Posts Tagged ‘whole lot’

RHYTHM AND TEMPO

Before you can pick the perfect freestyle music for your horse, you need to understand the difference between rhythm and tempo.

Many people use the words rhythm and tempo interchangeably, but they don’t mean the same thing. This month, I’ll go over the meaning of each–both in musical terminology and in riding terminology. It doesn’t matter if you ride DRESSAGE, HUNTERS, or you are an EVENT RIDER. Every equestrian needs RHYTHM!!!

Rhythm – When riding, regularity of the rhythm refers to the even spacing between each step in a stride of walk, trot, or canter. In music, rhythm is made up of sounds and silences. These sounds and silences are put together to form patterns of sound which are repeated to create rhythm.

Look at the two descriptions of rhythm and put them together. Think of the sounds and silences of the musical terminology and the even spacing between each step of your horse’s gaits as the same thing. When the horse’s foot is down it is a sound. When your horse’s foot is up, it is silent. This is how we can relate the rhythm of music to the rhythm of your horse’s gaits.

Tempo -Tempo is the speed of the music or the speed of your horse. Depending on how fast you want to go, you can adjust the rate of repetition of the rhythm.

Tempo in music can be fast, slow, or in-between. Music sounds and feels different depending on how fast it’s played. The same piece of music will have a different effect or mood depending on whether it’s played fast or slow.

Hopefully, this description clarifies the difference between rhythm and tempo as it applies to music and to your horse.

Next month, we’ll talk about choosing the particular kind of music that will accentuate your horse’s strengths. Stay tuned for a whole lot of fun!

Ruth Hogan Poulsen

http://www.Ruthhoganpoulsen.com

Ruth@Ruthhoganpoulsen.com

Author: Ruth Hogan Poulsen
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty

Do you saw left and right on your dressage horse’s mouth or wiggle the bit with both hands to get him “on the bit”.

If you “saw” on your dressage horse’s mouth by alternating squeezing and releasing with your hands, you’re riding your horse from front to back. He might look like he’s “on the bit” because his head is down and his nose is on the vertical, but you don’t have an honest connection from back to front.

The only part of your horse’s body that you can affect by “sawing” is his jaw. Moving the bit in his mouth encourages him to chew. When he chews, he flexes in the jaw.

So, if all you do is saw on the bit, all you have control over is a flexed jaw. And your horse has a whole lot more body left over that you have no influence over.

That’s why you might think your horse is on the bit, but you wonder why he comes off the bit when you ask him to do something like a transition.

The reality is that he was never on the bit to begin with. All you had was a flexed jaw.

To put your horse honestly on the bit, use your “connecting aids”. Close both legs to add power from behind as if you’re doing a lengthening. When your horse “arrives” at your outside hand, close that hand in a fist to capture, contain, and recycle the power back to the hind legs. Do this for 3 full seconds.

THEN, lastly you can vibrate or squeeze on the inside rein for two reasons:

1. To keep his neck straight. Your goal is to keep him form bending his neck to the outside in response to your closed outside hand. This means that when you ride with his soft (hollow) side on the inside, chances are you won’t need any inside rein because he won’t try to look to the outside when you close your outside hand.
2. To move the bit, encourage him to chew so he flexes in the jaw.

Remember, you’re riding your dressage horse from front to back if you wiggle both sides of the bit. So never do with two hands what you can do with one hand (move the bit). And you have the other hand left over for the more important job of recycling power back to the hind legs.

Author: Jane Savoie
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: WordPress plugin expert