The Making of a Hunter Horse.......Wendy Potts....More Issues....

Part 1

There were a few riders at this clinic who Wendy Potts said were working harder than their horses to get forward movement. In some cases even as hard as the riders worked the horses were not delivering. Despite the intense riding, the horses still weren't going forward. The riders were exhausted and the horses hadn't even broken a sweat.

Some of these riders were really pumping their horses. Pushing for all they were worth upon the horses' backs, the riders' upper body were swinging back and forth like a pendulum. Wendy Potts said this kind of movement was only interfering with the horse's movement and the riders needed to work on sitting quietly, keeping the shoulders lined up over the hips instead of moving back and forth and pumping with their hips.

Wendy Potts had all of these that were riders struggling to keep their horses moving apply more cue by using a crop. She cautioned them to not grab the horse in the face even if it surged forward from the added pressure. Grabbing the horse would stop the forward movement before it ever got started.

For now what she wanted was the horse to respond with forward movement no matter how big that movement might be. There would be plenty of time later, once the horse had learned to respond appropriately to the aids to work on rating the horse.
Wendy Potts encouraged those riders to do lots of transitions focusing on getting that surge from the horse. By applying leg pressure at the same time the crop was used, the horse would learn the leg means you must go forward. Also she said lots of galloping would help get their horses moving forward too.

I have to say these situations really reminded me of sometimes riding Legs. I use a lot of leg just to keep the horse moving. While I'm getting the horse up underneath himself where he belong, Legs just isn't holding it. The minute I release the pressure, the horse falls out of frame and I'm thinking this probably needs to be addressed the same way as these hunter horses that are not moving up underneath themselves when asked.

There were quite a number of riders at this clinic that Wendy Potts said were "pumping" their horses. It wasn't just the ones whose horses seemed to be stalling underneath them. There were other riders who just seemed to ride that way. Wendy Potts said that style of riding makes the horse look like it's hard to ride instead of like a pleasure as well as interfering with the horse. Me, I think horses ridden in that manner tend to look rough even when they aren't. Either way, it doesn't present a pretty picture for the judges and can affect how they place in the show ring.

I might also add that I know at least one barn in our area where the kids are taught to ride in this manner. Wendy Potts made is clear that riding a horse in this fashion isn't really effective for the horse or the rider. It is not something she believes a responsible instructor would encourage.

Wendy Potts says that such riding also interferes with the horse's ability to use themselves efficiently. Riders falling forward and riders doing what Wendy called "chasing" the horse are either throwing the horse off balance or out of rhythm respectively. Either one makes it more difficult for the horse to go forward.

There were some hunt saddles that didn't fit the riders properly that Wendy Potts also notice. Most of the time these poorly fitting saddles affected the rider's leg position, balance and over all ability to cue one's horse. By making some adjustments in the length of the irons these riders were able to get into a better position and work more effectively. The end result was a better moving horse.

To be continued...................

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