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In Stride....
with
Vol.: 1 Issue 1, September 2003
Trainer Tip:
Trying to get your horse straight, use reins that have rubber stoppers and make sure
your horse steps evenly into each rein. Do not hold one rein shorter than the other rein. Also, ride on the quarter lines.
(Brought to you by Krysta Tyco via a lesson that Kristin received.)
Dr. George Felder's demonstration in Maryland for the annual Andalusian Horse Show.
Ask the Trainer
This column can be answered by any trainer. Septembers highlighted trainer is Kristin
Hermann (who would have thought!)
Please advise: I am riding my Morgan in a Walk Trot test.
This pair gives a pleasant picture. Both are concentrating on the job. This horse
seems really content with his way of going. He is stretching nicely into the contact, telescoping from the base of his withers
to the bit. His hind leg strides are stepping
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into the prints of front legs. As a result, he is tracking up and stepping under himself and his rider,
moving unconstrained - key word for TRAINING LEVEL.
He has a nice swing to his shoulders, too, and his mouth is relaxed and his tail swinging. He is also
attentive as his ears are relaxed and forward. Nice Morgan!
The rider is also concentrating
making her Morgan look this nice. She fits this horse well and is nicely dressed. However, her poition could be tightened
up. Her hands are pressed down a bit, and her leg is gripping. If she would let go with her leg and turn her toes slightly
in allowing the calf to lengthen, she would envelop the horse a lot better. Her whip is too high on the horse's flank beacuse
her hands are too low. If she bent her elbows a little this would raise her hands and the whip would fall behind the calf
where it is most effective. An arm stabilizer (www.armstabilizer.com) would tremendously help this rider.
I recommend that this rider keep training this Morgan as he shows lots of potential.
Also, read Podhasky's book "The Training of Horse and Rider", particularly the section on leg position. She
needs to open her hips to let the leg hang freely down. One way of doing that is to rotate the knee into the saddle - but
not grip with the knee - just open the hip and release the calf. Then we will have a perfect picture, and a beautiful pair.
Another note is that if her whip was correctly positioned behind the leg, she would
not be working so hard with the leg to get the horse to move forward.
For a free picture analysis, email: kristin@coventryequestriancenter.com. Be sure to send picture!
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