Friday 15 August 2014

Steering Practice at East Devon RDA.

I wanted to encourage the riders to steer more at the riding sessions at East Devon RDA, so I had the equipment laid out in the school as shown in the plan below.




I had the cones placed out in a zig zag for a change, as it made it a little  more challenging for the riders, as they had to think about not only steering around the cones but also going from the track on to the 5m line and back to the track.

I used the layout in the following ways. The riders did all these exercises on both reins.
  • I got riders to steer through the cones, I also got the riders to stop by each cone and count to a number before walking on. Then I gave riders a number and they had to count the cones and then stop at the corresponding cone for that number.
  • I used the poles to get riders to steer through the poles off the track, they had to turn and go through the poles on the centre line and then back through the next pair of poles to re-join the track.
  • I got the riders stopping their ponies and horses through the poles, sometimes they were asked to count up to a number.
  • I had items placed on the uprights, so riders practised stopping between the uprights, then moved an item from one side to the other side.
  • Riders were also asked to carry an item from the uprights, through the cones and then through the poles before replacing it back on to the upright.
  • As well as weaving through the cones, I asked the riders to do a circle right around each cone before moving on to do the same at the next cone.

As well as steering being an aim of these sessions today, I wanted to get riders thinking of being aware of the other riders in the school and to look where they were going. They had to stop and wait while riders did the different obstacles if they had caught up before the rider in front of them had completed the set task.

Everyone enjoyed their riding today.
Having tea and biscuits with the helpers afterwards they said they were very impressed with how the rider that they were working with completed the various tasks.

Wednesday 13 August 2014

First Thursday as the Instructor at East Devon Group.

The first Thursday teaching as the Instructor at East Devon RDA, I decided to go over things that the riders had done before we stopped for the Easter break so I got the helpers to set the school up as shown below. The helpers are finding that using my layout plan sheet very good and it doesn't take very long for them to set out the school how I would like it to be set up.



                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
        I wanted to get the riders to do a lot of steering today and halting to improve their control of the horses.

 I used the above plan in these various ways. The riders did all these exercises on both reins.
  • I got the riders to steer through the cones which were down one side.
  • The poles were placed on the 5 m  line so the riders had to steer through 3 cones and then walk between the 2 poles. 
  •  I got the riders to stop between the poles, I asked them to count to a number before walking on and steering through the next set of 3 cones.
  •  The riders were asked to take an item from one upright while they were stopping between the poles and then walk around to the next set of poles and stop between those poles,placing the item on that upright. As well as going around on the track, riders were encouraged to go around in a circle.
  • The riders walked from a barrel to the poles on the 5m line and then back to the barrel in the corner, sometimes being asked to stop between the poles and count to a number.
  • The riders that are trotting were asked to trot from one barrel and then walk at the next barrel, this was good as the riders had to prepare to walk and trot.
  • The riders were also asked to collect an item from one barrel and steer through the poles and place the item on the other barrel.
  • Riders were asked to change direction by going down the centre line, sometimes stopping at the uprights which are placed at 'X' , some riders swapped items between the uprights.

The above exercises also incorporated several dressage movements.
  • 5m loops.
  • Riding down the centre line.
  • Halting at X.
  • 10m circles. 
  • Halting and immobility for 5 sec
All the riders enjoyed their riding today and did some very good steering though the obstacles and stopping, whether they were using their reins or just their body to control their horses.