CARL HESTER - cont’d
snaffle like a driving rein [There’s a photo of this, but it was in the Dressage Today article. Can you crop it so there is only Carl in the photo showing the driving rein. Then it will be different from what DT printed.]. With this rein, Emily was able to allow Dublin’s neck forward, and he reached out toward her hands and accepted the contact better. “I know it feels a bit weird,” said Carl, “but it works. Put your hands in front of you and together.” Emily rode transitions between medium and collected trot, and her horse became honestly light in the hand because of the contact. Then she rode with her hands in the normal way, and Dublin maintained his reaching toward the contact.
Adam and his horse worked on pirouettes by working on the canter. From a working canter, Carl explained, you get a working pirouette. Then when the horse is taking you in the working pirouette, you can make it smaller. Adam demonstrated transitions between medium and collected canter. “When he comes back,” said Carl, “you want him to anticipate going forward again so you don’t have to drive out of your pirouette.”
Top: Adam Steffens on Zikamo Bottom: Emily Smith on Dublin Photos: Carole MacDonald
They did three transitions on every long side, and Carl commented that at that rate, he would do 200 transitions in a session!
Exercise: Ride the Corner This exercise enables you to ride the corner instead of being a passenger.
Trot to the corner; then halt and stand in the corner. Turn 180 degrees to the outside, and trot out. Repeat, and from the next halt, turn 180 degrees to the inside and trot out. Soon your horse will start to wait and ask what you want. Next, trot through the corner and see that your horse stays with you and waits for your aids.
Intermediaire II and Developing Grand Prix
Ashley Madison rode her own Lugano (Gani), a 17-year-old Rheinlander gelding by Lancer II.
Gani was spry, spunky and looked much younger than his years, but the down side was that he didn’t accept Ashley’s leg. Lugano got strong and overactive; his hind legs produced energy that didn’t go “through” his body. Carl asked Ashley to push Gani sideways from her