Four intrepid people went to Shardeloes on Monday
30 September to try to master riding ‘Merlin’ (the liver chestnut mechanical
horse).
Each rider had a hard working lunge session
of about 15 minutes on a general purpose saddle under the watchful eye of Gemma
who is an excellent instructor. This
session was designed to improve the riders’ position and balance in relation to
the horse’s paces and through the transitions. It also highlighted the difficulties that can
arise when the rider’s position is compromised by the type of saddle used
during flat work.
The saddle was then changed to a dressage one
and ‘Merlin’ was put into interactive mode, and each rider then endeavoured to
ride him in the virtual field, again for about 15 minutes. The art here was to remember the tips from
the lunge lesson and also apply the correct aids so the horse would walk, trot,
medium trot and canter or medium canter as requested. In addition the riders could try leg yield,
shoulder in and flying changes. This can be easier said than done as a degree
of finesse is required and the riders attention can be drawn to the graphics at
the bottom of the screen showing where and when the leg and rein aids are being
used, as a result some people ran into steering difficulties!
Everyone felt it was a worthwhile exercise
and thoroughly enjoyed their evening. They
all had a good work out on the long suffering ‘Merlin’,
and our thanks go to ‘Merlin’ and Gemma.
Please let us know if you would like us to
arrange another session.
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