14: Bumping Up Your Skills with the Jog or Trot in .NET framework

Generate QR Code JIS X 0510 in .NET framework 14: Bumping Up Your Skills with the Jog or Trot

When circling a horse at the trot in hunt seat and dressage riding, you use direct reining, with two hands on the reins The following steps take you through a circle (see Figure 14-9): 1 To circle your horse to the inside of the arena, (the only direction you d turn in a circle), increase tension on the inside rein If you re riding hunt seat, pull the rein out slightly If you re riding dressage, pull the rein back slightly 2 At the same time, apply pressure with your outside leg Use more pressure than you d apply when circling at the walk The horse moves away from the pressure, which encourages her to turn to the inside and maintain the trot Start with light pressure and increase it until the horse responds

3 Continue to keep rein and leg pressure as the horse turns When the horse is moving into a circle pattern, apply pressure with both legs to guide her through the circle and keep her from making the circle smaller than you d like 4 When the circle is complete (when you re back where you started), move your hands back to the center of your horse Reduce the amount of pressure from your legs only slightly, being sure not to take your legs off the horse completely In both hunt seat and dressage, you need to maintain some contact with the horse s sides

A good way to develop your jogging or trotting skills is to practice turns and circles I give you some exercises to try in the following sections You can suggest these to your riding instructor or do them when you re riding on your own in an arena

Western riders can develop their skills at the jog using a winding pattern This pattern allows you to change directions and straighten the horse often in the confines of an arena so you can become coordinated at using your reins and legs together This exercise has you and your horse jog up and down the arena, performing a serpentine pattern (see Figure 14-10): 1 Start at one end of the arena, on the rail, at the jog 2 When you get to the rail at the other end of the arena, turn the horse to the inside and make a half-circle (or as drivers like to call it, a U-turn) 3 As soon as the horse is facing opposite direction, ask her to go straight so you re parallel to the rail you re next to but farther away from it 4 Jog down the length of the arena, and when you reach the end, turn the horse to the inside again so you complete a half-circle When the horse is facing the way you just came from, straighten her out and jog her forward 5 Complete this pattern up and down the entire arena until you reach the other side Then repeat and go back the way you came I recommend doing the serpentine as many as five times

Figure 14-10: Jogging a serpentine pattern is a good way to practice turning and straightening the horse

Remember riding the horses on the merry-go-round Well, here s your chance to put all that circling to good use A good exercise for hunt seat and dressage riders to practice at the trot involves moving over jump poles laid on the ground Before you do this exercise, talk to your instructor to make sure you re ready for this level of riding Ask your instructor to help you with this exercise and supervise your progress By laying jump poles on the ground and trotting over them in a circular pattern, you can practice turning and keeping your horse straight at the trot You can perform this exercise at either the sitting or posting trot: 1 Lay four poles down in the center of the arena so they form a cross shape but don t touch each other The ends of the poles that are across from each other should be about 10 feet apart In other words, you should have a 10-foot hole in the middle of the cross 2 Approach one of the poles at its center, trotting over the middle of the pole 3 Turn the horse so she trots over the center of the next pole 4 Repeat for the next two poles and then go back to the first pole (see Figure 14-11) Continue the circle about five times