Conference noted::equitation

I'll start the ball rolling with a couple images and tell you why they succeed 
or fail for me.

One that I have seen in this conference on occassion is the idea of using the 
bit as a wall and driving the horse against it. This image doesn't work for me 
because my idea of a wall is something strong and hard and doesn't move. The
mental picture I get is that of Torrance Watkins-Fleischmann and poor Finvarra 
missing a jump and *DRIVING* headlong into a solid cross-country jump! Another 
picture that comes to mind is the car safety tests where the car is driven into 
a brick wall. The way poor Finvarra and the cars crumple is *NOT* what we want 
when we try to improve collection or longitudinal balance.

In Sally Swift's "Centered Riding", Sally uses many images. Some work for me 
and some don't. One which doesn't is her image of holding little birds in the 
cups formed by your hands when holding the reins. Sally is trying to get 
across the idea that you should not clamp your hands on the reins in the
proverbial "death grip". She suggests that you imagine these little birds 
are there and you don't want to crush them. Well, my reaction to this is to 
freeze my hands into a cage or something around these little birds. The cage 
won't crush them but rigid hands aren't terribly useful in riding!

One of Sally's images which *DOES* work for me is the idea of imagining your 
outside leg as a riverbank or dike which channels the forward flow of the 
water. I think it works because I see the water moving freely forward and the 
bank bending the water sometimes and straightening it at other times. In other 
words, the bank and the water aren't in some static, rigid situation. The 
relationship is dynamic and changes when necessary.

Finally, an example which didn't work the way I first read it but did work 
when modified. When I started riding with the late Dr. H. L. M. Van Schaik, he 
recommended several books which could be useful. One of the was written by the 
former director of the French academy at Saumur, Commandant Jean Licart. 
Licart's book has been translated into English under two titles, "Basic 
Equitation" and "Start Riding Right". In his book, Licart uses the phrase 
"arms of steel" in describing the correct riding position. I discussed this 
with Van Schaik. I told him that to me that phrase implied that the arms 
should be like the thick rigid girders one sees in bridges and commercial 
buildings. VS explained that what Licart was getting at was more like a steel 
screen-door spring which is flexible but also provides resistance against a 
pull. This made sense to me I could imagine my elbow and shoulder joints 
working that way. It also allowed me to see that you could adjust the spring's 
length or tension to accomodate the horse's level of training or the activity 
at hand.

John

    A very intriguing topic! The best form of this for myself would be
    imagining not something to compare riding to, but a perfect ride
    itself. Sort of mental rehearsal. I can 'feel' very clearly in
    my mind the feeling of taking a fence with perfect rythm and stride,
    and mentally experience the sensation of releasing with my hands
    correctly, etc. I assume this a remembered sensation from past
    good experiences (for lack of a better word?). Then when I ride
    I strive to find that certain feeling again. It really works for
    me, and I've heard of other riders using this as well. I've never
    taken more than a handful of formal lessons, perhaps this is something
    people who ride on their own tend to develop? I wonder if
    having a trainer tell me to compare riding to something other than
    riding itself would help me, or if I would get distracted by taking
    my mind off riding to conjure up the sensation of something unrelated.
    I ride only basic level dressage, my main competition horse is a
    hunter/pleasure horse, although I would like to get into low level
    eventing with my other horse (on the suggestion of a judge at a very
    small show last summer who pinned us first in a jumping class
    and told me to event her because she's very catty and too high-strung
    for hunters/pleasure stuff). I had hoped to read Sally Swift's book
    with getting a decent elementary dressage test out of her eventually.
    Basically I would say I am an experienced but formally untrained rider
    with a "sure, I'll try that!" attitude who wishes she could afford
    some really good coaching! If only I could get that raise....:-)...
    

re .0

By all means, use what works for you!  If it doesn't work for
you, it doesn't work for you.  Reject it and try something else.

You sound like you may be describing some general human-to-human
communication problems.  I myself haven't found many riding 
instructors who are good listeners.  If you can't do it their
way, they don't know what else to do, and sometimes they will
try to make you feel there's something wrong with YOU.

Good communicators have wide repertoires of techniques, and
they will enlist their students to help themselves come up 
with the images and feelages they need.  (Rather than dictating
specific images.)

Read "The Natural Rider" by Mary Wanless for additional 
visualization ideas.

The possibilities are endless...

    
    	As you mentioned in .0 the interpretation of an image can be quite
    different given your life-experience.  Any good teacher, in any
    discipline, takes the time to learn a students background and interest 
    and then uses these life-experiences to promote understanding of a 
    difficult topic.  In learning to ride, my biggest setback has been 
    in using an analytical thought process and trying to break everything
    out into little steps.  The only real success I've encountered in
    riding is when I allow my "right-brain" to take a physical snapshot
    of the technique when my instructor confirms that I've managed to do
    it correctly.  This, in itself, is imagery.  (And given the fact that
    my right brain appears to have atrophied after 15 years of programming
    - a difficult task for me).
    
