Lisa Wilcox Symposium, Demonstration Riders
USDF Convention
December 6, 2003
Before we started, Lisa was asked why she was able to sit quietly on some horses, but bounced on others. Lisa said that when a horse loses its balance, it braces its back and doesn’t take the rider. It is then extremely difficult for the rider to stay with the horse without bouncing unless the rider grips with the knees and fights—but the gripping and fighting would only make the horse tense in the back and further disturb the horse’s balance. It is better for the rider to wait and be patient, stay loose in the hips and thighs, until the horse regains its balance, and the rider is once again able to go with the horse and able to sit quietly again.
My apologies for being a poor photographer--only the photo of Lisa/Balakov came out in the afternoon. :-(
Demonstration Rider #1:
Lisa Blackmon, Texas
Balakov (Bergamon/Maderia/Matcho, 4 y.o. gelding)
Lisa said the rider must establish a constant quiet connection before asking the horse to soften with the hand. The horse must be pushed into the connection, and not pulled onto it. When the contact is good, the rider should become quieter with the driving aids so that the horse begins to understand the difference between good and bad. Especially through corners and on bending lines, the rider needs to continue driving the horse forward into the hand. The rider needs to always think SMALLER for the hand corrections—just the ring finger—and to make the corrections over a few strides.
Especially with young horses, but really with all horses, post only as high as the horse takes you.
Ride more diagonals with young horses, giving them more room to change direction and bend. Young horses need more time and room for finding their balance. Pay attention to the tempo/rhythm. They tend to lose rhythm when changing bend in new directions.
Wait to make canter transitions until you have a good connection, and when the horse is swinging through the back. It doesn’t matter how long it takes. Give the horse time to balance on the new hand first.
Keep more weight in the saddle in the canter. Keep the head up, look up. With a helmet on, looking down pulls the shoulders forward and places the horse on the forehand. Sitting with the riders weight in the normal position helps the rider to go with the horse, so that the horse can balance himself.
This horse is more balanced in the trot than in the canter—this will be something to work on over the next 6 to 12 months. Young horses develop individually, and riders need to help the horse balance by waiting for the horse to regain balance on his own----changing the rider's balance in an attempt to “help” the horse only impedes the horse’s learning process.
In the sitting trot, push the horse into a constant clear connection. Be slow with the hand corrections, and likewise slow with the direction changes. The horse must be pushed into the connection, not pulled back into it.
Demonstration Rider #2
Christopher Hickey
Lightning (Loutano/Banda IV, 8 y.o. gelding)
- This does not apply to this rider: Lisa was asked about riders looking down. She said that many riders find their balance with their eyes on their horses. She says because they become so focused with their eyes on their horses, they use their eyes to the exclusion of their other senses and their aids are too slow/too late. She also said that the head weighs more than you think, and pulls the body forward. Keeping the head back keeps the core over the seat.
Lightning is VERY active in his legs, but it doesn’t extend to his back. The goal for this horse is to extend his elasticity to the topline.
Really concentrate weight to the inside to maintain bend in the canter. Through the bending line, push the horse into the hand while maintaining the bend. When the rider balance’s himself more quietly on the inside stirrup, the horse will balance himself more quickly on that hand.
In half pass, keep the poll quiet by driving more weight into the outside rein. The rider really needs to balance himself on the inside stirrup. Tension building on the inside hand must be released by softening the horse with the ring finger.
This horse is still tight in the middle part of his body in the canter, which interferes with lateral work in the canter. Walk pirouettes can be used to prepare for canter pirouettes.
In canter pirouettes, concentrate on the rhythm forward, and on the canter. There must be forward impulsion, and a clear rhythm, then guide the forehand around the hind. Balance the horse on the outside rein and SLOWLY bring the forehand around, keeping the hindleg active with the outside leg. You don’t want to lose the rhythm of the hindleg. You have time with this horse. Sit longer, be patient, take your time. Keep tension in the inside rein to the minimum, using the softening aids.
The reason that Lisa and Ernst activate the canter from the outside leg and not the inside leg is that they believe that everything we do from the inside leg creates tension and/or a block and keeps the horse from coming up and being as flexible with the inside shoulder as we would like them to be. To free the inside shoulder, increase impulsion of the hindleg with the rider’s outside leg.
Stepping into the inside stirrup at the canter depart provides the same information as putting the inside leg on, but does not disturb the freedom—this is the classical teaching of the Spanish Riding School.
A similar principle is used with the changes asked only from the outside leg, which is opened, placed back, and then asked from the knee rather than pushing from both legs. They feel this provides the horse more information while freeing the horse to use its legs to come through.
Demonstration Rider #3
Susan Jaccoma
Harmony’s Coolio (Caratino/Carolla II, 9 y.o. gelding)
Harmony’s Coolio presents a special challenge because of his size—18.2 hands! It is hard for the rider to get him over in the lateral work in the time allotted while maintaining forwardness and rhythm so that she can get the required change at the end. If the quality of the canter is not maintained, the change will not be through.
Lisa had them begin with half passes on the long diagonal, and with frequent transitions to activate the hind end. The trick is to keep an active hind end in the face of lateral bend. If the half halts are too strong, the horse will drop his poll and fall apart, losing his hind end. The rider needs to keep the poll up so that the hind end can step under.
The rider must use the short side to close the horse together, and really get him on the outside aids. The weight in the reins at the beginning of the half pass should be kept throughout. If the rider loses it in the half pass, go into a shoulder in, regroup, and then resume the half pass. Alternatively, every time you lose the outside rein (i.e., the inside rein gets too heavy), do a volte then go back to the half pass. Ideally, there should 2/3 weight in the outside rein. Step into the inside stirrup using weight into heel. Avoid using spur. The horse’s entire body must conform to the circle’s line.
In flying changes, the goal is more impulsion and more expression. Currently, the changes are a bit flat. They must be on hind end from the beginning.
In hand: to work on getting more elevation from this horse’s front hooves in passage, Ernst used a bamboo stick to tap them.
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