Dressur Arbeit (Chase)

[Luka Ingersleben]

Luka grabbed Quiz's halter and walked towards the Gypsy's stall, smiling as he saw the gelding stick his head put into the aisle, "Ein bisschen Uebung?" He haltered the horse and led him into the aisle, clipping him into the cross ties closest to his stall. He left the gelding standing there and hurried to get his grooming kit.

After grooming and tacking up the gelding, he led him towards the indoor arena. Remembering how the teacher had asked them to ridw without crops in the group lesson, he didn't bring his. As he arrived at the arena, he stood for a moment, glancing around and seeing that he was the first to arrive. He had scheduled a private lesson with the dressage teacher, hoping that the man could help him work with his new mount, and maybe help him get better in general.

As Quiz tossed his head in boredom, trying to step away, Luka tightened his grip on the reins momentarily. He led the gelding into the arena and tightened his girth, then hoisted himself into the saddle, thinking that he could at least warm the gelding up before the man arrived.

[chase]

Chase had already worked both his horses, and this was supposed to be his last lesson of the day. The man had some planning to do for the rest of his classes and he wanted to speak to the principle about getting someone special in for a dressage clinic, the chance to ride with a big name often inspired people to get their dressage on. Either way he wanted the class and program to be a success at Blue Ridge, dressage was a useful foundation to every discipline – he didn’t expect everyone, actually anyone to be riding Grand Prix anytime soon but the basics of a horse working properly, collection, lateral movement were useful in essentially all other disciplines. He was in one of those moods, one of the days that he felt as though the future of the dressage industry rested solely on his shoulders. He would go home, alone to his teacher quarters and humble himself once more shortly – but for now it put him in a good mood for a lesson. Striding to the arena he called “gate” a forewarning of his appearance for horse and rider – a habit he took with him everywhere he went. Chase spotted Luka and a horse that wasn’t Neb, it made Chase raise a brow but he was as warm as ever in calling to the pair

“Afternoon Luka, I hope all is finding you well!”

He took a moment, waiting for a returned greeting before continuing on.

“My memory isn’t always as sharp as it should be but I do know that you are on a different horse; want to give me a quick run-down on this handsome fella? Go ahead and start him on the rail to the right, a medium walk not worrying about where his head is at but instead focus on the track and rhythm. Correct him if he deviates from the path and pace you set but otherwise try to move your body with him relax and let your pelvis and arms absorb his movement.”

Chase was a reasonable man, or so he liked to think. He started with most rides the same, though since he was aware that Luka had dressage knowledge he was quicker to pick on him this time. He welcomed questions and liked it when people asked, not everyone learned the same way – he tried to explain it the best he could but sometimes found himself searching for new ways to explain the same thing he was already saying. No matter the case he was pretty sure that him and Luka were on the same page, and if not he trusted the boy would say something. For now his eyes were glued to the pair to ensure they were working as they should.

ooc: As I mentioned in the other lesson thread, I make assumptions about things - if you don't like it PM and I will change but otherwise it's just me trying to "teach" ;]
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[Luka Ingersleben]

Luka looked up from watching Quiz's ears as he heard the call of 'gate' and then the dressage instructor's friendly greeting. He halted Quiz, turning the gelding to face the man, and smiled slightly, "Good afternoon." He saw the man studying Quiz and nodded as he heard the man's question, followed straight-away by his instructions. He moved the gelding to follow the man's instructions, keeping his body loose enough to follow the Gypsy's head. After the gelding was set on his path, Luka spoke, his accent still rather thick, "This is Quiz, he is seven years old. He was my parents' present to me a month and a bit ago, and while he is trained in dressage, I am not completely comfortable riding him yet, and I'm not sure about shows. I was hoping, if you wouldn't mind, if you would help us work together more." He had a heavy decision on his shoulders, the question of which horse would be his reserve mount for Equestrian competitions, and how much he advanced with Quiz in the next hour would help him decide that. He felt Quiz drift away from the rail and used his leg and reins to turn the gelding slightly so they were hugging the wall again.

Feel free to do anything, I'm willing to admit that I have very little clue of dressage, apart from what I've learned on here in the past half-year. :- P

[chase]

Chase had an interesting approach according to some, he liked to strip away aids and add them as needed when he first started with riders he wanted to make sure they went through the proper motions and did not just go straight to their artificial aids. Whips and spurs had their place, Chase used both as training tools and found them very effective. One thing he found with many riders was their instant response for lack of impulsion was to go to their crop or spur when step one should be to soften their hand and engage their body, and then to the aid. Hands were a delicate thing; they held a lot of power that people seemed to realize but often for the wrong reasons. The hand overrode anything involving your leg, and while not everyone was destine or designed to have the perfect hand (chase included) a rider had to be aware of the influence and their use and reliance on the tool. Chase became distracted from his though process when Luka spoke, smile lit his features as he nodded, following along. Chase gathered from the recount that the gelding was schooled and Luka just needed time on the horse, the instant question of capabilities of the horse came to mind.

