Olga Soboleva: “work on landing should go on every day”

Landing – one of the most important components of the correct work with the horse, because the use of the rider’s controls depends on it. However, sometimes working on the correct fit becomes a challenge for young athletes. The head coach of the Russian youth dressage team spoke about the most common mistakes in landing, their causes and ways of correcting Olga Soboleva.

Charlotte Dujardin / photo from horseandhound.uk.com

Prokoni.ru: What are the most common seating mistakes among young riders and what do they affect?

Olga Soboleva: The first of the most common mistakes is the incorrect position of the rider in the saddle. Often young riders, and sometimes even experienced riders, sit off center. Any shifting of the rider to one side puts an extra load on the horse. It begins to adjust to the influence of the rider’s body – this greatly affects the correct execution of the elements. However, there are examples of the ideal position in the saddle – Charlotte Dujardin.

The second common mistake is the incorrect work of the rider’s hands. Problems can be completely different, ranging from the wrong position to a restless hand. Many riders have broken the line “snaffle – hand – elbows”, some “clap” their elbows or press them too hard against the body, work too hard with their hands.

People sometimes unconsciously begin to replace hand work with elbow work, and often young riders have a sensitive and rough hand. In an attempt to soften the work of the hand, they drop the reins. This is wrong and leads to a lack of control over the horse.

Any flaws in the work of the hand adversely affect the quality of the element and contact. But contact is the third position in the training scale!

The third common mistake is incorrect footwork. Dangling leg, pinched knee – all this leads to the fact that the horse eventually ceases to “hear” your leg.

The rule of thumb for a good fit is to keep your foot in a vertical line with your ear and shoulder.

The fourth common mistake is the incorrect operation of the case. It is very important that the body does not conflict with other commands: if the rider rides to the right and his body is turned to the left, then the command is given incorrectly. Sometimes young athletes do not look at the trajectory of movement, which is also a mistake.

Prokoni.ru: What causes such errors most often?

Olga Soboleva: Errors are formed due to the fact that initially the rider did not work on the quality of the landing. The coach tells the athlete to do the element and does not correct the fit at the start of basic training. But when there are flaws in the position of the rider in the saddle, he cannot perform the elements correctly. Mistakes are fixed at the muscular level and entail others. Therefore, attention from the coach to the little things and control of each action is necessary. It is important to remember that the elements should not be completed at any cost.

Prokoni.ru: Is it possible to correct the mistakes in the landing, acquired by the rider long ago and fixed in the muscle memory? If so, how long can it take to correct such errors?

Olga Soboleva: The process of correcting landing errors takes a long time. They can be corrected, but when the rider’s skills have already been formed, he will perform some actions on an unconscious level. A person does not think about how the leg and arm lie when performing an element.

Correction from the side does not give a quick effect. The trainer can say the same thing over and over, but until the person himself understands the importance of correcting the landing and begins to analyze his actions, all the instructions of the trainer will be useless.

Correcting mistakes requires motivation. Riders must understand that incorrect seating will lead to incorrect commands. Only if the athlete is motivated to quickly correct the landing, he will be able to do this.

Prokoni.ru: What exercises can help correct the most common landing mistakes? How often do they need to be performed? How long will the result be noticeable?

Olga Soboleva: There are many exercises. If the rider lowers his head down, then the coach can give him the task to look to the right and left while riding, count the number of lamps in the arena, look back – this liberates the shoulder girdle well.

With a dangling leg, you can ask the rider to press it for a few seconds, and then release it and repeat this several times. In order to correct the “collapse” on one side in the saddle, you can do the stirrup for a few days on the side where the rider usually transfers the weight, in short. There is one more exercise – the athlete should stand on the stirrups, and then sit in the center, “aligning” himself and repeating this every time he “falls” on one of the sides.

To work on restless hands, the “lock” exercise is suitable – the rider can grab one thumb with another or take hold of the mane. You can try to take a glass of water and move so as not to spill it.

Work on landing should go every day. You can try to do gymnastics on the lunge, ride without a reason and stirrups. In addition, some exercises can be performed not on a horse, but on a regular chair or gymnastic mat.

The result will be noticeable only if you do the exercises constantly and follow the fit at every workout.

Prokoni.ru: Many top dressage riders go in for fitness clubs or other sports besides riding. How do you feel about additional physical activity for riders? What additional physical loads should equestrian athletes choose?

Olga Soboleva: Additional physical activity is necessary for the rider. There are two components in the learning process: technical (learning the elements on horseback) and physical (general physical training and special physical training). OFP is necessary for the development of the basic physical qualities of an athlete – strength, endurance, flexibility, coordination and quick reaction. Special training, on the other hand, includes the training of the qualities necessary in a particular discipline.

Athletics, gymnastics, swimming and fitness in a broad sense are well suited for developing the rider’s fitness.

It is important to understand that if a rider is not in good physical shape, then he cannot count on success in a big sport. In some national teams of developed equestrian countries, this is even one of the components of the selection criterion.

Prokoni.ru: What should coaches pay attention to when correcting landing errors in young riders?

Olga Soboleva: The coach must pay attention to mistakes and understand the need to correct them. It can often be noticed that the trainer does not see the dissonance in the rider’s position and does not correct it. This is wrong and can lead to stabilization and fixing errors.

It is necessary to constantly pay attention to the key points: the position of the body is not “littered” and perpendicular to the back of the horse, the shoulders are turned, the body moves with the horse. If you pay due attention to the work on the landing and correcting mistakes, then the rider will improve.

Prokoni.ru: What advice would you give to young riders and their coaches?

Olga Soboleva: If something does not work out for you, then it may be necessary to critically approach your own actions. Often the horse does something wrong because he is uncomfortable or the rider’s command was incorrect or inconsistent. In addition, one should not try to execute the element by any means. More importantly, the item was made with high quality.

We must strive for the level of top riders – in their riding we do not see the work of the arm, body, legs. She is invisible. This is considered the ideal.

• Young forever 19 April 2022 city

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