Video Review: Riding in Your Minds Eye dvd1

How often have we heard that practice makes perfect. It doesn't. If you practice something wrong, you will just learn to do it wrong. No magic there.

Perfect practice makes perfect.

That is the premise of this video. If you practice something perfectly, you will make improvements in your riding. Of course it is easier to do things correctly in our minds. Studies have actually shown that visualizing doing something correctly does actually improve your ability to do something better.

The steps Jane suggests you follow are:
1) Know the mechanics before visualization. Know how the aids should be used to get the horse do the movement.
2) Visualize before you ride, this dvd suggest you watch this dvd. In her books Jane suggest that you just watch good riders. Then as your ride keep those image in your "minds eye."
3) After you are able to watch the horse and rider on the screen, try to imagine it is you and your horse.

Covered in this dvd:
*Position
*Alternating between rising and sitting trot
*Upper transitions
*Downward trasitions
*Circles (its a dressage tape, it has to have circles!)
*Shallow loop
*Change of direction
*Medium walk to free walk

The dvd is laid out so that you learn the mechanics and then have a silent period to put the correct image into your mind's eye.

Of course I love this dvd. This is one that I think I will get. As a dressage rider I love to just analyze the process of riding. The video is perfect for actually analyzing how to ride these seemingly simple movements. Study dressage for long and you will learn two things: nothing is simple and if the horse does it wrong it is all your fault. You can use a good video of the disciple of your choice to get that perfect image for minds eye, but this video has really good footage of each movement.

Another pro is it provides a way to "ride" when you just can not get out to the barn. I really wish I had ordered this one when I was in a cast this winter. Now that I am only riding twice a month, I still think that this is going to be a very beneficial video. I think I will be keeping this video for at least a few weeks.

Now if you are not that into dressage, this video maybe a bit much and too simple at the same time. It tells exactly what aides to use and how to use them to make each of the movements. It is based on classic dressage and although I can not image a rider that would not improve after watching and trying the techniques it is very much an English rider's video.

Another potential con of the video is that is meant to be watched over and over again. If you rent it, such I am, then the benefits are not going to be as long reaching. On that note, if anyone has this video and would like to part with it please let me know.

Mud! Mud! Mud!

Super. . . snow is gone and we get mud. I mean I know that this is how it goes. Snow, it melt and makes mud. Still, it is icky. . .

Remember the beautiful red dun mare I brought home? Kinsey now looks like this:
Can anyone say ewwwwww?

I know I promised pictures of Kinsey and Abby, but there is a glich. His name is Rock My World, or better known to those who love him as Rocky. I believe Kinsey calls him something else but I don't use that kind of language here. Abby loves Rocky. Oh and if you are looking at that picture and wondering if Rocky can walk under Abby, yes, yes he can. So Abby eats with Rocky and then visits with Kinsey afterward. I just ran out and took these photos because I have been so busy.

Visualization is going well. Really it is. I have been saying my affirmations and everything is having the desired effect, it almost feels boring now. So the nerves are disappearing.

For those of you wondering, you can use visualization for anything from getting your distance correct to a fence to performing the perfect dressage test. Just practice in your mind doing it right and your body doesn't know the different.

A comment below made me think about being a kid. I think we all did do visualization as kids. We just called it daydreaming. I know I sat in class and thought about riding Hope. Running confidently through the woods, then go home and do it.

Visualization

I just wrote out a whole visualization for my ride next Thursday. The key to having a good visualization is to include lots of detail and emotion. I was going to share it but I thought it was a bit long and boring for a blog. I got a lot out of actually typing it out.

This technique has really worked well for me in the past, until I get to those parts that I didn't visualize really well. Normally I start out strong, but forget about the last part of the ride. That was where my down fall was with a few rides I had on Abby.

When I visualize I usually start out really strong and then get lost in the middle as a dog licks my face or the phone rings. So the process of actually writing my visualization helped me to take the ride from the moment I park under the big pine tree to getting in my car after the ride. See really long.