    	Teaching can also be difficult when the instructor communicates
    with sensory representational images (ie: feeling) when
    a student may operate from within a different realm (auditory or
    visual).  It is the instuctors responsibility to learn the proper 
    approach for an individual student and learn to communicate concepts
    with a variety of representational techniques.
    
    	(I personally had trouble with the S.Swift "water through the hose"
    concept).
    
    - JB  

    Several years ago I took part in a couple of Sally Swift clinics on
    Centered Riding. Her imagery got in the way for some particpants but I
    found it very useful in communicating ideas. The trick was not to get
    hung up in the specific image but to understand the ideas and feelings
    behind it. It's easier to do this in a clinic than when reading a book
    where you can't question the writer.
    
    Riding is mostly a right brain activity. All the theories and systems
    never seem to consider that horses generally never go through any of
    these analyses and live in the here and now. They take their cues from
    their immediate surroundings. If there's a cranky uptight rider on
    their back trying to rationalize them into a collected trot through the
    application of whatever "system" (and/or bit) that is currently the
    fad, they are going to be cranky and uptight as well. (just go to any
    dressage show and watch) On the other hand, if the rider is feeling
    what the horse is feeling, asking for cooperation rather than demanding
    obedience, the result is far different.
    

    
    re .3
    
    Many instructors are limited in their communications ability - How
    many classes/training courses/seminars have you taken where the
    instructor can not or will not explain things in more than one fashion?
    The point is that this down fall is not limited to riding instructors.
    I am very lucky, my coach (which is a tittle I like much better) has
    the capability to provide more than one explanation and /or image for a
    concept she is trying to impart. I also have a problem with the bit as
    as wall image however bringing the hind end up underneath the horse has
    a real impact on me. So to does the concept of riding each AND every
    stride.
    
    Nancy
    

    Glad you all found this idea interesting. I'll respond to a couple 
    things that I noticed in the replies.
    
    re .2's "striving for some remembered good ride" That's a fairly well
    known sports psychology technique. It's frequently used by athletes in
    training to imagine themsleves doing a perfect competitive performance,
    etc. It's like a mental video tape replay. S. Swift even mentions it in
    her book. If you came up with the idea, you're in good company. The
    only warning is on the word "striving"! When we strive or try "very hard" 
    to do something, we usually get to tense in our bodies to do it!
    
    re .3 and .6 Yup, we certainly do have to put up with a lot of limited
    communication ability. Did you ever come across a rider who did one
    thing in the saddle but when teaching said something else? Some people
    are riders "by the grace of God"(as VS usee to say) and they don't
    really *KNOW* what they do as riders so they have no idea how to
    explain it to a student. I mean everything they do themselves is
    intuitive and they aren't really aware of what they do! I had one or
    two coaches like that over the years.
    
    re .4 and .5 Yes, Sally Swift is much clearer in person and uses images
    as well as ordinary description. When we were in NH, we got to know
    Sally fairly well. Went to at least half a dozen 2-3 day clinics with
    her as well as a couple 1 shots. We used the same Alexander Technique 
    teacher so we'd see her occassionally there or in his Tai Chi class. 
    Actually, that's how we met Sally in the first place. And, I have read
    Mary Wanless's book too. I have to agree about the "water in the hose"
    image. I first heard that ages ago when I was in the 6th grade and it
    has *NEVER* made my elbow unbendable!
    
    re .I forget which one but one of you said you don't like the bit/wall
    idea but do like the image of getting the hindquarter under. I like
    that image too. There's a related one which says that when you engage
    the hindquarters, you raise the mass of the horse in front of your leg.
    That was used during a lesson once years ago and it made everything so
    clear that I've never forgotten it. The picture of the engaged hind end
    raising the front end up into my hands was so vivid!
    
    Looking back at the examples I used in .1 and what I just said about
    engaged hindquarters, I realized that what the common thing was. The 
    images that didn't work created a static, rigid picture in my mind. 
    The images that worked created a moving, supple, flexible picture. Kind 
    of like the difference between a photo and a movie/video. You know how 
    when people want to take your picture they say "Smile and Hold it!" and 
    expect you to not move until they are happy with the shot? Especially 
    annoying when they have to fiddle with their camera and take 2-3 shots 
    "just in case". An image that creates that kind of response is one that 
    doesn't work for me. 
    
    But an image that includes some movement has a chance of working with
    me. If it includes feeling, so much the better!
    
    What makes an image work for you? Is there a common thing like
    movement is for me? Am I getting too philosophical?
    

I think for optimal learning we need to use BOTH
sides of the brain.  Each side has its advantages.

Isn't it paradoxical - it IS the left side
of the brain that tells us, "You aren't right-
brained enough!"  

Without the left side of the brain, we wouldn't
be discussing visualization, verbally, over a computer
network, would we?

  I think this is a great topic!  

