The best investment I ever made was a Donna Snyder Smith clinic.
Balance takes on a whole new meaning in endurance. As you point out -
in uneven footing, rocks, roots, deep sand, etc. the ability to "hover"
in balance and give your horse the ability of negotiating the terrain
without the rider interference is a great aid to the horse. It also
helps on downhills, to get out of horse's way and let him do his thing.
I change diagonals every 100 meters or so or on every curve - whichever
comes first. Sometimes I even count and change on a count unless I have
already changed because of a curve. I Learned that trick from on of the
best riders in the sport. One good way to practice to manage diagonals
and leads is to ride on a narrow curvy single track trail through the
woods where there is some incentive to properly manage the diagonals
and canter leads.
Truman
Dot Wiggins wrote:
It is better for the horse if you do not post over rough, uneven, ground and
twisting trails. The horse must compensate for the uneven footing so he
should not have to also figure in your changing weight distribution as you
post. When the surface is rapidly changing just stay quietly "over" the
center of balance. "Standing" or "two point", whatever you want to call it.
By all means post if you like when the fooing is better, but be sure to
change diagonals often.
And as Ed says, practice practice practice
-- We imitate our masters only because we are not yet masters
ourselves,
and only
We
imitate our masters
only because we are not yet masters ourselves, and only
because
in doing so we
learn the truth about what cannot be imitated.
