Hey everyone !
I'd like to start working on the shoulder in with Dayka but I don't feel 100% sure i have the theory right, could you tell me if i'm missing something ?
Start with getting her loose and relaxed on the circle her whole body curved with a slight bend of the neck, getting to the long side keep the bend with my inside rein, the outside rein soft just keeping contact, inside leg at the girth pushing the shoulder out, outside leg behind the girth to keep the hind legs from slipping to the outside.
Should my shoulders align with the horse's (to the inside with my weight pushing to the outside) or stay straight (my outside shoulder behind my horse's outside shoulder with my weight to the outside) ?
I'm sure i'll have more questions once we actually start working on it but at the moment if you could help me with that that'd be a great start :D
Thanks in advance !
I'd like to start working on the shoulder in with Dayka but I don't feel 100% sure i have the theory right, could you tell me if i'm missing something ?
Start with getting her loose and relaxed on the circle her whole body curved with a slight bend of the neck, getting to the long side keep the bend with my inside rein, the outside rein soft just keeping contact, inside leg at the girth pushing the shoulder out, outside leg behind the girth to keep the hind legs from slipping to the outside.
Should my shoulders align with the horse's (to the inside with my weight pushing to the outside) or stay straight (my outside shoulder behind my horse's outside shoulder with my weight to the outside) ?
I'm sure i'll have more questions once we actually start working on it but at the moment if you could help me with that that'd be a great start :D
Thanks in advance !
I'm so sorry, but nobody seems to feel competent to help you with your dressage question.
Neither do I, but I think you might find the description in a good dressage book.
Further you might want to look at Will Faber's "ArtToRide" videos on YouTube, they're very helpful!
It's wonderful to read your progress with Dayka, keep us posted please!
Happy holidays,
Miriam
Sorry I haven't been able to reply earlier - Christmas, you know! Also, I had a feeling this might be a long answer in creating, so I wanted to have the time to make it right.
First off, I don't know how advanced you are as a rider, so forgive me if I get too much into the basics of the movement. I assume Dayka has already learned to move sideways and can do leg yielding, at least at a walk, along the long side and diagonal.
The aids for shoulder in is basically the same as for a circle.
The outer rein guides in the direction and keep the outer shoulder from falling back to the wall. The inner rein guides the position of the neck.
Both legs must keep the hind end in place; the inner works just like when you make a small circle larger while the outer leg says "go forward and persuades the horse to stay in contact with the inner leg.
"Your shoulders are the horse's shoulders, your hips are the horse's hips."
It's vital for the move that your eyes are in the direction you are traveling, but your shoulders and hips are aligned with the bend in the horse, which means one butt cheek on each hind hoof - straight over the track - but the shoulders are slightly turned.
Make sure your back and seat is straight and in balance! Your sense of the movement, balance and flow, is more important than the "how-to" you learn from reading a book. Otherwise it will be like trying to dance the tango without ever knowing about music. ;)
Best is if someone on the ground can watch and tell you if the bend in your horse is correct or if you collapse your torso, which is very common when riders concentrate on the inner rein too much. Then the inner shoulder will drop and your outer hip fall out, in which case you lose contact with the hind leg and you no longer have the ability to ride the horse forward or keep the bent shape.
When you teach a horse the shoulder in, it is easier to start from a circle than a straight line. Make sure you have the balance and forward going working!
Then, as you get to the wall, keep the bend - very slight at the beginning - make as if to start another circle but continue along the track. Just a few steps with a slight bend at the beginning. Finish with another circle (or straight ahead) before it gets wobbly. If it gets wobbly, do not try to correct in the movement but abort the attempt, find balance and impulsion and try again.
As I said; long answer! :)) I know it is late in coming but I hope it will be of some help anyway. Either way, do let us know how you are coming along!
Merry Christmas!
Kicki
Both Miriam and kicki nailed their answers for you. Miriam in particular because every horse needs to learn this move without any weight on his back. Will Faber [Art To Ride] takes the viewer step by step in the process until fluid motion is demonstrated by the horse. The result of the shoulder-in movement brings about a suppleness in the horse that is hard to duplicate with any other of the initial training movements. The big thing that happens, however, with the shoulder-in, is that the horse learns to balance himself in a different manner since this movement is not a natural expression of his movement. The cowboys, who were really good at first rides with horses would always teach the horse to move laterally before mounting on the initial ride. Why? Because most horses have to find that balance point or they get frightened when their back is all of a sudden tipping from one side to another. In that case, they unload what`s on their back.
Kicki is right-on with her written explanation of what happens when your in the saddle on the back of the horse. The orchestration of the cues will come with feel as the over-all smoothness will be the crowning achievement when everything comes together.
Once this move has been perfected, Dayka will become a different riding horse. I believe that this move produces mountains of confidence for the horse and also for the rider.
I hope this finds you well
Bud
Thanks miriam, kicki and Bud, you've given me lots of amazing material :)
Dayka has just lost her last 2 teeth so i'm leaving her alone at the moment, it looks pretty painful so i'm letting her be until she feels better. No hurry.
Kicki, thanks for all the details, i'm the kind of person who needs to visualize all the details before doing something so that helps a lot. To answer your question, we have been doing lateral work on the square, not so much on diagonals or straight patterns. I've been working on suppleness & bends so that was my plan to progressively move towards the shoulder in first before the leg yield. I know from my "readings" that some recommend the leg yield first then the shoulder-in, others believe the opposite, identifying the shoulder-in as the foundation for anything that comes after. With what we've been doing I feel it would be a more natural progression but i do keep your remarks in mind for when i'll start trying to ride it if I see she's struggling with it.
But until her mouth feels better it's back to ground work and relaxed walkabouts for the two of us.
I'll try to remember to film our first attempts from the ground, might be interesting to get feedback from all you wonderful people :D
I absolutely agree with that and feel I should clarify myself on the subject. :)
Shoulder-in is definitely one of the first things to do once the horse is supple enough to keep its balance and forward-going while asked to come closer to three tracks, and can certainly be done before/after or parallel to the leg yield.
That said, I want to point out (although I am sure most of you know this already) that shoulder-in is ultimately a collecting movement which is why it is the foundation - as you so correctly point out - for anything that comes after.
The leg yield on the other hand aims to relaxation in the horse (as well as an easy way to learn the aids for stepping to the side.) Without a relaxed frame you will be hard put to succeed in the shoulder-in, so leg yield basically is what comes before what comes before that which comes after. ;) ;) ;)