  I have noticed that the best instructors I've had, had the ability to conjure
  up clear and useful images to get across different/new techniques.  They were
  also perceptive enough to reslize when something wasn't working right and knew
  well enough to try to communicate the same idea in another way.

  A good instructor/coach should (after getting to know you and your horse) be
  able to deduce what methods will work best.  I like to go to clinics and find
  that the best instructors don't spout one strict method.  Instead they take 
  a while to watch the riders/horses warm up and come up with different 
  solutions for each horse/rider team.

  I think that images can also muck up the waters, so to speak.  If you have
  too many rules floating around in your head, it's hard to relax and you start
  concentrating on your hands or your leg, and the rest of your position falls
  apart.  In dressage, you can put yourself in the "perfect" position, but your
  horse won't perform if you aren't pushing them foward.

  Also, if you're too concerned with "cosmetics" (ie: are my hands/leg in the 
  right place) you stop feeling how your horse is moving.  Chances are, if your
  horse is moving well, then you are probably riding well.

  My best rides happen after I've strategized on the ride out to the barn.  I
  think about the horses' tendencies and how he went the last time I rode and
  then I think about how to approach my ride and what exercises I should do to
  get him moving foward (he tends to be lazy) and supple (he's stiff to the 
  left).

  /Simone
       

    A few of the images that have worked for me to obtain a better position
    have been "make yourself tall" and "look over the world" from Dr.
    van Schaik combined with two from Sally Swift, "feeling that you're 
    suspended from one hair at the top of your head" and "being on the bit" 
    (you, not the horse! - i.e. your head is balanced and you don't have your 
    chin up and out [above the bit] or tucked into your neck [behind the bit]).
    But I need to combine all of them together to get all of me correct.
    
    One image that I haven't been able to make sense of is the laser beams
    that Sally Swift talks about going through your body.  I have read this
    in her book, and been to clinics where she's used this image and I just
    don't get it.
    
    						Jan

What I had been hoping for in this topic is to get you all to think about
images that are used in writing/talking about riding and relate your thoughts 
here. Why? Several reasons:

One reason is that we all tend to believe that other people think, feel, react 
or imagine in the same ways we do. Nothing could be further from the truth as 
any of you who are married can atest! (For an interesting read on that topic, 
try Deb Tannen's book "You Just Don't Understand: Men and Women in 
Conversation") It took me years to figure out that everybody in the world 
wasn't like me. I think I was about 7 when that revelation first struck but I 
occassionally have to be reminded of the more subtle variations. I was
hoping that we could get some idea how different our styles are, who could 
communicate with whom, etc.

Secondly, I was hoping that we could get enough responses like:
   "IMAGE X doesn't work for me but IMAGE Y does and explains the same idea" 
that we could all have some alternatives to use when an image that works for 
us doesn't work for somebody we are trying to help. That way, we could help 
people who weren't just like us without making them feel dumb because they 
don't understand us.

Third, I just like to study/analyze riding topics. A horseman for whom I have 
great respect once said to me: "Any day that you don't learn something in this 
business is a day that you fall behind." He was a stud farm manager(now 
retired) and was talking about fertility testing, AI, broodmare management, 
disease prevention/control, etc. But, I think the same thing is true of 
riding. Besides, some of Dr van Schaik's habits rubbed off during all those 
years of studying with him. He had to stop riding at the age of 83 because of 
respiratory difficulties. (I should *LIVE* so long much less ride so long!)
But he continued to study, think, observe and write until his death in August
at the age of 92! In fact, he was attacking the USDF's new dressage tests in 
articles and letters written only weeks before his final illness. The last was 
published posthumously in the Fall USDF Bulletin which we received on 3 OCT.
    
    
    John

One that doesn't work for me is: "Put your feet on the dash going over the
fence" ... the result is my feet are WAY out in front of me and I'm SITTING on
the saddle.  Considering what the instructor is trying to do is make me drop
more weight into the irons, what seems to work better is: "Support yourself
with your thighs".... strange, but it just reminds me of a muscle group I
sortof forgotten was there... ;-) ;-)

Another one which works for me: "bounce him back" when doing a sitting trot...
my back becomes more spring-like and the ride _MUCH_ smoother!

				-Caroline

    I have been following this string hoping to find a solution to my
    balance problem.....I just started working on building a good base 
    for dressage and for some reason I have not been able to balance myself 
    correctly without twisting my spine and distributing my weight incorrectly.
    
    The `put the weight in your heel' (I think?)image didn't work.  In order to
    get my legs in the correct position I was (unconsciously) bending at 
    the hip, and I'd be okay for a few strides, but then my feet would start 
    moving forward and I'd be off balance again.  My instructor has tried 
    many different images/ideas and exercises, but I just couldn't get the 
    hang of it......until last night.

