your foot in the stirrup so the pinky toe is touching the outside of the stirrup and your toes point out ever so slightly, this will rotate your calf IN and help you wrap around your horse's barrel. When you're sitting the trot, your feet shouldn't jut out from the horses' side, they should stay under you and on the barrel. Your lower back and pelvis should move in a forward/back/slightly up motion to absorb the trot. Still, I'd learn to post first, as posting will help to correct and tighten your leg . Maybe you need knee braces? I have bad knees, too...but they only hurt when I ride western (go figure).

I'd save the neck reining for trails and shows. Go ahead and train him with two hands, so you have that fine control I mentioned earlier.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

hmmm...

butt and front pubic area. Weird. Kind of makes you wonder why men ride horses at all??

Interesting...I'll be trying that on Saturday or Sunday.

Forgive my ignorance, but I'm a visual learner. I should be looking like the woman on the far left of the picture, but instead, I'm looking a bit like the man next to her?