A picture is worth a thousand words…
My secret hack to riding better, faster!
One of the best and fastest ways to improve in your riding is with video. I try to get video at least once a month with all of my horses. Your trainer can tell you over and over again that your horse needs to be rounder or that you need to sit back, or whatever nagging habit you’re currently working on fixing, but sometimes until you see it, you don’t really believe it.
Why is this?
About half of our brain is directly or indirectly devoted to processing visual information. And studies show that at least 65% of people are visual learners.* So it makes a lot of sense that video can be a very useful tool! When you have a picture in your mind of the problem that you are trying to fix, it is a lot easier to fix it.
What should you look for in your video?
Rider Position:
Start by focusing on yourself – rather than on your horse. Are you leaning forward? Are you sitting in a chair seat? Are your hands too high or too low? What happens to your position during transitions.
Your horse:
Next focus on your horse. Is your horse moving forward enough? How do the gaits look? I think all of us feel like we’re riding really forward with huge gaits – until we watch the video and it looks like the horse is just barley moving!🤣🤣
Don’t be too depressed! Your horse’s gaits pretty much always look a ton worse on video than they are in really life. For sure video is a good kick in the butt to ride more forward and to get more out of your horse’s gaits but please know that pretty much every horse looks a LOT worse on the video than they do in person!
Next look at your horse’s frame: Are they on the bit? Is their head too high or too low? Are they uphill or down hill? Sometimes it is hard to tell if your horse is round enough when you are riding them – so video is a really useful too for this issue.
Straightness and Symmetry:
Ride straight towards the camera and straight away from the camera. Are you straight above your horse? Are your stirrups even? Is your horse straight?
Take a look at this week’s video where I show you how I set up and use my PIVO for video. If you ride a lot alone or you have trouble convincing your significant other to film you, the PIVO is a really great tool to help. The PIVO is an awesome gadget that will automatically track your riding. You just simply put your phone on the device and use your remote to start and stop recording.
Do me a favor and try to get a little video of yourself at least once a month. I would LOVE to see your videos on Amelia’s Dressage Club!
Don’t have someone to video you? You can order your PIVO here!
When you order your PIVO here, you can used code AMELIA for a 10% discount!
Happy Riding!
Amelia
*(Source Seyens, LTD)
