THE QUESTION OF THE MONTH IS RIGHT BEFORE YOUR EYES! (Send yours to us for an answer)
Regarding Canter Aids . . . Reposted from 2010
Q: Help me with “the helps!” I’ve been working on the walk-canter transitions which we schooled at the end of our clinic lesson. I put him on the 20 meter circle in shoulder-in at the trot and ask for the
canter transition. He obediently did it. After bringing him back to walk on the 20 meter circle, I again put him in shoulder-in, then asked for the canter transition. After a minor rearranging of feet (which is a timing issue and why I’m emailing you), he went into canter with no resistance. Yesterday, I was working on this again and got the right lead walk-canter transition dead-on with no trot steps. Now that I know what it feels like to do a “real” walk-canter transition, I need help with my timing. Basically, I’m asking for the Betty Crocker version so I can develop the “feel” of when to ask.
Kayla, Shreveport, LA
BILL– The key to the depart is to persuade the horse to take whatever rhythm it had been in and change that rhythm to the three beats of the canter. As you know, the first beat of the canter is the outside hind (followed by the diagonal pair and then the inside,
leading foreleg). But whether you’re in walk or trot when you want to ask, that first beat still comes down the same in the new gait. What has to be altered is the second beat, meaning the inside hind leg which now has to do something different than it had been
doing. So when you should ask is when the inner hind is supposed to push off, remembering that your aids include scooping him up with your inner seat as well as what your legs tell him.
Your outside leg is going to be back, but which leg you emphasize as the immediate “cue” will often depend on what they understand. I like to think that on an educated horse, it’s my outside positioning leg that tells him which lead to take and it’s more my inside leg that tells him when to take it.
FOLLOW UP
Kayla – That’s a great, perfectly sensible explanation. The few times that I got the transition dead-on, I felt that the outside hind was down, then the inside hind-outside fore came down effortlessly for the transition. But, although I felt it at the time, I couldn’t visualize what was happening. You are right about needing to understand both the Betty Crocker method as well as the touchy-feely, intuitive method. I don’t think you can effectively solve training issues without both.
One point of clarification: You know the old hackneyed movie bit where two guys are going to, say, jump off a cliff on the count of three, so they start the count, then one guy interrupts and says, “Wait, so is it one-two-three and we jump ON three? Or is it onetwo-three, THEN we jump?” That’s how I feel about WHEN.
From the walk, when the outside foot comes down (last beat of the walk/first beat of the canter), the next beat has to be the inside hind-outside fore (the second beat of thecanter.) So when his barrel swings against my inside, “asking” leg, that’s when I ask? Or do I have that backwards?
Bill– Well, just as it’s ready to swing away from your inside leg. That’s when the inner hind will come off the ground, and you want to catch the horse right before that happens.
ALL THE PAST QUESTIONS OF THE MONTH- Over 100 OF THEM– AND BILL’S ANSWERS AWAIT IF YOU CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE QOTM ARCHIVES.
BILL’s On-Line Store — STORECRAZY — is here to provide you with items that Dover and John Nunn can’t offer. Here’s a quick sample.
CLICK HERE to find many more items you won’t want to live without!
When all else fails, go to the mirror! But regardless, DO pay attention to the man behind the curtain.
Of Guts, Gumption, and Perspective
At the Grand Oaks show (Marion County, FL) a para rider in a freestyle test lost her balance and fell from her horse. The EMT was summoned as she lay on her back in the dirt. Apparently he was a new guy who had never worked a show before. Parking his emergency vehicle in the arena beside the fallen rider, he leaned over her to see how she was.
She looked up into his eyes and informed him, “I can’t feel my legs.” The EMT turned ashen, no doubt thinking “My God, I need more help here.” Until the victim giggled and added “But it’s OK, I never can!”
True story!
HYPE ABOUT THE TROVE OF PAST BLOGS WHICH AWAIT YOU
If any of the following snippets pique your curiosity, you can find the story archived on this site. It’s DRESSAGE Unscrambled, with a twist—it’s free! More than two dozen dozen (more than 330) posts accessed by this click. 
Remember Reiner Klimke and Ahlerich in the victory lap after their gold medal win at the ’84 LA Olympics? All those 76 one tempis in a row? Well, for old time’s sake, click here for the instant replay!
The Horse Protection Association of Florida needs your help!
HPAF receives no state or federal funding and exists only through donations. The amount of neglected horses and horses whose owners can no longer afford to feed them has exploded recently and your donations make it possible for HPAF to continue the work of protecting and saving horses.
www.hpaf.org
“LINT IS A SHELL’S BEST FRIEND” CLICK HERE TO LEARN WHY
Quote of the Month
“We are all time travelers — just the really dull kind — ones plodding through the 4th dimension one pathetic second at a time.” (Robert Smith on NPR’s Talk of the Nation)
Quote of All Time
“The bad news is you’re falling through the air, nothing to hang onto, no parachute. The good news is there’s no ground.” Chögyam Trungpa
Click to view an important cultural icon: “Bambi Meets Godzilla”
LIFE GETTING YOU DOWN? THIS, TOO, SHALL PASS CLICK HERE FOR RELIEF OK, GO!
An audio treat for your dining and dancing pleasure? CLICK HERE
FEAST YOUR EYES ON THIS — A FANCIFUL VIDEO MONTAGE TO LEONARD COHEN’S “DANCE ME TO THE END OF LOVE.” The tango sequence is from the 1992 film Scent of a Woman.
For the One Minute Version of everything you need to know about woodsdressage.com – CLICK HERE
HAVE YOU BEEN TO SHOW BILL YET?
Chris Hadfield performs Space Oddity from the ISS 
CLICK HERE for a selection from Bill’s Photoshop endeavors
Below: To imprint in your mind. Harmony in the person of Col. Kurt Albrecht von Ziegner. His mount unknown. |
It’s another Monday!
If the last total eclipse of the sun worked for you (or if you were indoors at the movies), there’s a second showing. The date will be April 8, 2024. Visible in the US on a swath from Texas through parts of the Midwest to Buffalo. I am not going to miss it!
TUNY [photo], the French Bulldog , sadly crossed the rainbow bridge. Her position as the official Safety Coordinator of this website has been passed along to Alan, the new Frenchie puppy. He has been getting up to speed on the Manual. If as you’re reading, he issues the “Duck and Cover” instruction, please climb under your desk and assume the position until he issues his All Clear announcement.
While Alan [below] may appear to be very youthful for these responsibilities, he has assumed the mantle and hopes to grow old as he carries out his duties.