    Last night I rode a different horse, a champion roper.  He is extremely
    sensitive to the leg, weight and hand aids and he doesn't bend well.
    I was working in a 30-40 foot circle and if I wasn't balanced....well it
    was not fun.  I almost gave up when my instructor said for the umpteenth 
    time, get those legs back but try `pushing back from the knee'.  Light
    dawned and it all of a sudden came together.  I was balanced, comfortable, 
    and the gelding started responding and bending.  I'm still psyched.  :^)
                                                                     

    GOOD FOR YOU!
    
    Now, that you have felt it you should be able to do it more easily.
    Maybe not every time but with patience and persistence you'll get it 
    together!
    
    re `put the weight in your heel' image. That's one that our late coach
    carefully avoided. In trying to get their heel down, most people will
    push down against the stirrup which opens the knee joint. This causes the 
    leg position to be IN FRONT of the girth, which is not what we want. 
    
    What he always suggested was that you think of 'lifting your toes'. That 
    flexes the ankle joint and stretches the calf muscles while leaving your 
    leg at the girth.
    
    re `pushing back from the knee' What our coach used to say was that you
    should feel that you were starting to kneel. He used the short hand
    phrase of 'knees deep' to remind you of it during a lesson, because 
    explaining the 'starting to kneel' feeling  takes too many words! He
    would first have a student get the feel of this standing. The student
    rider should keep her/his upper body erect and start bending the knees 
    until they are about halfway bent, perhaps a bit less. This flexes the 
    knees and ankles about the same amount as they will be in the saddle.
    Once you have that feeling, you can think about your knees going
    forward and down from your hip. Couple that with raising your toes and
    you're on your way to getting your legs in the correct position. 
    
    Of course, lots of hard work helps.
    
    One other comment about the 'instructor said for the umpteenth time',
    the process of learning to ride is like that. Sometimes,we just aren't 
    ready to understand something. No matter HOW it is explained, we
    don't get it. Then, one day the instructor will say the same thing
    that's been said 100 times before and we get it! 
    
    And, then there are the times when you understand it intellectually but 
    the body doesn't cooperate! I have been through all those stages more 
    than once...and probably will hit some of them again. The process of 
    learning to ride never really stops!
    
    Good luck,
    John

    THanks for the encouraging words John....I was really starting
    to get frustrated.  I like your kneeling image, and then the image
    of skiing popped into my mind.
    
    The other half of my problem is that I'm riding my horse, I can ride
    her, and look good on her, and not necessarily be correct, I can feel
    how she is going and then for some reason I feel comfortable.  I can
    ride any horse......but I know I can't ride them.  My instructor can
    hop on any horse, in any tack, for the first time and win a class. 
    I hope someday my abilities will be half of hers.  Anyway, switching
    horses helped us figure out that it is my balance that was off, and
    hence figuring out this leg thing....I can't wait to pratice Friday nite!

    I have been taking lessons for the past 3 or so months after some time
    off from riding.  Of course you can understand that my form had gone to
    H___ in a handbasket so it's like starting over again.  Not only that,
    but I have been riding several horses over that same period of time,
    which doesn't help.
    
    My instructor uses the same imagery comments as stated previously such
    as heels down which does result in a widening of my knees.  I have been
    having difficulty coordinating all of the finer points and John's
    comments do a lot to clarify what I really need to do.  If any other
    equine noters can expand upon this imagery note per their own
    experiences, I will be watching and "imagining" just how to better
    relate those images to my riding skills.  Keep those alternate ideas
    coming folks.
    
    DW

    Here are a couple other fine points of position that may help with your
    balance problems.
    
    Frequently, people say to "shift your weight to your inside seat bone"
    and/or "use your inside leg at the girth" when making a turn or circle.
    I don't know about you, but they way I might respond to instructions to
    put more weight onto my right seatbone (or right leg when standing)
    would be to use my muscles to push down into that seatbone or leg. And,
    that is counter-productive!
    
    They way we were taught to circle is this: look to the inside with your
    body(NOT your head!) and keep the inside knee deep(as mentioned in my
    last note). The deep inside knee encourages the horse to bend around
    that leg. Looking to the inside with your body is enough of a weight
    change that the horse will respond.
    
    In telling a student HOW to look with their body, our coach would say
    "Allow your spine to rotate" or "Rotate your spinal column". Basically,
    you are turning YOUR upper body in the direction in which you want the
    horse to turn. 
    
    He would sometimes use the image of an old fashioned barber pole in 
    describing this. I like that image because:
           1. The pole represents the alignment of the spine and the
              pole rotates
           2. The muscles being used are spiral (like the stripes on the
              pole)
           3. The stripes seem to move upwards (when the pole is rotating)
              which reminds me that my upper body should be moving upwards
              rather than pulling/pushing down into the inside seat bone.
              Moving upwards helps keep the seat light and effective.
    
    re: my last note in this topic...Anyone who does Tai Chi will recognize
    the standing version of position I described as the "Horse" position
    used for meditation. If you have a friend who does Tai Chi, perhaps
    they could help you work on that position.
    
