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HOW TO USE YOUR BODY TO EFFECTIVELY WORK WITH THE HORSE

HOW TO USE YOUR BODY TO EFFECTIVELY WORK WITH THE HORSE

  1. CONTINENTAL (DRESSAGE) RIDERS – ride with contact with the horse’s face and drive the horse forward with their hips.  This, IF done correctly, contracts the oblique and abdominal muscles and the horse’s back opens and lifts.  As the abdominal muscles contract (in front) they lift the base of the neck into the shoulders which opens the withers.  The antagonist muscles put the face at the vertical.
  2. WESTERN RIDERS – bring the horse BACK into the hands and drive the horse’s hips to the hand with their legs.  They create more influence to the oblique and abdominal muscles than continental riders by using the lower part of the leg more (calf [upper and lower], Achilles tendon and heel), because they must affect the frame of the horse (when working cows) IN ONE STRIDE to be able to turn with the cow.
  3. RIDING INFLUENCE
    1. “Signals” used ahead of the 14th thoracic vertebra affect the front of the horse
    2. “Signals” used behind the 14th thoracic vertebra affect the rear of the horse
    3. THIS IS “CAST IN STONE”. ANY BACKWARD MOTION OF THE HAND AFFECTS THE HIPS AND HIND LEGS OF THE HORSE because it shortens the range of motion of the leg by changing the angle of the hock joint.  If you want to affect the hip in this manner then you must know WHEN to do this and then you must CREATE MORE DRIVE with your legs.
    4. HANDS – they indicate direction only, regulate speed and help to create frame in the horse. NOTE: by lifting up the hand/hands for correction purposes, at some point the rein/reins will start to move backward – THEN you MUST DRIVE THE HIP MORE TO MAINTAIN IMPULSION.
      1. How far apart you carry your hands will depend on how you are built.  There should be NO CONSTRICTION IN YOUR CHEST (if your chest is constricted it will put you on the front of your pelvis and this, in turn, will “load” the horse’s shoulders)
      2. Carry your hands about shoulder (yours) width apart, in front of the horn and with the back of your hand angled at the same degree as the slope of the horse’s shoulders.
      3. IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER.  The right rein affects the movement of the right foreleg of the horse which, in turn, affects the left hind leg.  Similarly, the left rein affects the movement of the left foreleg of the horse which, in turn, affects the right hind leg.
      4. LEARN TO MANAGE YOUR REINS.  Ride with a “feel” of the snaffle bit but with no influence to the horse’s face (he, in turn, will “feel” your hands and this will provide a sense of security for him).  Thus, when you move your hand/hands or just close you fingers on the reins you will influence the face of the horse to flex laterally or come to the vertical.
    5. YOU MUST USE ALL PARTS OF YOU BODY TO AFFECT THE ALIGNMENT OF THE HORSE BECAUSE DIFFERENT MOVEMENTS REQUIRE DIFFERENT ALIGNMENTS.  To get control of your own body is ESSENTIAL so you can put resiliency in any part of your body when required without resistance.
    6. Your upper body needs to be centered over your pelvis wherever it is – it is “weight in motion”.
    7. LEG POSITION:
      1. From your hip joint to just below your knee your leg is ahead of the 14th thoracic vertebra
      2. From your mid-calf down:
        1. If your leg is “vertical”, i.e. if you dropped a plumb line from your knee it should line up the tip of the toe of your boot with your knee; it will affect the horse’s structures ahead of the 14th TV, mostly, the shoulder.
        2. If your leg is “behind” the knee in the normal riding position, i.e. your heel is aligned with your hip joint; it will be behind the 14th TV and will affect the horse’s hips and mid-body.
      3. Move the lower leg toward the STIFLE JOINT in a “windshield wiper blade” motion but WITHOUT putting  pressure on the horse’s sides so as to provide more drive to the hip (if you just move the leg where it is the energy will go toward the ground)
      4. Keep your legs under your hip joint (under normal schooling and riding conditions).
      5. If you put a leg on any part of the horse to move that particular structure the horse MUST RESPOND IMMEDIATELY and with alacrity
      6. You can create good “life”(drive) by flexing your ankles side to side
      7. If your hips are tight you are not going anywhere
      8. Ride with the stirrup on the ball of the foot so that your ankle has flexibility (riding stirrups “deep” is needed when working “honky” cows to keep your feet in the stirrups)
      9. Riding with your toe in a down position will cause you to lose 90% effectiveness of the leg – keep your foot flat
      10. SPURS – used to enforce signals from the legs or get more contraction
        1. Spurs need to fit based on the length of the rider’s leg and the roundness of the horse’s barrel
        2. Spurs need to be used to have an effect without “pronging” the horse inadvertently
      11. The horse MUST RESPECT THE RIDER”S LEG AND RESPOND IMMEDIATELY.  If necessary, you must teach the horse “the lesson of the leg”.
        1. Apply the leg/legs lightly, smoothly but quickly and with clarity (energy).  If the horse does not respond immediately TAP (not whack or whip) the horse quickly just behind your leg with a “not too whippy “dressage whip.
        2. DON’T “bump” repeatedly or “squeeze” with more pressure with your legs – it will only make the horse “dull” to your legs (see below under transitions).
    8. PELVIS – if you “push” with the front of your pelvis (ahead of the 14th TV) it will move the horse’s shoulder.  If you “push” with the back of your pelvis (behind the 14th TV) it will move the horse’s hip.
    9. “UP” TRANSITIONS.  Contract your Achilles tendon and “lift” slightly in an upward manner to have the horse move to another upward gait.  This will recontract muscles already contracted in the horse.
        1. DON’T SQUEEZE the horse with both legs because you will “squeeze” the life out of the horse and constrict his movements AND it will lift your pelvis out of the saddle.
        2. DON’T KICK” the horse to have him go forward because it will cause resistance – instead STROKE him with you legs (see below).
        3. STROKE means to:
          1. First, turn your toes out to get more of your calf muscles on the horse and then tighten them
          2. Second, if the horse does not respond then use your Achilles tendon
          3. Third, if there is still no response, roll your spurs up his sides. DO NOT POKE him with your spurs – it will cause him to resist by tightening his sides
          4. Finally, if no response is made to any of the above stimuli then a “touch of the whip” applied just behind where your leg is positioned would be appropriate
        4. To signal the horse to go forward AND go forward with frame in his body (which makes him “lift” more by stepping under himself, shifting some weight toward the hindquarters and freeing up the shoulders):
          1. use your lower leg and Achilles tendon and “hug” (stroke) the horse’s sides
          2. close your hand first then lift the bit into the lip groove of the mouth if you are riding with a snaffle bit (if you are using a hackamore spread your hands to rotate the nose button)
          3. then drive the hip and stroke the oblique muscles
        5. If you go forward without creating frame on the horse you will just go faster and cause him to “fall” on his forehand
        6. If you want to contract your gracilis muscle (the long cord-like muscle that runs along the inside of your thigh from your crotch to the inside of your knee), Do it by tightening the back of your leg – the “hamstring” muscle.  ALWAYS keep you legs soft and “jello-like”.
    10. “DOWN” TRANSITIONS.   Just “soften” your legs a little bit and then slightly “close” your hands on the reins.  It will cause you to sit slightly “deeper” in the saddle without having to “dig” your pelvis into the horse which will only cause him to hollow his back. As soon as the horse takes the first step in the new gait return your legs and hands to their original “holdings” so that the horse continues to go forward in frame.  Any pulling back with the hands to accomplish this will put the horse on the forehand and he will become “heavy” in your hands.