Tom Widdicombe clinic report Sept 2008 Luton

[Elaine]

Right, apologies, notes not as extensive as before as I was a bit chilled out

Lovely bay arab Sat 10.45am. Had been working on softness since clinic earlier on this summer

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Arrived over in the middle of this lesson. Working on ridden softness. (What is ridden softness? irishnhsociety.proboards41.com/index.cgi?board=usefulinformation&action=display&thread=406 )

Lovely bay arab Sat 3.10pm

Wants to work on trot and maybe lateral work.......

Horse pushing a little on bit. Lift your hands up when he pulls. When he stops, hands back to normal.

Leg yield - did a few, inside hind leg to cross over outside hind leg. Cue inside leg when inside barrell of horse pushed out. This is when inside hind leg is about to leave the ground.

Same in trot. NICE SIDEPASS What a cool horse

Lovely bay arab Mon 2.30pm different rider.

Nice trot. Its hard to work on softness in trot cos you really need to keep your hands still (which is hard when you're trotting) Putting your elbows to your sides can help when you're are working on this. Sitting trot it might be also easier to keep your hands a bit more still.

Horse softens but then leans on the bit.

- softness in walk
-softness in trot

WOW in TROT!!! what lovely movement.

V.good walk to trot transition.
Better trot to walk, horse didn't die as much.

GOOD WORK! NICE.

Lovely bay arab Mon 4.20pm original rider.

Keep hands still when you're trotting.

NICE WORK!! This is a lovely lovely horse. Brilliant rider, HEAPS of work done by both since last clinic Sorry my notes are so crap Remember to try to keep hands still when trotting.

[Elaine]

Gorgeous black horse Sat 11.30 - panics when feels contact, can nap, throw head up, mini rear.......

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18 years old, had previous week off. Ex-polo pony. Hard to hack out on her own. Can get in a tizz. Very relaxed now.

Did some groundwork, in headcollar I think.

- halt
- backup nice
- circle in walk & trot

Human to be in charge of speed and needs more intent!

A circle is easier if you stand back near HQs, so you dont block the horse by standing too far in front of her. Owner did offer to do a John cleese walk, but Tom said thats its alright, ultimately we do want to try to be as normal as possible ;D

Human to be in charge ALL THE TIME.

The horse is kind of zoning out a bit. Better circles in walk & trot. She's a sensitve horse once she's awake.

Owner said horse can nap and backup rapidly or push through bit when out on hacks.

Someone had a story about a differnet horse. When ridden without a noseband horse would shake head. When ridden with a noseband horse wouldnt shake head. Odd but interesting.

Bridle put on horse. With owner on ground, worked on getting horse to soften to the bit. No give to the bit at all. Not good. Sticks head up in the air or down or sideways. Panics. No softness....

Gorgeous black horse Sat 4.10

Backup - horse pushed head forward first instead. (not what you want)

MAJOR brace in horse when you pick up the reins.

In saddle - explore what hapens when you pick up the reins.

Reward ANY softness with release of reins.

GOOD WORK!!

Play it like a fish (i.e. take care when reeling them in - another old Devon saying)

Halt - wait for softness. Then walk on. Get reins equal length. HUGE IMPROVEMENT. Much better ridden than on the ground.

Better backup.

HQ yield. A bit like a helicopter. Cos horse pulls it makes everything so much more difficult.

NICE

To help neck relax you can bend it (lateral flexion)

Gorgeous black horse Sun 12.50

Ok, so this horse is VERY wary of the bit & panics. Also happens when you put bridle on as well. Horse throws up head and backpeddles and it all gets a bit dangerous. Really need to take panic out of horse and make thinsg safer for everyone.

So horse in saddle & bridle. Person standing beside horse holding reins. When any pressure is put on reins (I'm talking TINY pressure) horse rears up

So this is not good. Horse has found to evade stuff, throw head up high and she will get a release as people not tall enough to physically hold on. So its not good.

So the plan is to try longlining and try and communicate that throwing head up will no longer get her a release. Instead, releases will come for softness.

Horse currently panicky when stuff put on or taken off her head.

Put halter on. Every time horse threw head in air, made to back up as a consequence. So basically teaching horse:

• If you dont throw your head up, you can stand still and relax.
  
• If you throw your head up, you will have to backup.
  

After a while of this horse went, ah ok Throwing her head up wasn't getting her anywhere now.

Tried to put bridle on, same again, so did backup again when needed. When horse chilled when bridle near her head, bridle was taken away and horse given a rest as a reward.

5 mins later, bridle was on.

We need to get to the inside of this horse.

LONGLINES ON.

Head up as resistence the whole time. This is not good cos horse uses it to evade rider and nap out on hacks, and also its putting unnecessary stress on horses back as horse using WAY too many muscles for something as simple as walking forward. Could lead to back issues down the line if postures remains this bad.

When head goes up, little pressure on longlines, till head goes down. Then take off that pressure as a reward.

