OBSTACLE TIPS
JEFF WILSON
ACTHA Monthly | April 2015 | 12
Jeff Wilson Cowboy Dressage
Jeff Wilson hosts and teaches Cowboy Dressage clinics in the Northeast with great success. He has worked professionally for over 30 years with problem horses, training horses of all breeds as well as specializing in starting horses. For several years now Jeff has turned most of his training program into liberty work, trick training, as well as teaching classical dressage movements in a fun and easy to understand way.
To our great benefit in the competitive trail sport, Jeff is also an ACTHA Ride Host. Look forward to Jeff's tips to help the horse and rider best perform official ACTHA obstacles in each issue of the ACTHA Monthly!
Performance Tips:
Horse & rider team is to weave (walk, trot only) through poles, barrels, trees, etc.
Judging Criteria: Horse is to maintain a steady rhythm or cadence. Penalty for speeding up or slowing down. Penalty for bumping into poles, etc. Rider should not lean. Rider should keep their eyes forward. A plus should be given to any rider who can change diagonals.
Options:
• After the last pole, circle around while maintaining current trot/jog speed and stop square facing back towards start.
• Add an extra pole and circle between the last two poles while maintaining the same speed through the circle (adding one last pole allows you to manage the size of the circle they must stay within). Could be developed further into a figure 8.
• For those extra coordinated, try changing diagonals smoothly without losing the easily lost forward momentum needed for this obstacle.
Tips: Did you ever ride a horse that smeared your leg around a tree while you rode by? That natural talent from the horse is called “horse gravity” –the pulling force is always towards the tree. The fix is to get your horse to bend around your leg. Every horse needs this simple exercise.
Executed properly, this maneuver is a thing of beauty; like good penmanship, easy to do, but often overlooked. Although it could be perceived as an easy obstacle, it defines how much fluidity you can create, and most importantly, the ability to keep your horse moving “in front of your leg.”
This does not mean you should ride it like “yer headin’ for the wagon yard!” The Trot Weave is judged on rider balance (not leaning) and horse balance. A horse moving in balance has been suppled physically, and therefore can adjust to perform in the space required. If the horse speeds up and rushes, he is probably leaning and not bending around the rider’s leg. If he slows up, he is not suppled sufficiently to bring his body into a ‘turnable” position, resulting in a hollow back, bracing against the hand, and other faults.
When practicing this at home, try to keep your horse bending on the line of travel, fluidly, from nose to tail. If you focus on this, all your other troubles will iron themselves out. You’ll find that “whisper in the whirlwind.”
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