It is always amazing to me how fast people move away from/forget the basics. You are so right that they favor schooling the more advanced movements over and over again (often incorrectly) to attempt to "fix" them, when in fact they need to spend some time filling in holes on the basics. And this is true for every sport I've ever studied with horses!
It kind of blows my mind as well when folks don't grasp how the basics are the building blocks that allow upper level work to be done well, and in harmony.
Ok, I just have to comment again after watching the videos. If I were that first rider, and I had come to the clinic asking for help with UPPER LEVEL MOVEMENTS, I'd be *embarrassed* with that poor leg yielding performance!
That last horse/rider pair did look very nice. I'd agree, the nicest of the group. I'd say the odd canter was a result of the horse saying, "This is hard, mentally and physically." It appears this is a new concept for him, so I'd say he's rocking because they're breaking his brain a little, and it's just physically hard for him to balance that way and sit on his hocks correctly. Plus, if this pair also had some holes in their basics, a 7yr old could still have holes in the canter work where the horse is still mostly on his forehand. If that's the case, he would be rocking back and forth a lot because he wants to do his thing--be on the forehand--but he's being asked to sit on his hocks! That pony had to be very mentally tired by the end of their set, but I bet it helps them both a lot. :)
Yup. All on the basics, that's what the North Americans and Australians miss, we don't have the foundation they do in Europe and it means that when we school the higher movements they are sloppy ...
Edward Gal clinic enforced that. I'm glad you enjoyed it, I saw Steffen Peters at a clinic last year and it was great, though the atmosphere was less than forgiving, he had some good things to say.
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It kind of blows my mind as well when folks don't grasp how the basics are the building blocks that allow upper level work to be done well, and in harmony.
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That last horse/rider pair did look very nice. I'd agree, the nicest of the group. I'd say the odd canter was a result of the horse saying, "This is hard, mentally and physically." It appears this is a new concept for him, so I'd say he's rocking because they're breaking his brain a little, and it's just physically hard for him to balance that way and sit on his hocks correctly. Plus, if this pair also had some holes in their basics, a 7yr old could still have holes in the canter work where the horse is still mostly on his forehand. If that's the case, he would be rocking back and forth a lot because he wants to do his thing--be on the forehand--but he's being asked to sit on his hocks! That pony had to be very mentally tired by the end of their set, but I bet it helps them both a lot. :)
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Edward Gal clinic enforced that. I'm glad you enjoyed it, I saw Steffen Peters at a clinic last year and it was great, though the atmosphere was less than forgiving, he had some good things to say.
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