July 11, 2019

How To Add Suspension To Your Dressage In Five Minutes

Are you wishing you could add some more spring to your horse's trot in the dressage arena? 

We've all spent countless hours trying to lift our horses' backs & generate more impulsion by using a certain plane of the ankles while precision-scootching seatbones into a receiving hand & holding the muscles between your 5th & 6th rib at 45 degrees of tension. 

Or something like that.   

Last weekend, I found a much easier solution.

I present to you Exhibit Echo.  As voiced by Echo. 

We are trotting around at Trainer Neighbour's, everything is pretty normal.  Until...

Why HELLO, Interesting Bear-Doggeh, WHAT R U?
BEAR-DOGGEH! I CAN HAZ A PLAY!?!! 
TAA-DAAA!  Look at that supension!  So uphill!  All we needed was an Interesting Dog in the arena!

Of course, Echo didn't stop there.  Interesting Dog apparently looked like a super-fun playmate:

We do like this, Bear-Doggeh, first u prepare...

...then u lift feets like this...
...then u WHEEEEEEEE!!!
Ah, the steps of riding a Baby Monster.  Who is 5 going on 2.  But since he is a good Baby Monster, two strides later, he was right back to a normal rhythm.  Sometimes the WHEEEE just can't contain itself, but he is so darn cute & completely non-threatening about it, it just makes me giggle.

Interesting Dog (appropriately named Grizz) never moved.  Maybe he's into playmates with fewer sharp edges.

10 comments:

  1. Snort!!! This made me laugh out loud.

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  2. This was hilarious. 'then u lifts your feets like this'......

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  3. i love it lol... i have on occasion perused the rule book to see if spooking your horse is an acceptable aid LOL

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    1. I think as long as you do it silently, you're good.

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  4. I'm hideously out of shape and not sure I'm ready for quite that much suspension, but I'll keep your technique in mind for the future lol

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    1. It was also very hot & humid that day, I recommend doing it in the winter too. ;-)

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  5. For Ramone a nice chair at the edge of the ring always added a bit of terror/suspension lololol he hated dogs so would just stand stock still in terror.

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    1. So...a month later...dumb job...but yes, chairs can be very handy too!

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