Getting better.
Backup.
Better.

Gorgeous black horse Sun 3.45

Longlining up at the top end of arena.
GOOD - BETTER!!

walk - stop - backup. Beginning to see a change in this horse. Is understanding the bit more and the panic is starting to leave...........

GOOD WORK.

Gorgeous black horse Mon 10.50

Longlining around obstacles. Want clarity & softness, quietness & simplicity. eg - human to have A PLAN AND A PURPOSE at all times, make things really simple for the horse.

WOW REALLY GOOD!!!

Horse HEAPS better today. No issues with bridling. MUCH less head up in air. Human to remember to breathe

Owner REALLY got good here, and did this course with HEAPS of purpose and was REALLY FLASH!!! Did the obstacles all the hard way (I see a pony club games horse here!) and did REALLY WELL Horse now looks completely different from day 1. Human REALLY in charge and horse really appreciating it, a lot softer and more confident.

Mounted up.

Rode around course, again BRILLIANT. Good leadership from the rider WWWOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!

Softness in halt. Hands like wooden post. Unmoving. After horse stops his feet, wait for him to soften his jaw, and then relax your hands (not before).

Need to really work on the walk a fair bit and get a nice walk as the default, before you do much in the trot. Get good foundations in.

NICE BACKUP!!

KEEP IT SIMPLE. GET IT NICE.

Gorgeous black horse Mon 3.45

Riding. VERY GOOD. Overall huge change in this horse over the few days. Super work from owner. This horse is really lovely. Lots of homework to be continuing on with & loking forward to seeing how both are getting on next spring WELL DONE!

[Elaine]

Beautiful Irish draft Sat 9.00am - just a really nice horse Working on impulsion and softness, and possibly piaffe and jumping 3 foot as well .

Missed 1st session as was flying somewhere over England. Heard it was great though

Beautiful Irish draft Sat 3.10pm

Trot in circles. Good energy levels. Nice backup. VERY nice! Rider not to do so much work

Beautiful Irish draft Sun 9.00am

Working on getting the trot the rider wants.
Better!!
Trot to walk GOOD!

The rider has now taken control of the speed

Nice HQ yields. Nice FQ yields - rock weight back then over in one movement.

LOVELY sidepassng

Horse is really listeneing to his rider

LOVELY DAY

Nce trot.

Beautiful Irish draft Sun 3pm

LOVELY CANTER!!!

Beautiful Irish draft Mon 11.45am

Soft halt. LOVELY.
Backup. MAGIC.

(this is all getting a bit predictable!! )

Walk COOL! Good energy levels.

Trot. Nice. Work on 3 strides of softness here. Keep hands still in trot. Then horse can figure it out. Softness is much easier. Remeber to breathe!

FANTASTIC, LOVELY TROT

- Canter. Rider out of breath! Not bad. Get a nice trot before you ask for canter.

- Canter. Good. Looked like rider was doing less. AND also breathing

- Next time put outside leg back a bit more so horse can differenciate between canter and trot faster cues.

- Better trot to canter transition

- Canter. NICE!

- Sidepass. Much softer than yesterday.

EXCELLENT SESSION.

Beautiful Irish draft Mon 3.45pm

Trot. Nice canter x 2.

HUGE JUMP!! At least 3 foot!!! WHAT A HORSE!!!!

BRILLIANT WORK BY BOTH HORSE & RIDER

[Elaine]

CUTE BIG BAY Sat 1.30. Finds it hard to stand still.

Work on ridden softness in halt. Reward tries, dont get too picky.
Horses mind is outside the arena. Its the humans job to focus it back inside the arena.

- halt
- soft feel
- walk on

If the next halt if soft, give horse ALL the reins as a reward. Did this and a few minutes later horse STILL standing still Horse looks HEAPS more relaxed now.

NICE

Same in walk. When you get 1 second of softness, give the reins to the horse as a reward.

GOOD WORK

CUTE BIG BAY Sat 4.10.

Missed this as was up in top end of arena, but it looked good from a distance

CUTE BIG BAY Sun 1.35pm

Nice walk. Reward softness & build up steps.
Work for tomorrow,

Breathe when you are askign for backup.

Keep going till horse softens / unlocks. Horse a bit concerned in backup.

Use to backup while also pushing on the bit.

Few steps of softness in trot. NICE!!

CUTE BIG BAY Sun 4.35pm

Working in softness in trot. NICE!!!

CUTE BIG BAY Mon 9.55am

Horse a little unfocused
Walk about
Halt (a few extra movements)
Rider to breathe and help horse breathe and chill
in halt, if you get dancing about maybe try circling will horse stops.

Looking for no pull.
halt = halt

Goal for next 3 months is to do nice halt - walk, and walk to halt.

Rider to breathe long & slow.

Softness in walk. NICE.

In halt, horses attention to be on you. If you give horse her head, then far enough she can look around.

Trot - look for softness. hands like a wooden post.

