Anne ties her teachings together into an easy to follow roadmap that will help you tie all elements of the Masterclass together to get real results with your horse. New tips and exercises are introduced as each lesson is covered, highlighting top takeaways and a roadmap is given for exactly how to put the lessons into practice in your daily riding life.
In the previous lessons, we’ve discussed connection, communication, the use of our aids, understanding our horses, and developing a feel. Now, we’ll see how all of these elements come together in a real-life competition setting through a play-by-play film review that lets you learn by watching the best, with expert commentary.
The way we use our bodies directly affects the way our horses respond and behave. Once we’ve mastered flatwork, transitions, and the counting exercises, we can begin to better fine-tune the way our bodies influence our horses in the air over fences, over poles, or in the saddle during complex exercises. The goal is to become so balanced that we’re able to not interfere with our horse’s athletic performance in any way, and to consistently maintain the connection with our aids.
A big part of ‘feel’ that most people immediately notice when watching very skilled, experienced riders jump is their ability to effortlessly find effective distances to the jumps. A lot of this comes from experience –– the more you jump, the more you’ll develop a sense of where you are. But there are ways to expedite this process and form those neural pathways, including the counting exercises that we’ll learn in this lesson. These work for all levels and can be done over poles to be suitable for all disciplines.
When we hear people talk about top riders, they often describe the great ‘feel’ that a rider has. What they’re talking about is a sense of deep connection and understanding that particularly skilled riders are able to develop –– an extra sense that allows them to tune into precisely what the horse they’re riding needs from them to do their best.