“Training a horse to accept the sights and sounds, not unlike dressage, takes time—you crawl, you walk, then you run.”
that having the horse really go
forward at a gallop isn’t going to ruin him for the precision of dressage. Even more the horse learns just to go, and go now.” Gretchen recalls that when she started shooting, she
had to learn let go and not worry about every footfall. At that time, she had never ridden Western and never ridden one-handed. A horse that is obedient and quickly responsive to leg and
seat will react instantaneously at decisive moments and at speed. Without that, the horse may blow by a barrel or not make the turn the rider needs to get to the next balloons. “He can’t be on the forehand,” she continues. “A horse
that moves with shoulders up and weight on the hind end and balanced can turn when you ask. You need power from behind. He needs to sit back and take off at a moment’s notice, like lengthening and shortening in dressage, requir- ing adjustability and easy mobility at varying speeds.” “When you go past the timer line at the finish at a full
gallop to make time, the arena wall comes up really quickly. Your horse has to be trained that when you sit down, he dials back. The better trained your horse is, and the more in tune, the better you ride.”
Straightness In CMS, straightness affects time. If you ride a good line from point A to point B, you likely get from balloon to balloon in the shortest amount of real estate and therefore time. Course management makes a difference in both CMS and
dressage. “I have a better appreciation now for setting up, for example, for an extended trot. In dressage, you have to think about setting up for a movement. With shooting, you have less time, but you still need that mental preparation, like you need in dressage, especially in the high levels where things happen fast.”
18 January/February 2017
Gretchen and “G” enjoy the cross training aspect of the two sports. At right the pair won California Dressage Society’s Central Regional Adult Amateur Competition (RAAC) at Training and First Levels.
More Comparisons Gretchen has learned to overcome the control factor that can dominate a dressage rider. “In dressage, if you do the preparation and do your aids correctly, you have the time for it all to work correctly. In shooting, you’re not just focused on the horse. You’re thinking about where’s your next shot,” she explains. “As a rider, I’m using my body, legs and seat. I’m not as bound up in the right aids. Because of the speed, I have to ride by instinct. I’m focusing on the balloon, keeping my eye on it until it pops. Where you think, the horse goes. If I look away before it pops, I’ll miss it because my horse will go where I’m looking.” And she is riding with one hand. She must give her
horse direction, at speed, with her balance, her body and her legs. “I don’t want to yank and bank my horse through the course,” she adds. “He has to be very mobile. He has to learn to neck rein because I need one hand to shoot. It’s not a problem for my dressage horse. After all, it’s a lot about the outside rein in neck reining.” The speed also charges the rider’s adrenaline. “Some- times the balloons are very close to each other. Are you able to cock your gun quick enough to go ‘bang, bang, bang?’ That’s fractions of a second. Will the excitement get the best of you so that you shoot too early? In dressage, you don’t want to rush for the extended trot: wait, give preparation and build. Wait for your balloon. It’s a hard piece of discipline.”
Hoof Prints
Bruce Shoji
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