All starts in the jaw. mouth moving & relaxed = good, working jaw.

Walk, softness, get rid of anexity and nervous energy.

GOOD WORK!!!

CUTE BIG BAY Mon 3.05pm

trot
canter
NICE!!! Great horse & rider.

[Elaine]

Sat 2.10 Super coloured horse Impulsion can be an issue, rider wants to have more intent without having to get angry.

- use small cue first.
- if no effect, inctrease or use a different cue.
- dont start with a big cue.

Halt. Dont release on a brace.

Get horse attention. Then use small cue. Dont cue the horse to do something when he is not paying attention, doesnt really work.

In trot, horse a bit on the forehand. Head too tucked in, which limits forward movement. Instead ask him to bring him self up. When head tucks in lift your hands up till head comes up a bit.

Better trot! A bit more lifted thus horse more ongoing.

This will also make canter transitions easier. NICE TROT.

Mean business. BETTER!

Sun 9.55 Super coloured horse

Nice walk.
Horse a little in 'wesley-world'. Need to connect a bit more mentally, horse to be more focused on human ideally.

Nice canter
Trot a bit asleep.
Better trot. Rider had a different attitude and meant business. Rider HAS got intent!!!
ALL VERY GOOD.
Rider to make sure they are on the ball.

- Catch the 'slow down' thought before it becomes too much of an action.

NICE sidepass. FQ to walk. NICE.

Did some lateral movements down a straight line. Some very nice FQ, HQ, sidepassing & backups.

Sun 3pm & 4.30pm Super coloured horse

Working on riders intent to get horse moving. BETTER.

Mon 9.15am Super coloured horse

Walk. More energetic walk. GOOD.

Be aware of where hroses focus is and keep it on eth job.

Did the line manouvres again.

Leg yield. Ask in time with the legs. NICE.

Shoudler in. Easier for horse to do this one way.

GOOD trot around. NICE WORK. When you use cues, start smell but keep going till you get a results. Don't let there be a delay between your cues.

Mon 3.05pm Super coloured horse

When you ask for more, ask until you get it.

BETTER WALK

BETTER TROT

NICE CANTER!!!

Great work by rider. This stuff is hard to do as its quite tiring. WELL DONE!!

[Elaine]

Sweet chestnut with a bad history. Sun 10.50am For the last few months amazing work has been done by rider to regain confidence & trust. Still a bit on edge about lots of stuff. Wants to continue this and try their 1st trot together.

Longlined.

Walk-halt-backup.

Horse finding it hard to stand still.
Human excellent. Just stood and waited.
Then horse stood still

Horse still a little nervous.
iIce trot.

Really nicely done by human. Giving horse jobs so she can succeed and bulid confidence.

You've got to play them like a fish.

walk, stop, trot on longlines.
Lovely responsive horse.
Still a little worried though, it'll just take time.

Tacked up as horse stood still (nice, great trust in handler)

Walk and breathe slowly.
Horse relaxed.

Did little trot, dont do too much and blow her mind.
Then back to walk,.

GOOD.

Sweet chestnut with a bad history. Sun 3.45pm

Ned to work on halt so there are no feet moving.
Tack on. Walk.

Work on different speeds of walk.

More relaxed horse = breathe out longer and deeper and soften your back.

Stand still with loose reins.
Pick up reins. Horse iseally to stay chilled.
Drop reins again.

Nice sigh from horse

NICE relaxed walk & sitting trot.

HQ yield - tiny cue. NICE
trot - a bit rushed, but horse thinking. BIG improvement.

Sweet chestnut with a bad history. Mon 1.30pm

Nice liberty stuff at the start

riding
nice walk
breathe
working on relaxing horse
better walk
work on softness in walk and halt
Good walk MUCH MORE relaxed than yesterday.

Trot. a bit rushed. Better 2nd time. Horse does the best trot when near the edge of the arena beside either the wall of the poles, or at the start of trotting. Gets a bit more worried in trot when either has trotted for too long, or is out in open space, tends to rush on.

Did shorter trots, stopped before rush. Worked better,

GOOD JOCKEY.

Better trot, NICE walk!!

Sweet chestnut with a bad history. Mon 4.20pm

Nice walk & trot. Horse is a credit to her trainer and to her owner

[Elaine]

Big new bay horse 10yo sunday 4.45

nice easy trot
both reins
look up to give horse direction
working on energy
GOOD!

In trot, rider looked up and IMMEDIATELY got this amazing slow motion elevated trot. WOW!

Did it again!!!

Lovely horse.

[Elaine]

young rider and great horse sunday 2.10

- walk
- soft feel in backup

telling from feel when each leg is leaving the ground.

FQ and HQ yield.

Sidepass. NICE!

Soft feel in halt. Dont pull. Ask.

Soft feel in walk. Ask and then wait for softness.

walk - halt - soft feel - NICE!
10 steps of backup.
HQ yield
FQ yield (rock back then turn)
Sidepass.

Very cool stuff from rider and horse