I can tell when the difficult parts of the ride are going to be for me. I get a little herd of butterflies in my stomach when I think about getting on or getting off. I know from experience that as I keep visualizing those awkward moment, they become less awkward.

So I'll just share one part with you for an example:

With a positive attitude, I lead Bill to the arena and under the black hanging tarp that keep dust from going into the barn. Behind me R closes the wooden arena door. Bill follows me obediently, and I take a deep relaxing breath. Letting it out slowly as R asks Bill to stand next to the gate, I am confident in my skills. Bill moves over until his side is touching the gate. I climb up the old dusty gate, I feel the grim under my hands. I move freely but deliberately. I feel confident because I have worked with Bill before and he has always been well behaved. I take a deep breath and let it out, just like I have done a hundred times before. I grab the soft leather reins and swing my leg over the saddle. The saddle is cold, but warms quickly from my body heat. I slip my feet in to the stirrups. Next I shift my weight around the get my position correct, check my reins again. I take another deep breath, Bill has not moved an inch and is just waiting for me to tell him what to do.

See I have a lot of detail in their, and even more that I will see in the picture in my head. Before I got out of bed this morning, I ran this scene through my head, I'll do it again as I am in the shower, and driving to work. Finally I will do it as I fall asleep tonight. By the time I ride Bill for real I will have done it probably at least 25 times in my head.

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Mean while back at the ranch. . . .

Abby and Kinsey are the best of buds. Every time I look out there are with each other. My batteries died yesterday, but charged our night. I will have to take some pictures of them together. They are instant friends!

For the first time Kinsey came running up to me yesterday. I think she is feeding off the other horses that all flock to me when I came into the field. So she just joined in. My heart melted as I saw her trotting towards me with her ears pricked and a happy look on her face. I easily caught her and took her out to be groomed and then did a little in hand work . We did target training, and some other in hand work. Then we took a short walk. She did wonderful.

Back to the fear issues

Yeah, I have this blog and it is about getting over the fear of riding but I end up talking a lot about other stuff. Well didn't have a plan there for awhile so there was not much to talk about in terms of fear. I have a week, though, to build up my nerve to ride Bill.

I did the first few steps. First I found someone that does not care that I am overweight. That was really a huge issue for me. A lot of people don't think someone of my size should be riding, but we do. People who weight more than me ride. Frankly some of them do it much better than their lighter weight counter parts and are easier on the horse. Anyway that is a topic for another time.

The next step: I found a support group for the weight and riding issue. This may have been an even bigger issue for me. I really kept myself from riding with the excuse, I too fat. Well when Amanda at A Far Girl and A Fat Horse started a fourm, I realized that I was not alone and that there were a lot of people who weighted more than me that happily and successfully rode happy horses. I am not going to hurt my horse, especially since I am not going to be ripping over a cross counry field, I am going to be walking, trotting at most, at the moment.

I found a horse that I can ride, Bill, maybe. Bill is a 10 year old halflinger gelding. He stand 13.3 but is as wide as they come. He is used to carrying a heavy rider and is a pretty laid back guy. I just adore Bill actually. A little snotty, but I love snotty horses. I don't know why. Bill has carried children around safely so he is not that snotty.

Finally the trainer I am working with is pretty laid back. I don't really need riding lessons, I just need to get back in the saddle and maybe a few nudges along the way to push myself a little further.

Now I just have to "ride" Bill everyday in my mind's eye. Everything from getting on him to walking around the ring, finally getting off. I need to plan out my script today and start rehearsing it. I also want to find some videos of people riding halflingers and having successful calm rides. I also have to write some affirmations to the effect that I am a calm and confident rider, and able to deal with any situation.

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Mean while back at the ranch. Things are continuing on. Abby and Kinsey got to meet on the same side of the fence today. They have been standing next to each other on opposite sides of the fence all week so the greeting when much as I expected. The sniffed each other and went about eating hay out of the same pile. Rather sweet actaully. Now everyone is just chilling.