    John

    I can relate well to the rotation of the whole body rather than just
    the head.  My instructor, like many others that I have had over the
    past 15 or so years, has the same patented statement, "look in the
    direction of your next jump".  This focuses on the head and isolates
    the cure to smaller part of the body whereby shifting your weight
    accomplishes a nomber of critical things (attains a lighter seat,
    forces the inside leg to where it should be and provides better
    balance).  
    
    I'll take your advice and reply with some results later.  
    You should be an instructor, if you aren't already.  Keep those
    cards and letters coming.
    
    Denny

    
    Just last night, a light bulb went on (off?) for me. My instructor
    is trying to get me not to put my crotch infront of the pommel over
    the jumps. Last night she had me and my companions squat to close
    the angle (as oppose to bend forward). One of my biggest problems
    as been leaning into the jump (which changes the distance and a bunch
    of our stuff). This concept of squatting keeps my weight (and hips)
    over my legs where it belongs! The rest of my lesson was great! Did
    some pretty impressive turns and really nice steering corrections
    through a gymnastic on a curve that made me think I might one day
    really know how to ride!
    
    Nancy
    

Over the weekend, I looked up something about balance that I remembered 
reading in Waldemar Seunig's "Horsemanship". 

"Every shift of weight, produced by a deliberate or unintentional movement of 
the rider, finds a desired or undesired 'echo' in the well-tuned instrumented 
of the horse's body. I have ridden Lipizzaners of the Spanish Riding School of 
Vienna that were so sensitive that the change in balance produced by the 
rider's inclining his head to one side was enough to have them depart from a 
walk to a gallop towards that side."

Of course, Seunig received  part of his training at the Spanish Riding School.
This is just an example of how subtle we must learn to be! 
It is NOT a suggestion for a new method to get the canter depart! :-)

    John

When I started the reply about the barber pole, I had intended to
include some more about the lower leg. However, the barber pole reply got a 
bit long and I decided to do this separately. So, here goes.

For dressage and jumping, the lower leg(i.e. the calf) is supposed to be
softly lying on the horse's barrel. There are several reasons for this. One
is that it improves the security of the seat. Another is that it speeds up 
the rider's response when a leg aid is needed. The other important reason
is that it doesn't startle the horse when leg aids are applied. If the calves 
are off the horse before leg aids are applied, the horse is sometimes startled 
    or frets about when the next aid is coming.

It is difficult for many riders(NOT just beginners!) to keep their calves 
quietly on the horse's barrel without tightening them too much. Our coach 
used a reference to the way a wet towel clings to the skin to describe the 
way the calves should lie on the horse's barrel.

I am glad that some of you found these images helpful. I take no credit for 
them. I learned them all from the late H. L. M. van Schaik. BTW, he didn't 
take credit for all of the images he used either!

    My lesson went real well last night, I was able to get into the
    correct position immeadiatly and the horse responded as I wished,
    instead of trying to argue w/ me.  I have noticed that if my calf
    is not lightly laying on the geldings barrel and I give him a cue, then
    I end up with an unsmooth transition, vs. the way John mentioned in
    .22, although wet towel dosen't mean anything to me.  I'll have
    to stick a wet towel to my skin when I take my shower to see if it
    means anything....

    That's the trouble with images! Sometimes they don't mean anything to
    the listener/reader.
    
    How about a bit of Hollywood sexism then. You've probably seen a movie
    where the male and female lead players are having an intense emotional
    scene outdoors. The emotion could be anything: greed, joy, lust,
    whatever. Then suddenly it starts to rain and they get drenched. Of
    course, the camera focuses on how the female player's shirt sticks to
    her chest...Now do you get it? The wet towel would stick the same way.
    
    Forgive the title, I just couldn't resist. I'm sure Jan will hit me for
    you!

    I would like to report on some success relating to the imagery
    suggestions made in .18.  I applied the Barber Pole imagery suggestion
    in my last two lessons with some really good results.  First of all,
    part of my problem seems to relate to the instructors demands to "push
    down on my heels".  I have been constantly reminded of that fact ever
    since I started riding at this particular stable.  By concentrating on
    "pushing down the heel" tends to force the leg to the front causing a
    balancing problem.  I discussed this with the instructor and we both
    realized that this was the basis for my problems, ie seat, balance,
    turns, jumps etc.   
    
    We both agreed that I should concentrate less on the heels and more on
    the balance and I was able to improve on all areas almost immediately. 
    Everything seems to have come together at once.  By lifting the just a
    touch, and by applying the weight and hip adjustment, which forces the 
    inside leg back, the horse responded accordingly.  Balance improved etc.  
    
    The real key was the issue of the heels.  Fortunately, by talking this
    over with the instructor, she also realized what was going on.  Don't 
    get me wrong about the instructor, however.  The heels issue was a
    self-imposed condition since that was something I was forcing to an
    extreme.  The instructor didn't realize the relationship since I hadn't
    really talked to her about it.  So long as we both realized it now.
    
