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.

Video Review: About Saddle Fit

Another Giddyupflix rental, I don't get paid by them but it is a really nice rental place. Much better than buying all these videos. Especially one like About Saddle Fit: What Everyone Needs to Know About Saddle Fitting, chocked full of practical information, but one that I am not going to be watching over and over again.

This video discusses the basics of how a saddle is put together, what it is supposed to do, how tell if your saddle fits your horse, and a few hints of what to do if the saddle doesn't fit. I admit that it is pretty basic, but there was a lot that I didn't know. For example, do you know why you should use a back cinch? That the fore cinch and back cinch should be equally tight? Or how to properly use only one cinch on a western saddle?

Not only does the narrator, a master saddle maker who's name escapes me, tell you all this information, but also shows you why. He has all the parts of the saddle and shows how it all goes together. He show why many of the common measurement we use to describe a saddle aren't that accurate and what you really should look for. Just basic information that, as the title says, everyone should know.

This is a well made video that is very informative. The narrator is knowledgeable and easy to understand. You won't be a master saddle fitter or builder after watching this video but you will be able to choose a saddle much more wisely and have a better understanding of how the saddle works.

Video Review: Earning Your Horse's Trust

Earning Your Horse's Trust with Gawani Pony Boy is a basic video that deals with round penning. Almost any video on round penning is going to cover the same material. How to move your horse around, getting an inside and outside turn, and getting the horse to follow you. It is not a bad video if these are new concepts to you. I found it to be a tad slow, but the material was not new to me.

On the plus side he works with two horses that are new to round penning. Both reacted a little differently so you get an idea of how respond to different problems. He does a good job of explaining what he is doing, which is nice because I find many personalities who do these videos are not very good at communication. The information is sound and easy to follow.

Again, this is just the basics and if you have any round penning experience, it is nothing new. There are some hokey spots where we hear the horses thoughts on the process. It is done in real time so it moves a little slow. My copy lost audio half way through. I rented it from Giddy Up Flix and that happens from time to time. I didn't think I really missed anything. I was actually expecting much more out of this video so to me it was a bit of a disappointment.

Over all I give this an Okay. Not spectacular but if you have never done any round pen work you might get something out of it.