Tuesday, March 16, 2010

A Spastic Madame Defarge no more

After two minutes of watching me ride 'round on Delphi, Jeff Moore said I looked like a "spastic Madame Defarge." (She's the knitting villain in Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities.) I'm glad to report that since receiving the benefits of Jeff's clinic, I am now happily allowing my horse to self reward (I still need to make it an extra obvious reward) and thereby accomplishing several strides in relaxation! We've even achieved a relaxed shoulder in at walk. Progress!

Note the elbows down, shoulders wide and low, and stable core:
Keeping armpit muscles engaged, shoulders wide, and core stable; waiting for Delphi to give:
When she gives, I can then encourage her to self reward by uberstreichen:
Uberstreichen at canter:
Delphi relaxes her jaw, and I reward with uberstreichen:
"She is positively scurrying!" Note the improved suspension in the canter stride:

What a feeling! Thank you Jeff!

1 comment:

Marlene Caldwell said...

Awesome, and I love the helmet!