    Again, any imaging suggestions you may have, are most welcome.

    One of the best things you can do is to talk to your instructor/coach
    about whatever difficulties you are having. Especially if you hear
    something(like "get your heels down") repeated that isn't helping or
    makes you struggle.  Sounds like you have an instructor with whom you are 
    comfortable. If she/he is discussing things with you and helping you 
    figure out solutions, you're on the right track. My point is that
    instructors/coaches are not mind readers! If we don't talk to them
    about problems like lack of understanding or struggling with something,
    they MAY not know there is a problem...Therefore, it will never get
    solved...
    
    I'm glad that the Barber Pole and "lifting the toes" helped. 
    
    John

This topic has been quiet for quite some time. So, I thought I'd share a 
humbling exerpience and the thoughts it generated.

When we started riding regularly this spring, I started out with basic 
conditioning and basic schooling. While working on walk to halt transitions, 
I found that my horse was halting with her right hind leg trailing far 
behind. So, my brain got into gear and thought of all the things that could 
be causing this. I knew it was rider error(i.e. my fault) because I know 
this horse so well. I figured that all I had to do was to find the "mistake" 
I was making with my hands(or seat or legs) and fix the problem. The 
classic Mr Fixit approach.

I tried all sorts of variations in technique. Some helped a little but none 
really solved the problem. Suddenly, just as I asked for a halt, I stopped
thinking about the hands, seat and leg separately. I saw the halt 
as an integrated whole and just did it in an easy coordinated way. I felt 
my seat lighten in the saddle. My hands and legs felt softer. My horse 
reacted and stopped smoothly and squarely. I tried another halt the same 
way. THE RESULT WAS NOT AN ACCIDENT! My horse stopped so perfectly it was 
incredible! She was perfectly straight, square and balanced. 

I don't know whether thinking "Part A does this and Part B does that"
interfered with my body use and coordination or whether this is a 
Zen-like experience of some kind. Why do I say Zen-like? Because a friend 
who studied Zen told me that there is a Zen technique in which one studies 
the details of something until "the big picture" becomes clear. 

I think it's more likely to be related to what a friend who is an Alexander 
Technique teacher says: "What you think is what you get!" meaning that if 
you think about your body as disconnected pieces you will move and ride 
that way. On the other hand, if you think about your body and "what you want 
to do with it" as a whole, your action becomes integrated and more effective 
even though you use less effort.

This gave me some insight into one reason that visualization works for some 
people. While you are visualizing yourself riding, you can see the whole 
picture rather than just the parts. Visualization is just another way to get 
us thinking about the whole body in action at once. 

I never did figure out what the "mistake" was that I was making that day but
I learned something more important. The whole is greater than the sum of the 
parts in riding. Whether you learn to think of yourself and your riding as a 
whole through the Alexander Technique, Zen, or visualization doesn't matter. 
But, it is an interesting and important concept. Perhaps, the next step is 
to think of your body, your horse's body and what you want to do with them
as an integrated whole.

Anybody else have any thoughts on imagery, etc that you want to share?

John

    ;^)  ...or your horse just read your mind!  
    The author of 'talking with horses' swears by this.
    
    a rather corny but thought provoking book.
    
    Sharon

Hi,

This has been quiet for a time and is a very interesting note!  I have
a few minutes, so I thought I'd relate to you what I've gotten out
of some of the suggestions.

The image of 'starting to kneel' works really well for me.  I have a
pretty good position with my leg to start with, but I don't seem
to get far enough into my heels.  By 'starting to kneel', it pushed
my entire leg down without causing me to pull up in my heels.  Its
really worked wonders.

Last week, we'd been riding around the arena with our typical problem.
Louie is a very lazy horse (don't get me wrong, this is perfect for me...
its just too much work for him to be a problem for me!) and must
be ridden every stride, so to speak.  He leans pretty badly on your
'in' side.  So far, I've tried just about everything.  The barber
pole image, opening my outside rein, lots of stuff.  My instructor
(who is an avid fan of Mary Wanless), stopped me and had me first
walk and then trot with my inside hand up in the air, straight above
my head.  While this is not really an image, you would not believe
the difference it made in how the horse traveled.  Also, it kept
my legs *completely* still.  I was even able to sit the canter for
the entire duration.  I was elated!!!!

I've been riding for 5 years now and nothing ever worked for me like
this exercise.  I was amazed that I was that out of contact with my
own body.  Apparently, I was collapsing at the waist, each time we'd
turn.  The more I applied the aids I was being told to use, the more
I'd collapse.  If you'd asked me if I was bent at the waist, I'd tell
you, NO WAY!  But that was obviously it.  

While I still can't always feel it, at least now I have a 'correct'
feeling to go back to in my mind.  And I can always raise my hand
(except it would probably look kind of funny at a show....but then 
thats never bothered me before...8*)).

