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Critique us :P

1441 Views 13 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  Kayty
9
This was kind of average.. not my best but not my worst so whatever.

Be as detailed/harsh as you like and critique the horse too please! (the horse is Misty and it was her.. 4th? ride after having 1-2years of due to having a foal.)

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I think she lookd great!

For you:

~ Heels down

~ Hands up

~ In some your lower leg is swinging behind you too far.

~ In alot your leaning forward make sure you sit up straight.
Thank you! If I get a chance to ride today I'll work on some of that.
You look a little tight on the reins in most of the pics. I am not just going by how straight they look but the expression on your horses face and body as well. Other than that and what has already been mentioned, you look ok.
Beautiful horse! some things I knowticed,
-your leg is too far back in most of the pictures, try bringing back your shoulders and pushing your chest out.
-like the other posters your reins are a little tight, loosen them up just a little and bring your hands up
-your girls head is a little behind the verticle, so just make sure you are pushing her foward.

Verry beautiful girl! Keep up the great work!
Ok sweet... I now have a good idea of what I need to work on. I think I was quite tense because I had only ridden her a couple of times before and this was her first time ever out on the road.
-Sit up straighter.
-Lower leg too far back.
-Loosen your reins, I've ridden a mare who also had an extended neckline(best way I can describe it) and it feels weird riding with such long reins but they need it to be comfy and work their best.
-Relax, if you don't feel completely relaxed on her then just take it nice and slow. No need to rush either of you.

She's a very good looking mare especially in the pictures where she's lowered her head and extended her neck. She looks a bit more relaxed in them but you need to back off them reins.
Very nice little mare you have on your hands. Others have already pointed out what I would say on your position so I won't comment.
I would like to see her a little looser, I like to have my babies nice and big, loose and swinging more than up with the poll at the highest point. She looks far more relaxed in the photo's where head neck is being carried lower.
At this stage, all you want if for her to go, stop and turn more than look pretty. Have her react immediately off your aids and then work from there. Some trot-canter-trot transitions will really help you to warm up her back and get her loose, but because she's only young don't over do it.
Lots of changes of rein and transitions will get her nice and loose. The biggest thing is to have her relaxed through her back to help her build up those muscles. it will take a while for her back to develop enough to get true swing and throughness, but to develop that you want to get her working actively behind and light in the bridle.

Good luck with her, she's a very flashy little mare!
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Thanks heaps Kayty that has given me alot to think about and work on! and thank you for the compliments on the mare I am planning to go far with this horse.
Beautiful horse.
Heels down,
Thumbs up
Leg has slid back,
Oh, I love her! She's GORGEOUS. And the fundamentals of your position are quite solid - with some minor tweaks you'll look great, and be super effective.

The number one thing I noticed in all the pictures is that you're riding the horse "back to front." Basically, you want to work on having a much lighter contact on the reins, and have the energy from her hind end push her into the contact. My OTTB came to me reeeally on the forehand and heavy, and your girl isn't as bad as he was, for sure! With some concentrated schooling, you'll get there fairly quickly.
The best thing you can start to do is warm her up on a loose rein with a lot of leg, to get her really active behind. Basically, let her have her nose up in the air, and just focus on the energy. It'll feel too fast, and that's okay. Then, after she's really moving off your leg nicely and warmed up, start to take contact - very elastic and giving on your inside rein, and more stable (without pulling) on your outside. For every ounce of pressure on the reins, you need to add an ounce of leg, or she'll just slow down. Learn to half-halt with your seat, your legs, and your outside rein, and then you can balance her like that. The inside rein can be "squeezed" - go from the same stability as your outside rein with little 'gives'. Basically, the gives shouldn't be super visible - just open your fingers or move your hand forward a bit, and just for as long as it takes to say the word 'give.'
Riding like this will help you achieve the coveted 'inside leg to outside rein' that people talk about. Once you both get used to it, you'll be able to literally push her balance from your inside leg over to the outside, and in doing so, she'll bring her hind end underneath herself and go "on the bit." A good test to see if you're doing it right is to slowly give both reins. If her head immediately pops up, she isn't engaged, and you've been riding with too much hand and not enough leg. If she remains super balanced and reaches down for contact, you're doing it right.
Hope that all made sense! :)
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no critique from me but WOW what a gorgeous mare! Bet she had a very nice foal
Half halts are a learnt tool. Horses don't just know them. It's not a case of just sitting deep, pulling the rein and putting leg on. To get a true half halt takes a lot of work in getting to correct reactions from the horse. Before asking for a half halt, you need to fine tune your stop and go buttons, until you can ask for stop, and then go a stride later. These soon get fine tuned enough to start asking for the half halt.
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