When Two Spines Align by Beth Baumert

Author:Beth Baumert
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Trafalgar Square Books

Can you feel these moments? Some people feel them automatically. For obvious reasons, we say those riders “have feel.” Almost all riders have to learn it by using a mirror or with the help of an eye on the ground. Here’s how you can identify the moment of thrust in walk:

In walk, the inside hind leg is leaving the ground—or thrusting—at the same moment that:

1 Your horse’s rib cage is swinging to the outside.

2 Your inside knee is inclined to fall down.

3 Your horse’s inside foreleg is farthest back.

Feel for the moment of thrust in the walk by using Method 1 or 2. If you can’t feel it, use your eyes and look down at your horse’s inside fore to use Method 3. In time, you’ll learn to feel it, and then your aid will become automatic.

In trot, the inside hind leg is thrusting off the ground as you are rising out of the saddle—or the would-be rising moment when you are sitting. From this, we know that the moment of engagement of the inside hind is the sitting moment—as it should be, because the rider can best add weight when she is sitting.

When the aids are used at the wrong moment, they are not only ineffective, they also make the horse dull to the aids because the horse isn’t in a position to respond. For example, many riders in rising trot are inclined to squeeze their legs with the intent of driving the horse at the sitting moment, which as just explained, isn’t effective and makes the driving aid less meaningful to the horse.

Learn to feel the correct moments, so you can use your driving and half-halt aids at the right time. The horse’s movement is rhythmic and ongoing, like a song. Your body has to sing the song. There is a self-perpetuating little “Go” and “Whoa” within every stride. Feel for this rhythmic pattern. Make your aids in the same tempo as you want your horse’s rhythm to be (fig. 10.2). This is homework for many months or years. Later you will be able to say that you have “feel.” To help the timing of your aids, do Exercise 1 on page 120.

10.2 The rider is the metronome for her horse. The aids should be given in the right tempo—not too fast and not too slow.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.