Jan

    I'm glad that raising your arm overhead helped! That's a good exercise
    for pointing out asymmetry.
    
    But this brings up my biggest beef about Mary Wanless. She takes and/or
    is given credit for lots of ideas that are not hers. For example,
    Sally Swift has been having people raise an arm over their head for 
    AT LEAST 15 years. I first watched her teach about 15 years ago and she 
    was already using that as a routine exercise. I'm not sure whether she 
    thought it up or whether she too borrowed it.
    
    In her books, Mary Wanless uses lots of concepts and even phrases that I 
    KNOW come directly from F. M. Alexander, the originator of the Alexander
    Technique without EVER giving credit where it is due. For what it's
    worth, Sally Swift also studied the Alexander Technique and used lots
    of the concepts. But, at least she gives fair credit to her Alexander
    teacher and the related material she read.
    
    Don't get me wrong. Ms Wanless' books are very useful to those of us
    who aren't naturally gifted. She pulls lots of concepts together and
    organizes them in interesting ways, etc....but IMHO she takes a lot of
    credit that she doesn't deserve.

I'm glad Mary Wanless wrote The Natural Rider, and
feel it is a completely worthwhile and valuable
contribution in its own right.

If Sally Swift hadn't written Centered Riding,
I believe someone else would have written its 
equivalent - our culture/sport was ready and 
waiting for it.

Nobody "owns" fundamental truths (for example,
laws of physics).  Everybody who tells their own
story makes a unique contribution to the rest 
of us.

The attitude that truth is "owned" and that
it's *bad* if peoples' ideas overlap
has a destructive effect in the world.  It can 
discourage people from expressing themselves
("I shouldn't say or write anything unless 
it's completely original!") and then world 
loses their contribution.

    Please re-read my rathole! I didn't say Wanless shouldn't have used
    other peoples ideas. I said she should have given credit to the sources
    of ideas that were not original.
    
    Everybody builds their ideas on the foundation of those who have come
    before. I have no problem with people who say "I have expanded on the 
    ideas of So-and-So and Gazornenplatt" or "I am taking information from 
    other sources, combining it with ideas of my own and presenting them in 
    a new way." It just galls the (*&)(&^% out of me to see somebody present
    ideas as if they were original when in fact they aren't.

    
    I was at an event recently where we were going slightly down-hill to
    the warm up fences.
    
    I overheard an instructor telling her student to ride 'up-down' the
    hill.  I thought that was a pretty good way to describe how to ride
    downhill, especially to a fence.

Hi,

Regarding the previous notes about Mary Wanless and the hand in
the air exercise......

It was not my intention to leave you with the impression that my
instructor said that this exercise was Mary Wanless' idea.  My
instructor is a fan of hers and has given me the book, 'The Natural
Rider', but she has also read Sally Swift and respects her as
well.  She didn't tell me where the exercise came from.

I apologize if I've created the impression that my instructor said
the exercise came from Mary Wanless.

I just know it worked for me!

Thanks,

Jan

      I recently visited an Art History Museum that gave me an image I'd like 
      to share in this note. The museum contained a collection of small 
      equine sculptures which was truly amazing. The artistry and 
      craftsmanship of the pieces was really superb. 

      Even there though, I couldn't stop thinking about riding! Some of the 
      pieces show a free horse in exquisite examples of collection. The 
      neck is high and arching gracefully forward with the back well
      raised. The horse's hindquarters are well engaged and the leg joints 
      are flexed. 

      Others show the horse in a tense imitation of collection with the 
      neck drawn up and back. The back is hollow. These remind me of the 
      trophies for the Breeder's Cup races. In fact, I think that the 
      Breeder's Cup trophy was modeled on just such a sculpture. If I 
      remember correctly, they said during one of the early Breeder's Cup
      telecasts that the trophy was modeled after a Renaissance
      Italian sculpture. 

      It's clear that the artists were excellent observers and accurately 
      portrayed what they saw. The latter type of "collection" is seen all too 
      often in riding. It seems to me that the primary cause of this
      would be trying to pull the horse together with the hands rather 
      than pushing it together from the seat and legs.

      Whatever the cause, those statues have given me a VERY clear image
      of the difference between what I want and what I don't want when I 
      collect my horses.

      John

This is an old note, but I returned to it recently after really 
making a concerted effort to read Sally Swift's "Centred Riding",
as finally I've moved Rocky to a place with a floodlit schooling ring
and can concentrate on schooling me and him once again!

I was lazy reading the book in the past, flitting through reading
sections that were relevant to my riding at the time, but now 
realise that's the completely wrong approach to this book.
I've started from the beginning this time, concentrating on the
4 Basics, which she considers to be "Soft Eyes, Breathing, Centering, 
and Building Blocks".

