Do not worry! I am not referring to the Teeter Totter of Life! This is the Monday Minstrel and I only aim to entertain and sprinkle a bit of helpful information around. If you follow this blog you will know that my Florida coach Luis Denizard (Lou to his friends) always has some ‘outside the box’ ideas and visuals to get a concept across. You may remember “riding the mounting block” and the “carrying the pitchfork”. Well this year the “teeter totter” has been the image that Lou has used to help me. How does this work?
Balance
In dressage we want the horse to be balanced and not on the forehand. In some other disciplines, such as cutting horses , being on the forehand is essential. But for dressage it is anathema! We want dressage horses to carry more weight behind. And as we train our horses up the levels we want more and more weight to be carried behind. At the very least we want the horse to be level. A balanced teeter totter.
The heaviest person is sitting at the back.
I imagine I am sitting in the middle of the teeter totter and behind me ( Biasini’s hind end) has someone heavy sitting on the teeter totter. In front of me (Biasini’s shoulder, neck and head) there is a much lighter person.
When I am riding the mental image of that heavy person behind me lifting up the teeter totter is one that really helps me to ask Biasini to lift up in front .
It is an easy visual to remember and to use and most importantly….it works!
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