Calmsden Bursary Finalist, Rebecca Neale - Lesson Report

On Tuesday we headed off to Ampney Down Farm for our lesson with Cassie Price as part of the EquiFeast Bursary Finalist prize. I was a bit nervous about what a proper eventer would make of my little native pony! I needn’t have worried as Cassie and Emma (EquiFeast Team Member and Photographer for the day!) put me at ease straight away as I finished tacking up.

Cassie asked me to warm up as we would normally,to give her a chance to assess us. As we did this she asked some questions such as what my aims are, where our next events are and most importantly how I feel Layla goes. Once I’d worked in all three paces Cassie said she liked Layla and that she has three correct paces but that I need to make sure I am consistently riding with even uphill hands and body. Layla needs to improve her self-carriage and not rely on me carrying her which is what I have done before to try and hide her being heavy.

First up was the walk, I had to concentrate on using my seat so that the walk was steadier but didn’t lose impulsion. I have always hurried her walk and rushed her, this combined with low hands and looking down pushes her onto her head and the overall look is downhill.

Becky had a habit of looking down and dropping her hands low

Once Cassie had got me to relax and use my seat whilst keeping a consistent contact in both hands Layla’s frame opened and she was able to step under more. This produced a much more pleasing image and then meant our upward transition to trot was active and uphill. 

The overall picture was much improved with just a few simple changes to Becky's position

Cassie had me riding a square in trot and really concentrating on an even rhythm around the corners, with straight sides in between. In the beginning my hands were uneven and I collapsed through my right side, Layla looks tense in her jaw and is also tilting to the inside.

Carrying the hands and fraction low and uneven

After some pointers from Cassie, I made a conscious effort to keep my hands even, lift my core, look up and not collapse one side of my body through the turn. This then allowed me to ride Layla forward into the contact for a lovely balanced trot.

A lovely, forward and flowing trot from Becky and Layla

We then moved up into canter and repeated the square exercise from the trot. I had a tendency to ride with my hands low, wide and burying down in the canter. Looking down was also hindering Layla's freedom through the shoulder, as Cassie politely pointed out that your head is the heaviest part of your body!

 Looking down and burying the hands, didn't help Layla in the canter work

After some work on the square we then moved onto shallow loops, still within the canter and this highlighted my tendency to try and disguise when Layla is sitting on either rein rather than being equal. After we had all had a little giggle when I had a complete blank and Layla just kept going in a straight line; I sat up and we cracked it! 

Having fun AND producing a super canter!

I had a really good lesson and we both worked hard in the sunshine, it was nice to have a fresh set of eyes to take a slightly different angle towards our training and ultimately improve our dressage scores. I now have some new exercises to work on before our next lesson and am determined Cassie will be able to see a difference. I will also be working on my core strength to help with my position and hope this will benefit my flatwork and jumping.

Cassie's Top Tips 

• Show Layla's best features
• Encourage her to take the bridle down and outwards
• Important to understand how much the rider's position effects the horse

Homework for next lesson: Hands!