The horse, Robert says, should be like an accordion. In the pirouette, the canter should never lose energy or jump and become slower and smaller.” Lillian Simons and Laura Gravesīoth lessons I had with Robert Dover stressed the importance of the half-halt and how adjustable the horse should be at all times.
She said, “We never want them to think that anything requires less effort. The canter itself shouldn’t change and neither should the connection Laura asked that I focus on keeping Willoughby soft and jumping regardless of how big or small I make the canter. If at any time during the schooling pirouette I feel Willoughby begin to take over the movement, then I should work to keep his shoulders straight on the line while immediately making the pirouette bigger and thinking of a leg yield to the outside.
Laura explained how the bend should come from the ribs, and Willoughby’s tendency to brace was evident to her on the ground and to me under saddle.Īs we worked to the left, Laura asked that I think of leg-yielding Willoughby’s body out so that we encourage him to bend under the saddle. Willoughby tends to get too confident in the pirouettes and attempts to take over. My priority was keeping the tempo and rhythm consistent throughout the entire movement. Tempo and Energy in the Canter PirouettesĪfter our warm-up, we focused on the canter pirouettes. Now that I had a concrete example to work with, I understood the kind of feeling Laura was after. She commented, “Play and give until he’s putty… Play it until you can give it.” This made things even easier to understand. As we cantered to the left, Laura wanted me to feel as though I could leg-yield Willoughby off the rail and make him supple in the left rein. Many of the same goals transferred into the canter warm-up. We continued to work on playing with the inside rein and inside leg and then immediately relaxing my aids so Willoughby could move forward, cover more ground and create a more elastic look. Laura encouraged me to work towards a faster and more obedient response without gaining unnecessary tension. Warm-up is also a time to maintain the element of relaxation. Often we become so wrapped up in things being perfect the moment we get on, but Laura helped me understand that warm-up is the time to have that necessary conversation with your horse. This really helped put things into perspective, in more ways than one. The correction needs to come followed by a pat or a ‘good boy’ so he feels confident, not worried.” Lillian Simons and Laura Graves Right answers come in many ways in the warm-up. This, however, uncovered another area that we addressed since I was still in my warm-up phase, Laura said, “It’s warm-up it doesn’t have to be perfect. Laura asked that I play with the bend when I apply my leg pressure. These two areas coincided with building on the amount of volume I am able to create. For instance, when going to the right, I should always think to support any kind of inside bend and/or right flexion with my right leg. Laura stressed that I work to push the energy with my legs to encourage more ground coverage and rideability in the topline. With Laura, we focused on the warm-up portion of my ride and narrowed our attention even further to the importance of leg support. Right Answers and Relaxation in the Warm-Up 6, and went on to ride with Robert Dover on Friday, Jan. I first worked with Laura Graves on Tuesday, Jan. The 2016 Robert Dover Horsemastership Clinic was an intensive week of learning and training.