WHAT a difference! I've been practising soft eyes every day, while
driving, working, and riding. It's amazing the effect that intensely
focussing my eyes upon something has upon my overall body tension,
in contrast to the use of "soft eyes" to maintain peripheral awareness. 

And Swift's breathing imagery has really helped. The image that works 
for me is trying to breathe through a long flexible tube that runs from 
the lungs right down to my toes. She suggests doing a breathing comparison:

First, take deep breaths from the lungs, which expands your chest and is 
hard work (like blowing up a balloon - it is an inefficient use of your 
lungs). While doing that, if you place your hand just below your navel,
you won't feel any activity.

Then, try  breathing through that long imaginary "tube" down to the toes, 
feeling the diaphragm moving *downwards* while inhaling. Notice the 
difference! When you then place your hand below your navel, you should be 
able to feel the breath flowing through this "tube". This imagery has done 
wonders to relax the muscles in my back and shoulder, releasing tensions 
which are in turn communicated to my horse. As my horse is quite skittish 
and prone to irrational fears, my breathing alone has helped a great deal to 
calm him before and during moments of anxiety on the trails/roads.

I'm still doing a lot of thinking on really "absorbing" this imagery, so that
I can naturally feel and imagine these sensations rather than have to 
consciously remember to think about them. Swift refers to the left and
right sides of the brain working "together" in harmony, and that is
my goal! My brain prefers to work according to rules: "do this with your
legs, apply that aid, remember to do this", but I am slowly finding that
when I abandon the rules and rely upon imagery for a while, things start to
come together and I don't have to use my "checklist of aids" very much
at all.

Ellen 

    Thanks for sharing your impression of the book, I've thought about
    reading it but I wasn't too impressed with a magazine article by her,
    it seemed like too much hocus-pocus.  Maybe I'll give it another look.
    
    Sharon

It's tough going, that I will admit. It's not a book to skim or flip through.
I've found you need to read a little bit at a time and really try to
absorb it, then ride and try to incorporate what you've read into your
riding. And then go onto something new. I've read passages that just didn't
"click", but then reread them weeks later only to find they were suddenly
understandable.

Actually, I wish I could have someone stand by the schooling ring and
read passages from the book to me while I'm riding so I could remember
it better!

    The November 1993 EQUUS magazine has a bookreview of an irreverant look
    at Centered Riding. The book is a series of cartoons spoofing many of
    the concepts in Centered Riding. It's title is something like
    "Off-Center Riding and Not so Swift" but I've forgotten the
    author/cartoonists name. Sally Swift, being the good sport and lover of
    good fun that she is, wrote the introduction. The spoof came about
    because the images don't work for a lot of people.

I have "not read" the CR book in the same way as mentioned here--
by reading particular passages and some of the introductory chapters
rather than reading cover to cover.  On one hand, this worked for
the amount of time I had to spend-- I got something out of it.
On the other hand, I think this topic has convinced me to really
sit down and READ the whole book.  I had tired of the book, but
I think it's because I always ended up reading ONLY the diagrams
(every time I sat down with the book),
and it doesn't take long to "read" only the diagrams!  

If you think the Sally Swift book can be slow, I guess you haven't
seen the Mary Wanless books, or some of the classical dressage/equitation
writers.  I really like Mary Wanless' books, but my instructor thinks that
MW uses huge long sentences with big words to say simple things.  But I
*need* some of those long explanations!!  If I could already understand
the simple explanation, I'd hardly need lessons or books!  Anyway, the
first MW book (the Natural Rider in the US, called Ride with your Mind
in UK, which makes much more sense to me!!) has almost no diagrams,
so it takes concentration to read.  But then I'm not tempted to
read only the diagrams!

Actually, I started this reply because I too REALLY want to have any or all
of these books on TAPE so that I can hear them while I school.  I thought 
I might have seen an ad in one of the magazines for something like this.
I know that I have recently seen a bunch of musical and non-musical schooling
warm-up tapes.  I assume that these have imagery as well as simple exercises...
Has anyone heard of riding books on tape, or tried the riding session tapes?
--carrie

I've never heard of schooling tapes (audio), but it sounds like a great idea.
Perhaps I'll get my instructor to read passages from the book onto a tape
(with correct intonation, of course) and play it during my schooling sessions :)

There do seem to be videotapes of Sally Swift's clinics mentioned in
note 10.71 - the Dressage note - if that's any help.

Ellen

Did you guys see the blurb in EQUUS about these special sunglasses that
will let you receive images of your ride from a video camera while you're 
riding? For $1500, you get a belt pack which carries a receiver, cord, and 
special sunglases. If you look through the glasses straight ahead, you just 
see like normal. When you look down with your eyes, you get the picture 
from the camera. They manufacturer claims that the thing has been tested at 
all gaits as well as over fences(Sounds expensive if you're horse refuses
and dumps you though!)

John

    
    	Yes, I did see this. Sounds neat, but I don't think I'd be able
    	to use it for more than a few minutes! It could be distracting...
    
    	Sherry