Wednesday, March 07, 2012

March "Four Exercises I'm Using Right Now" Weekly Post #1

Utilize the Diagonal

Phil and I are working right now, amoung other things, our downward transitions. I've seen Courtney King-Dye say that the basics for any horse are "Start, Stop, and Steer." Well Starting is not an issue, but Phil sometimes doesn't Stop all that well, and occasionally he blows through my half-halts from canter to trot. To help him achieve a prompt but forward feeling down transition, I'll ride the canter across the diagonal and ask for the trot just before we get to the wall. I think that him approaching the wall gives him the feeling of "Oh, I better think about stopping" and then when I half-halt he is more responsive. This also works from the trot to the walk, where he is especially slow in taking the aide for the down transition into the walk. We are also working on overall acceptance of the half-halt, but that's something else entirely. This exercise gives him the correct timing and a chance for me to praise him that he's on the right track.

3 comments:

Oak Creek Ranch said...

Winston has a tendency to blow through my half halts in the downward transition from canter to trot. I like your exercise, using the wall/rail to help. I'm going to try it. Thanks for the tip! Hope it works for both of us.

Sonya said...

Love that you set him up for success and praise!

paint_horse_milo said...

Sounds like a good method...I have the same problem at the lope to jog transition, half the time the half halt is blown off. This "to the wall" style might help out!

 
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