Post by horseguy on Dec 1, 2016 15:51:37 GMT
I was rereading one of Gordon Wright's books, Learning to Ride Hunt and Show after the Morris post. It's a very easy to find book on ebay or amazon and a solid reference for any rider despite the sort of "child's book" format.
In it he talks about the rider's eyes. When I was a beginner rider this was so often stressed. You can imaging training mounted soldiers, as Wright did at Ft. Riley, and how critical this would be for them. I believe that because of so much ring riding these days where the footing on the other side of a jump or anywhere in an arena is always good, the need to see where your horse will be placing their feet is nearly unimportant. By contrast, a mounted solider on a mission would be in unknown territory with widely varied footing. Eyes up and forward were essential. I was trained in what the military called "follow me" rides where we followed the instructor over terrain. It was sometimes a bit like playing Simon Says. Mr. Gratwick would "throw us a curve ball" once in a while and those who were not looking forward got caught.
I once sent a very good young woman student to a Jimmy Wafford clinic. His comment on her riding was she almost never looked down and commented that she would benefit spending more time looking at he jump in the approach (which she did but very briefly). She responded by telling him she was a Whip in the local Hunt. That Staff job is typically out on the flank of the hunt or otherwise alone containing and redirecting straggler hounds. If your horses falls you are alone to deal with the consequences, not unlike a cavalryman might be. Wafford, who is an avid fox hunter, didn't mention her eyes again.
s**t happens
Believe it or not, I had something like this happen to me. A doe (no rack) was laying hidden on the ground staying warm in the cold morning of a hunt. It stayed down until my horse's feet were nearly upon it. It leapt up and bounced off my horse.
In it he talks about the rider's eyes. When I was a beginner rider this was so often stressed. You can imaging training mounted soldiers, as Wright did at Ft. Riley, and how critical this would be for them. I believe that because of so much ring riding these days where the footing on the other side of a jump or anywhere in an arena is always good, the need to see where your horse will be placing their feet is nearly unimportant. By contrast, a mounted solider on a mission would be in unknown territory with widely varied footing. Eyes up and forward were essential. I was trained in what the military called "follow me" rides where we followed the instructor over terrain. It was sometimes a bit like playing Simon Says. Mr. Gratwick would "throw us a curve ball" once in a while and those who were not looking forward got caught.
I once sent a very good young woman student to a Jimmy Wafford clinic. His comment on her riding was she almost never looked down and commented that she would benefit spending more time looking at he jump in the approach (which she did but very briefly). She responded by telling him she was a Whip in the local Hunt. That Staff job is typically out on the flank of the hunt or otherwise alone containing and redirecting straggler hounds. If your horses falls you are alone to deal with the consequences, not unlike a cavalryman might be. Wafford, who is an avid fox hunter, didn't mention her eyes again.
s**t happens
Believe it or not, I had something like this happen to me. A doe (no rack) was laying hidden on the ground staying warm in the cold morning of a hunt. It stayed down until my horse's feet were nearly upon it. It leapt up and bounced off my horse.