(“But isn’t this cheating?”)
If you frequent Facebook you’ve no doubt encountered those condescending “life hack” videos– 21st century Hints from Heloise that use unlikely household items to accomplish noisome tasks: “Use this string to remove a too-tight ring stuck on your finger.” “Brass andirons tarnished? Soak them overnight in a bathtub filled with ketchup.” Some life hacks, as you can tell, are apt to help you more than others, but if they work, hey , . .
Which brings me to a pair of recent clinic lessons. Case Number One: an enthusiastic but novice-y young woman with a head full of book knowledge that far exceeds her skill level or practical experience . . . On a none-too-easy Mr. Potato Head sort of horse who has spent more time looking for the stars than she does seeking the bit (and possesses an astonishing ability to remain upright while cantering at break neck speed, counter bent, and banking like an Earnhardt at Daytona.) I’ve known them both for a while. On the clinic’s second day I arrived to find her lungeing the mare in running side reins which were helping to produce an uncharacteristically round topline and a pleasant swing.”Will she canter in them?” I inquired. The result was so relaxed and balanced that I proposed we leave them on for the mounted lesson. For the next 45 minutes the horse carried her, and the woman found her own back and the feel of a self sustaining canter that didn’t need her to be chased around the arena. I was thrilled. The rider’s reaction: “But isn’t this cheating?”
Case Number Two: a bright woman whose body parts at times operate independently of her will. I reminded her at one juncture of that scene in Dr. Strange Love when the doctor’s own arm begins to attack and strangle him. Her schooling is complicated by her older horse who, unless ridden very cleverly, cheerfully trots and canters as though he’s swallowed a cavaletti pole, all of which feeds right back into his owner’s tensions and rigidity. Having been all through this lots of times, at the outset I asked if she knew how to ride in two point. After a puzzled look she stood straight up in the irons, her crotch over the pommel. “This?” “Not exactly,” I said, demonstrating a closed angled, balanced position from the ground. “Go try this in the canter,” I suggested. And glorioski, she did. From somewhere in her youth she dredged up a completely respectable half seat matched with quiet hands. She was rewarded by a round, comfortable canter as her horse felt much less to argue with. And the punch line—when she sat it still worked, and she was able to carry it over into the trot as well.
But can you guess the rider’s reaction? “Yes, but I want to learn to do it the right way!” Of course she does, and the first rider doesn’t want to cheat. But circumstance has put them each in that situation all the masters shake their heads and warn against–the green rider on the green horse. Honestly, if you’ve never felt a back that’s sitable, how are you going to learn to sit? There’s the infinite number of monkeys and typewriters scenario which at best is an inefficient expenditure of time and effort.
As I said to the woman with the side reins, if you ride round and round doing fancy movements and pretending to do dressage while some device holds your horse’s head down, you ARE cheating. If you get some short term assistance to add to your Rolodex of feelings and acquire a stable, harmonious seat, it makes the training part infinitely easier. As for the second rider, instead of beating your head on the wall, establish some real communication any way you can. Make “the light go on” in your horse’s head. Help him understand what you want, and extrapolate from there.
As for the andirons, I’d go with Brasso or hire a Merry Maid for an hour or two.