Virtual Clinic video Evaluation of Livestoride part 1

Video Submission
Horse: Nikki Owner:Livestoride
Livestoride sent this video submission in of her horse Nikki. We discussed several issues but I am going to comment directly on what I see in the video. She was concerned with the fact that Nikki carries her nose to the outside of the circle(counter bent) and carries her hind end to the inside of the circle. Which means her front end and back end are on different paths on the circle. She travels at an angle or a bit diagonally. What it comes down to is, Nikki's body geometry does not match the shape of the circle. She is moving crooked and stiff. I saw the horses rhythm get erratic at one point and she said she was kissing to Nikki to get her to move faster so she wouldn't walk.  We had talked about rhythm being a problem with this mare at the lope and jog/trot. Livestoride felt that she had to constantly correct her to stop her from speeding up.

FDT Evaluation:
The Good: In what I could see in this short clip, I actually liked this mare's natural rhythm until Livestoride increased her speed by kissing.The Issues: This mare's posture (yes horses' have postures too) is laterally (left /right) stiff and longitudinally (top and length of body, nose to tail) stiff. I saw this increase when she was encouraged to go faster. Remember speed tends to magnify issues. I suspect this to be more of a right sided issue, but I only have video of the one direction. It is the habit of horses to bring there hind end in to one side when travelling. It shows up particularly at speed and sometimes severely in the canter.What to work on: I want her to let the mare make the "mistake" of walking (or trotting in the canter) before she corrects her. Her mare will learn what her responsibility is in this task (lunging). All ground work carries into under saddle work. This mare will understand she is not to break/change gait until she is asked. Make the correction this way until you see Nikki start to try and fix herself. This is one of my favorite moments in working with a horse! This is when I see my horse start to think, participate and understand what the goal is. You will see her possibly hesitate and then keep trotting or walk briefly and trot again. OBSERVE what she does before you correct. This will help you learn "feel" and "timing". It will give your horse space to learn/think. Eventually she will settle into a steady rhythm. Don't worry if it's slower than you like or the stride is shorter than you want. That's a different issue for another time. Remember to work on one thing at a time.  I want my horse to show me they understand their responsibility to our team. The horse is no longer being mindlessly lunged, nagged or having orders barked at them constantly. When we wait for our horse to offer his ideas then we have interaction and conversation. It is human nature to micro manage sometimes. It takes practice and self discipline to change the habit.  We forget to have patience while they are searching for answers to our questions. When Nikki learns to be responsible for her own rhythm, By default she will find softness and relaxation in her posture and gaits (even better balance). She should start to drop her head (softening the topline=top of her body/back) and possibly start to bring her head into the circle (if she doesn't have too severe of a stiffness issue). Sometimes they will turn into you during these exercises. Just simply start them again. Try this in the canter as well. Livetoride needs to ask herself allowing her horse to make mistakes BEFORE she corrects her in other areas as well. I suspect her horses "try" and understanding will improve a lot.
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Virtual Clinic Submission: Lashea and Cloudy

I'm pleased to say this is a basically correct pair. The points to consider are highlighted in red and yellow so you can see them clearly. The red lines indicate where a correction is needed. Lashea needs to pick her chin up so her ear will come in alignment with that yellow line. She has a very nice shoulder, hip, heel alignment, but this small displacement of her head will pull her forward and off her seat bones. This will also make it difficult to see where you are going next whether jumping or riding accurate dressage figures. This is a common fault and even I am guilty once in  a while. I have also red lined Clouds profile for being slightly behind the vertical, Although he looks very nicely connected to the bit. You can see that she has a basically straight line from elbow to bit. I would like to see her hands more upright so her thumbs are at the top of her hands. This creates a better connection to the bit. Sometimes horses will get behind the vertical during a half halt which is totally acceptable because after you ride forward they usually come up and out in their head carriage. Also, some horses want to ride slightly behind in their frame by nature and conformation or due to lack of fitness. Very nice!
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Announcing the FDT Virtual Clinic Blog!

Here you will find Evaluations of peoples photos and videos. Just like a mini Clinic. You may also find it helpful to read other
peoples feedback. Now new Audio Evaluations. Look at the video or photo and then listen to what I have to say about your
submissions.
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