“He sounds like a good teacher; do you know what he’s done schooling wise – lateral movement, changes, collection?”

Content with the decision to get the gelding moving he watched Chase use his reins and hands at the same time to turn the gelding and as a result they were hugging the wall. Another crutch people didn’t even realize they are using is a wall, Chase did not tolerate crutches. The wall creates a false balance for many horses and, when you took them off of it you usually found them drifting back towards it. His tone called out once more, directions with encouragement snuck in their as well

“Well let’s start this partnership by engaging the walk more, let him stretch down and get his hind end moving quicker. Also ride about 5 feet off the rail; we have the arena to ourselves at the moment so I am not really concerned but pay attention none the less.”

Chase sometimes wondered how people understood him; he taught to his own standard and was famous for adapting himself to the situation arising. Chase didn’t always adjust in a socially correct approach but he tended to speak his mind.

ooc: Haha no worries, I wouldn`t call myself a dressage rider either. I have taken a few lessons, watched a few clinics and use a lot of the exercises I talk about on here in RL - so I can attest they are helpful.
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[Luka Ingersleben]

Luka listened to the man's question, a very sensible question, but gathered his answer in his head before he replied, "From what I've learned from his owners, he's been trained through everything you've listed, although they said that he does need a little bit of work on collecting his gaits. They said he did train him for it, but he required more cues than most judges like to see in the ring." The horse's previous owners had been very straightforward about the shortcomings of the gelding, which had numbered few enough, but had been even more eager to sing his praises. Luka had appreciated the honesty, something he would not have gotten if he had been looking to buy the gelding.

At the man's instructions, Neb bit his lip for a moment, working out how much feet were in meters. It was about one and two thirds, he figured. Once he had measured it out, he nodded and turned the gelding away from the wall, keeping the approximate distance between them and the wall. He kept his hands loose on the gelding's reins, following the horse's head loosely. As they circled the arena, Luka used his legs to keep the gelding from the wall, since Quiz seemed to veer towards it on more than one occasion.

[chase]

Chase was attentive as his student spoke; he granted him the same respect to his students that he asked of them – only fair in his not always humble opinion. Chase bit his lip but held his tone and tongue for a few moments as the individual on the horse finished him. The man was nervous, he hoped the horse had been schooled correctly and just needed some tuning and sharpening to cues – that was simple. Re-schooling was not always an option, he found in many occasions that it was easier to re-school a rider than it was a horse. If the horse was correct in his movements and had all the buttons Chase wouldn’t change them, he would adjust himself to the horse. He did it daily between his own two animals. While they were schooled similarly their starts weren’t identical and as a result their cue’s didn’t match exactly. Focusing himself back on Luka he nodded, thoughts kept him silent longer though it broke eventually.

“Okay neat, so hopefully just some conditioning and sharpening of his responses to your cues – should be no real problems there.”

Chase watched the boy as he turned the horse away from the wall and loosened his hands on the reins, fair enough Chase hadn’t properly explained himself. He observed a while longer, the boy had a natural seat, it was quiet and he was quick to correct the horse as it tried to lean on the outside for support. His tone hit the air, his teaching self-took over and his tone was all business.

“First off he has lateral movement, use it. When I asked you to change your track it was the perfect example to school him, I know you’re a student but you need to try and ride like a trainer, take each moment in your ride and plan it as a schooling opportunity and one day you won’t even realize you are doing so – that is your goal.”

He continued to watch the pair for a moment, the gelding was persistent in his track to the wall and it made Chase smirk. Otherwise he was a nice moving animal, seemed to step up well and have a natural drive from behind – due to his breeding and build he was likely to be heavier in the hand in general but Chase could help Luka with that down the line, for now he wanted to enforce the geldings desire to step up and work from behind.

“Okay good correction to keep him off the wall, I like your seat and balance too. Deepen your seat a little and use that to block him as well – don’t tense up though. Next your hands, they follow nicely but keep them closed at all times – your hand doesn’t need to be open to be soft. The softness comes from your shoulder and elbow, relax both and close the hand at all times. You can also use your outside rein a little to create a balance for him, it might help him from falling back to the support of the wall.”

Chase watched the boy and horse, they naturally flowed together and he figured they would be a neat combination and worth watching develop. Someone had obviously done some good work with the blue roan, he naturally looked for the contact and was soft and stretchy in his walk – all good signs so far.

“Good, let’s put him on a 20 meter circle around me in the center. Keep the walk forward but not rushed, a little more activity in the walk – quicker with the hind end. Your outside cues are going to build the circle and the inside ones will keep him from falling in. Keep moving with him and remember – think like a trainer, then one day you won’t need me.”

ooc: i love lesson posts xD
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