Erm..... no, not that way Vaughan ................
In our first article from the Vittoria Panizzon clinic we took a look at the jumping grid work from the morning session which included lots of jumping without stirrups, reins and even eyes!
At the end of the second morning session Vittoria suggested to Vaughan Ellis and Carina Hiern that they tried a few exercises on their horses, pony club style. Of course all of these exercises have a point as well as being plain good fun; they help build the rider’s balance and make older riders a little less ‘stiff’ and ‘set’ in the saddle and help build the trust between the horse and rider. But, having said that, we couldn’t resist showing you a ‘blooper’ too just because it makes us laugh!
Both horses had shown themselves to be very quiet and well behaved during the jumping session and Vittoria felt that they would cope with a few gymnastics taken place on them. However Carina’s horse Tali, who was very quiet to the point of standing by herself while Carina dashed back to her float at one point, proved that you can’t always be certain of what horses are going to do until you try it. The little chestnut mare took exception to Vittoria lying back on her rump but, quick as a flash. Vittoria hopped off and then decided that a back somersault off the side might be a better move. Once Tali got the idea, she didn’t object and her rider Carina turned out to be a star gymnast.
In the videos below Vittoria demonstrates the back somersault off Tali, shows Carina how it’s done and then Carina soon gets the hang of it. Vaughan too has a go and almost gets it right .
However, we can’t resist showing you another snippet where Vittoria is trying to explain to Vaughan how to turn around in the saddle by putting both legs over one side of the saddle and bringing the opposite leg back over to face backwards but Vaughan just doesn’t quite catch on! Thanks to Vaughan for being such a good sport and letting us having a giggle at his expense
