I have been having dressage lessons with a great instructor. My horse is not easy to ride, he has learnt many years of evasions to avoid moving forwards properly and he is fundamentally pretty lazy! My lessons have focussed on getting him moving equally from behind and into an even contact. I had/have many bad habits to correct, and one of them is that I need to avoid flapping with my legs. I used to have a terrible habit of kicking him forward into every stride and this just made him dead to the leg and ignore me.
So my instructor has got me using my whip instead of nagging with my legs. Previously I never used my whip at all, so this is a change to him and it makes him listen to me. Instead of kick, kick, kick, she has got me tapping with this whip at every 3 strides or so, especially in canter as this keeps his energy. I don't smack him, I just tap him. It's more annoying than anything, I sometimes tap my leg or boot instead and it is no harder than a touch.
Yesterday I did a dressage test at my instructors yard, my instructor watched me (as did about 10 other people) and when I came out said that I did well and she was pleased. My score on the board showed that I got 62.5% which I was pretty pleased with so I went home happy. I went back later to get my sheet and was totally and utterly mortified to find that the judge had written 'A fair test but unsettling use of the whip throughout. You need to get him working willingly from behind to help his self carriage'. Does this mean that the judge and anyone else watching thinks that I am beating my horse? Does it really look like all I do is smack him? No-one else said anything about it to me and someone told me that they had never seen him go so well. But are they all secretly thinking I overuse the whip? I am really upset to think that the judge could think I would hurt him and don't think I can bring myself to even carry one again. Nothing in the horse world has ever made me so upset than this.
So my instructor has got me using my whip instead of nagging with my legs. Previously I never used my whip at all, so this is a change to him and it makes him listen to me. Instead of kick, kick, kick, she has got me tapping with this whip at every 3 strides or so, especially in canter as this keeps his energy. I don't smack him, I just tap him. It's more annoying than anything, I sometimes tap my leg or boot instead and it is no harder than a touch.
Yesterday I did a dressage test at my instructors yard, my instructor watched me (as did about 10 other people) and when I came out said that I did well and she was pleased. My score on the board showed that I got 62.5% which I was pretty pleased with so I went home happy. I went back later to get my sheet and was totally and utterly mortified to find that the judge had written 'A fair test but unsettling use of the whip throughout. You need to get him working willingly from behind to help his self carriage'. Does this mean that the judge and anyone else watching thinks that I am beating my horse? Does it really look like all I do is smack him? No-one else said anything about it to me and someone told me that they had never seen him go so well. But are they all secretly thinking I overuse the whip? I am really upset to think that the judge could think I would hurt him and don't think I can bring myself to even carry one again. Nothing in the horse world has ever made me so upset than this.