In my last post I described being aware of the location of various parts of my legs. There's a word for that: proprioception. And it is something that can be trained and developed. File under: Something to research later.
A couple of weeks ago I was looking for a poster of the training scale to frame and put in my house. (On the off chance that someone who isn't interested in dressage stumbles onto my blog, I offer this brief (possibly not totally correct) explanation of the training scale: It's a progression of six concepts that a rider is supposed to work on while training a horse. It starts with foundation principles that are accessible to the majority of horses - Rhythm and Relaxation. Next come Connection and Impulsion, where the horse is taught to use himself in an athletically effective manner, and the mental qualities of focus and willing obedience are developed. The top two are Straightness and Collection. Those are the most demanding and rewarding areas, I suspect, but I have no real personal experience with them. It's not hard and fast, some concepts having overlapping requirements, but it is essentially a way to break down the areas of focus, so the rider is posing reasonable questions to the horse, and preparing the horse for advanced work in a systematic, appropriate way.)
A couple of weeks ago I was looking for a poster of the training scale to frame and put in my house. (On the off chance that someone who isn't interested in dressage stumbles onto my blog, I offer this brief (possibly not totally correct) explanation of the training scale: It's a progression of six concepts that a rider is supposed to work on while training a horse. It starts with foundation principles that are accessible to the majority of horses - Rhythm and Relaxation. Next come Connection and Impulsion, where the horse is taught to use himself in an athletically effective manner, and the mental qualities of focus and willing obedience are developed. The top two are Straightness and Collection. Those are the most demanding and rewarding areas, I suspect, but I have no real personal experience with them. It's not hard and fast, some concepts having overlapping requirements, but it is essentially a way to break down the areas of focus, so the rider is posing reasonable questions to the horse, and preparing the horse for advanced work in a systematic, appropriate way.)
The closest thing I could find is this large, vinyl banner available for sale at the USDF website:
It looks very functional for a barn environment, but probably not appropriate home decor (even by my standards.)
So, I had a little bit of time to fill, and not really being a TV person, I decided to make my own poster. This is my basic concept:
(For boring software reasons, I printed it off and scanned it. The colors are going to look way groovier when I get it printed from the PDF file, I promise.)
For a brief, insane moment I considered lopping off the right third of the diagram and repeating the pattern at 90 degree angles in a cloverleaf pattern, then getting custom fabric printed at www.spoonflower.com, (for making into throw pillows or something, I dunno.) Which would be a phenomenal waste of resources, but, y'know, it was a thought.
Today, on Valentines Day, my husband is making the ultimate romantic gesture and flying with me, to Slovenia, where he is going to hang out for two weeks at the Lipica Stud Farm while I ride horses. I'm getting very excited, but feeling somewhat under-prepared (except for my boots, which are exceedingly well polished.) Thankyouthankyouthankyou to Meredith and Willie and the Lipipotomus's Amazing New Trainer - I can't imagine what I'd be feeling like without all of your help getting my riding skills tuned up!
Love and hugs to y'all. I should probably go... clean out the fridge or something. I'll keep you posted!
-Beth
1) SO JEALOUS about your trip to Lipica!!! My jealousy is surpassed only by my excitement for you! You're going to have so much fun and learn so many great things that you'll have to blog all about! Also that site you linked to has a store where you can by LIPIZZAN CHOCOLATE. OMG.
ReplyDelete2) Betta's face needs to be on fabric
3) I like your representation of the training scale. When you first were telling me you were doing a training-scale redesign, I'll admit I was a little dubious, but I like what you did with it!
...eta, I am having way too much fun looking at fabric swatches. I found HUFFLEPUFF FABRIC. I can make a HUFFLEPUFF SADDLE PAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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