Listen to my questions

Having asked Clancy all these questions, Clancy asked me "Have you asked Anna these questions?"

Well, yes. When I started asking Anna these sort of questions she said "You just need to get on with it", and considered the topic closed.

Was I happy with that response? No. Maybe I should have pursued the topic further with Anna, but I find that this seems to be a bit of a generic problem with dressage instructors. It's like they are there to teach you dressage, and dressage is defined as riding the horse correctly. But the truth is, you cannot ride a horse correctly if that horse doesn't respect you. You need to be the boss on the ground first, before you can be the boss in the saddle.

If you're not the boss on the ground, then sooner or later something will start going wrong in the saddle as the horse challenges your authority. Some horses stop, others charge off, some buck, some shake their heads. The instructor sees the problems during riding, and just starts piling on the gear. Nose band, martingale, etc. This doesn't solve the problem. It's a band aid solution.

The instructor needs to listen to the rider's questions. And if I am trotting a 20 metre circle, and my horse is shaking his head, and I ask "why does he try to bite me when I saddle him up?", then chances are that if I can stop him biting during saddling, the head shaking in the trot will just magically go away.

It's to do with Chi, the life force, but more about that another time.