FIND THE ANSWER TO ‘ON THE BIT’ & ‘BEGINNING LATERAL WORK’ WITH MARY WANLESS BHSI BSc

Session 1 – On The Bit & The Fascial Lines

An introduction to ‘On The Bit’, what it looks like, where it can go wrong and the influence that the rider has over the process. Mary also introduces you to your fascial net and how, once brought into balance, it can give you much greater control over our body. Mary will also talk about feel and how it is developed.

Session 2 – Front & Back

This session sets out how the rider creates balance between the continuous lines of tissue that form the front and back of the torso and legs (the Superficial Front and Back Lines) The result is known as ‘neutral spine’, and it enables the rider to sit with a shoulder/hip/heel vertical line. Mary also introduces good breathing and how to access your core.

Session 3 – The Lateral Lines

In this session Mary looks at the Lateral Lines (along the sides of the body) which effect both horse and rider on turns and circles. She provides exercises which give the rider greater stability on the side-to-side plane, and the ability to steer the horse’s wither. A correct understanding of how to turn the horse without him jack-knifing (where the wither acts like a hinge) makes a huge difference to the typical contortions of horse and rider. Straightness also influences how securely and consistently your horse will work in the Seeking Reflexes.

Session 4 – The Functional Lines & Arm Lines

If think it is your job to make the horse’s nose vertical you have misunderstood ‘THE SEEKING REFLEXES’. You compromise those reflexes and inhibit a genuine reach into the rein when you resort to scrunchIng the horse’s head and neck backwards by pulling back OR fiddling with the reins. You are then riding the horse from the ‘front to the back’ instead of from the ‘back to the front’.

Mary will show you how to organise your shoulders, elbows and hands so you can maintain a more wholesome contact, whilst also matching the forces of the horse’s movement in your body. This solves many rider/horse contact issues, since not being able to match those forces leads to tension in the wrong places, and hands which pull back.

Session 5 – Spiral Lines

Mary discusses and demonstrates the Spiral Lines which affect side bends and lateral shifts in the rider. In the latter the rib cage is displaced as Iit is in ‘break dance’, making the spine into an ‘S’ shape rather than a ‘C’. The ‘C’ is the most common ‘default’ when riding circles on the rider’s ‘bad rein’, But the ‘S’ is a more likely default in the lateral movements. In both cases, one seatbone becomes heavier as the other one lightens. Mary offers solutions that even out the weight on the seatbones and straighten the body’s axis. This makes precision steering, ‘bend’, and good lateral steps much easier. She also talks about improving your head position, and discovering Spiral Lines in your legs.

Session 6 – The Deep Front Line

The Deep Front Line is an expanded version of what many people think of as the core. In both the rider and the horse it goes from (hind) toes to tongue – think of an apple core which has a rounded middle whilst connecting each end of the apple. When you can access your core, you begin to develop the stability, strength and finesse required to help the horse engage his core, and transfer his weight back.

BONUS MATERIAL

Get a free digital copy of the book ‘Master Dressage – The Basics’, access to lesson one from last years more basic ‘On The Bit’ course and other bonus videos!