Helios Harmony Online Courses

 

I alluded to trying some new online courses a few posts ago and after about 6 weeks I feel ready to give a review.  In a word, fabulous.  The Helios Harmony online courses hosted on longridehome.com are different from any other course I’ve done.  The premise is that there is a (mostly) forgotten system of training for dressage that most people don’t know about and therefore don’t utilize.  This is the system the Cadre Noire and The Spanish Riding School, among others, use to train their horses.  All based on the work of the old master La  Gueriniere.

The courses go into theory in a light hearted way, but have tons of practical examples and are very understandable.  Cruise and I have been working our way through a couple of them and we both really like the content.  The in-hand work has been especially beneficial.  Interestingly, Cruise has gone from toeing out behind to being almost straight in six weeks.  His chest has broadened, his balance has shifted back, his canter is much more sitting, and his ability to do flexions has improved so much.  We’ve been lunging 1-2 times per week, doing the in-hand lateral exercises for 5-10 minutes 5-6 days a week, and doing a combination field ride/5-10 minutes of countdowns at the walk, trot, and canter in the ring 5-6 days a week.  Nothing stressful but the muscle building and balance improvements have been kind of crazy.

Anyway, if you’re interested in learning more and getting more details, check out the free introductory course HERE which explains everything much better than I can.  Enjoy!

Field Tripping

 

No media because busy hands, but we went on our first field trip in 7 months yesterday.  There was some tension.  There was some excitement.  Especially when a horse was being lunged in the ring next to us or when a cute mare passed close by.  BUT I was able to get his focus back to me consistently.  He handled the barn owner doing various loud repairs behind the arena walls with ease.  I got some really nice ground work in the end and we quit on a relaxed note.  Also he quietly loaded and unloaded both ways with only a short prep the week before.

So what’s the plan you ask?  Much more of this.  Pretty much every weekend through fall.  I’m taking my saddle, side reins, and bridle from now on and we will progress through lunging, in hand bridle work, and under saddle as indicated.  The nice thing is the barn is pretty deserted on early Sunday mornings but as he  gains confidence we can go later and later to expose him to more and more.

I’m sort of doing a three prong approach.  Hauling out once a week to the boarding barn is one.  Field riding on a looser rein using Warwick Schiller’s bend to a stop is the second.  A traditional classical dressage program of lunging with side reins at least twice a week, in hand lateral exercises in the bridle before riding, and under saddle work that uses more lateral work at the walk and countdowns for balance is the third.

More on the riding program soon!

Waist to Hands, Who Knew?

 

As we’ve been tootling around through this wet and cool spring, I’ve been playing a bit with classical in hand and under saddle work.   More on that in another post, but during a wander on the web researching classical seat aids I came upon THIS gem by Sylvia Loch for Dressage Today.  A lot of interesting ideas wrapped up in a brief article, but I was struck by the waist to hands concept.  Basically, SL posits that to be over the horse’s center of gravity the rider must always push her waist slightly towards her hands.

Hmmmmm.  Something about this struck me and I decided to give it a try.  My next ride I made sure I was in neutral pelvis and basically aligned and gave a slight push from my waist to my hands while keeping lined up.  I did this all the time, and at all three gait.  And OMG.  It worked like a dream.  I was sitting upright easily instead of constantly struggling to get my shoulders back.  My canter seat was deep and following.  Our field ride was the quietest that it’s ever been.  And most of all I felt a sense of rightness.  In balance and centered, strong and secure.  

Is this something I missed in riding Kindergarten?  Does everyone else already do this?  I’m just shocked by how effortless the whole concept is and how well it works.  Thoughts?

Finally, an Understandable History of Dressage

 

When I was tootling around YouTube trying to understand how the Cadre Noir does their thing so seamlessly, I stumbled on THIS playlist.  Finally I get the origins of dressage (hint, it’s not in Europe), and the evolution from La Gueriniere to Baucher and Steinbrecht and how that impacts modern “sport” dressage.  Also how Nuno Oliveira used La Guérinière as his base but added in splashes of Baucher or Steinbrecht depending upon the physical type of horse.

I recommend starting with Nuno Oliveira’s Inspiration La Gueriniere and following with Unlocking Nuno.  This explains the evolution of modern dressage more effectively than anything else I have ever seen.  For the very beginnings of dressage, go to The Origins of Dressage and work your way up the list.  The host is easy to understand and very entertaining but really gets into the nitty gritty of the history and techniques.  I learned so much and it’s so relevant to my daily training.  Enjoy!