Monday, May 9, 2016

Clear Intention

I read a really interesting article by Dressage Today on Facebook last week about the clarity of aids and clear intentions.  http://pinterest.com/pin/318770479856634053/

I got MANY gems from this article including "library quiet position" and some great definitions of the different types of aids, but the first exercise in the article is especially fab.  Basically in it, you speak out loud everything you are doing throughout the ride.  If you are doing nothing but passively following with your seat you say nothing, but if you are giving any active aid you must use a one word directive about what outcome you want.  First you will start out verbally meandering on things like "We are working on thoroughness, so I am flexing..." but the point of the exercise is to use one word directives strung together that can be executed correctly in one to two strides or beats.  More like "Go, flex, stop, more, and etc...."  The expectation is that by having clear directives with a goal of an immediate response, you clean up the clarity of your aids, fine-tune the response of the horse, weed out aids that aren't working or need changes, and improve your ability to ride in the moment and from movement to movement with much less mental "chatter".

Let me tell you, this is MUCH MUCH harder than it sounds.  I think it will take me a week or two to have the mental discipline to really do this throughout the whole ride.  It is SO hard to stay focussed right in each moment and not wander mentally.  It really fits in though, with my last post about having a prompt "whoa" and "go" and expecting Jet to carry himself and be ready to promptly execute whatever I ask for in one or two steps.  So far, I have a much crisper horse, carrying himself, doing great transitions, promptly executing my directions and weirdly he is more relaxed because he is more focussed on my aids.  Facebook FTW!


6 comments:

  1. Great timing for a great idea - I have a clinic this weekend that I am really nervous about (not only a fab clinician I don't want to ride like an ass infront of, but tons of auditors signed up to watch!) and I know my head will be full of unhelpful noise. I'm going to try this and see if it not only helps in clarity for my poor pony, but quiet my head and help me relax!

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    1. Glad the post was timely for you Wendy and good luck in your clinic!

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  2. That sounds very intriguing. I did something like that with jumping. Counting down how many strides away I am from a fence like "5-4-3-2-1." It really stinks when I'm so off my count that I have to count "Zero, negative one, etc."

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    1. I remember those days of counting down strides or counting in general to stay on an even rhythm when jumping. It is really hard to stay in the moment when jumping as well.

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  3. Mental silence is just not my game. It's why I suck at Yoga. But I know it's important in dressage. The mental game is it's own challenge.

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    1. The mental game is really tough, especially if you have a "busy" brain like me. I wonder if some of the more successful riders just naturally have the ability to quiet "extra" thoughts and that helps with their success?

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