What To Do

As some may know, my trainer and resident trainer here at Westfold Farm, Katie Cook, has been out on maternity leave. I am very happy for her and her husband. Every family deserves to take as much time off as they need or want to bond with their new member, and it is important especially for mothers recovering from the rigors of pregnancy and birth.

That has, however, left me without training for about a month. We have all found ourselves without training at some point or other for whatever reason in the past. Whether you want to take your own time off from training for financial reasons or time constraints, or your trainer is injured, out of town, or you are looking for someone new, it can be difficult to figure out how to move forward with your horse without guidance.

For Hwin and I the biggest training challenge that we have faced has been the flying changes. We have been working on them off and on for years with different trainers and varying degrees of success. Now under Katie’s eye we are regularly getting about 75% of our changes cleanly. Unfortunately for us, we can’t really work on those on our own. I need a trusted ground person to tell me if they are clean and to tell me what I am doing wrong when they are not. So while I can’t work on them directly, I can work on things that will help us improve them while Katie is gone.

One thing that I have been doing is working more in the snaffle. Hwin’s breed and confirmation make it very easy for her to drag me around. I can’t simply push her forward into the contact and expect her to “come up” into it. Instead she dives down and I end up carrying her front half with my arms. It may save me on a gym membership, but it isn’t a fun ride! For a lot of years I compensated for this by riding in the double all of the time. It was easier for me to keep her from diving and dragging. Well, she should carry herself in the snaffle, too, and through judicious use of rein back, lots of transitions and stopping the pulling as soon as it starts by coming to halt we have come a long way. Self-carriage in the snaffle is no longer the fight it used to be. Better self-carriage means better balance and better balance will make it easier for her to do changes.

A handy tool that I often turn to when I find myself without training for any period of time is the book 101 Dressage Exercises. It is a wonderful book to leaf through and easy to find exercises that will help whatever issue you may be having or with what you are working on. One of my favorite warm ups that I use frequently and have expanded on came out of that book. I have been using a lot of the suppling exercises in Katie's absence, which again, help her keep her balance.

Working on your position is another good way to pass the time in a long layoff from lessons. One of the best ways to improve your seat is to ride without stirrups or even better, bareback. Those are two things that I don’t do enough of regularly and have spent some time working on while Katie has been gone. The better my position is, the easier it makes every aspect of riding.

Another fun thing I like to do is work on the tests. I like to break down whatever test I am planning on showing into its individual movements, work on one each day, and then gradually put it together. The test movements are often seen as the goal, but can be training tools in themselves. Shoulder in, circles and voltes, and half passes all help create suppleness and balance. Medium and extended gates help with impulsion. Leg yields help with connection. The list goes on. Accuracy is also incredibly important for test riding and can be a great thing to focus on while waiting for your trainer’s advice.

It can be tough without the eyes on the ground and guidance that a good trainer provides, but by recognizing what you need to work on, seeking alternate sources of knowledge, and not being afraid to get a little creative, that doesn’t mean your riding has to stagnate. I have thrown in some changes into my work here and there. I have no idea if they have been clean or not, but they have been straight and calm which is part of the battle, and I am looking forward to showing Katie the progress we have made when she comes back!