Riding Awareness
Have you ever wanted to have someone translate to you what your horse is saying while you’re riding? Well, this is what I do...after the students have simulated where their balance point is (neutral pelvis position) and learned where their hands should be (this is done on a huge inflatable ball), the students then transfer that information onto the horse’s back. I watch the horse’s body language to see what they have to say about the rider’s body position and hands. This is where I like to bring to the student’s awareness what the horse has to say. This is done in the walk, trot, and canter.
I believe that the horses are trying to get along with their riders but sometimes there is a misunderstanding due to lack of communication. Bringing this awareness to the rider helps both the rider and the horse understand each other so that the communication is clear and the confidence is built for both human and horse. Then they are able to move on to other aspects of their riding.
“Straightness” What’s your interpretation?
This is an interesting subject to me; what exactly does that mean—Straightness. If I ask someone if their horse is straight when they ride, they usually say “yes, my horse is straight.” I’ll ask if I may please get on their horse and take him/her for a walk. The first thing I might notice as I’m walking is that the neck is crooked. That usually tells me right away that the horse is not straight, and that my interpretation and the rider’s are not the same... and that’s okay. So where do we go from there? My goal is to be able to teach you how to read your horse’s body language so that you can work together.
Your horses will usually mirror your posture: if you’re riding with a hollow back your horse’s back will also be hollow, and his head is up and he’s strung out. If you’re riding on your pockets, your horse is probably heavy on the forehand and rushing in his gaits. The neutral pelvis position softens your body, and the horse is aware of your body movements. This makes it easier for you and your horse to communicate with each other. It’s about feel!
Some riders have been riding for years and still do not know how it feels to ride a horse engaged from the hind-end. I’ll have to tell you a story about a gal who had been riding dressage for many years, and owned two really nice, big Thoroughbred horses who had been well trained. She wanted to show her horses in dressage.
I was at a riding clinic and I asked this lady if I could ride one of her horses (I had heard so much about them that I wanted to see how they felt). She said yes, but she had a lesson in about 20 minutes. So I said, “Okay, I’ll get him straight for you.” She replied that would be great. So for 20 minutes I did serpentines and trotted him in 40- meter circles and did leg yields and more serpentine more leg yields. I just played with that horse till it was time for her lesson.
I jumped off her horse and said, “Here he is! I got him nice and straight for you.” That afternoon my friend cantered her horse and she told me that was the best lesson she had in a long time. I was really happy for her because she had really wanted to canter her horse and had been afraid. The horse had been on the track and would just take off with her so she was worried he was going to try that again. She had already fallen off the day before.
Five months later she called me on a bright winter day and said, “Cookie, remember that day you rode my horse and I had a lesson right after you rode him?” You said, “Here, I got your horse nice and straight.” How did you do that, she asked? She said, “I have not had such an enjoyable ride since that day!” I was flattered that she would call me five months later and ask me that question. That feedback was worth more to me then she knew, and of course I told her that.
Straightness to me means: when the horse has all of his body flexible— and even—on both sides. Both sides of the ribcage are equal, and the neck is in a straight line from poll to withers. Only then can it line up straight (as viewed from above), and in a slight curve (as viewed from the side), allowing the hind end to step up from behind and push off on that leg. Then the horse is happy in his/her body— meaning that they can do it because their body is set up for that movement. They are willing to allow us to rebalance without any question. Meaning without a fight. I know then that my horse is feeling good and is straight.
I hope that this will give you an idea of what I believe the horses find comfortable and natural. It is a feeling they like. I have found that they appreciate us human when we are fair to them.
They are our teachers for more then we know.
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