I have now watched most of one of the new 'The Click That Teaches' DVDs. I'm watching them in the wrong order (Riding On A Triangle first) because I wanted to see Alexandra Kurland teaching someone to use the single rein riding in detail, on a horse, to see if I had got it more or less right from reading the book.

I was pleased to see that I had managed to stumble my way through it from the book, with the right results, but it is SO helpful to be able to SEE exactly what I've been feeling and aiming for - that moment when the inside hind steps under and bears enough of the weight of the horse to make mobilising the shoulders easy.

Watching the person learning on the DVD looks nothing like dressage, and it's not very refined at times, but this is the breaking down of the process into it's smallest components, and letting the horse and rider slowly explore and find their way through it at their own pace, and I know from my own experiences that it really can teach them both how to find the 'exquisite' balance that Alexandra Kurland refers as being the end result of learning to use lateral flexions.

Watching this has clarified so many of the things I had noticed when learning single rein riding myself. I could see how first the horse's hip took the inside hind further under, then the shoulders moved up and over, then the horse started to overdo it and drift outwards through her shoulders, both of which I experienced with all three of mine. On the DVD this is corrected by moving the hinquarters over more, to line up with the shoulders again. Not having realised this from the book I did it by moving the shoulders back in line with the hips, using the 'hotwalker' technique (apologies to those who haven't read the book, but it's not that easy to describe). Doing it this way called for much more collection from the horse, than moving the hindquarters back in line with the forehand, but luckily my horses are built for collection. This also explains why we found walk pirouettes easier than turn on the forehand.

I had another go with Grace today and having watched the DVD made so much difference! I knew exactly what was happening and why, and was very confident and positive about my timing of the releases and when something was good enough to click. I realised that, although my technique of getting her to flex laterally in a slightly downward direction had helped free her back up and convince her that it is possible for her to bring her back up underneath me, she is now capable of flexing and staying up and round, which helps her to take more weight behind.

By the end of a short session today she felt consistently much more like Bella and Jack in respect of balance and engagement - like a proper dressage horse. I kept thinking "surely it can't be this easy. Is it just that my horses are all geniuses with incredible natural talent or does it work this well, and this quickly, with every horse?" I'm almost tempted to kidnap one, or both, of my nextdoor neighbour's horses, just to find out!