Dressage Between the Jumps by Jane Savoie

Author:Jane Savoie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Trafalgar Square Books

7.6 A & B When you ride your horse from front to back, his neck is short and his face is on or behind the vertical rather than being slightly in front of it. His back looks rigid and his hind legs trail out behind his body (A). When you ride your horse from back to front, his hind legs come under his body, his back relaxes, his neck is long, and he reaches toward your hand (B).

BENEFITS OF CONNECTION

You might ask why it’s important for horses that jump to learn to go on the bit. There are many reasons, but I think that the following are the most significant:

• First, you want your horse to travel with his hind legs underneath his body rather than traveling out behind his body just pushing his mass along. When his hind legs are underneath him, he has more power to propel himself over fences in a nice bascule.

• Second, when the horse regularly works in a connected frame, you are strengthening the right muscles so he can do his job (jumping) more easily and successfully.

• Third, the horse needs to be connected before he can be collected. And as the fences get larger, he needs to be in an uphill, collected balance where the center of gravity shifts toward his hindquarters. As a result his forehand is lighter, freer, and more maneuverable. You can’t achieve this uphill balance unless he’s first connected. If you try to, you’ll end up with a horse that raises his neck, but his shoulders go down. You want the entire forehand, from the withers forward, to be elevated. This balance can only be achieved when your horse bends the joints of his hind legs and lowers his croup. He should look like a seesaw, with one end (the hind) down and the other end (the forehand) up.

• There’s also a mental as well as a physical component to being connected. Mentally, we want the horse to be connected so he’s what we call “on the aids,” as I’ve already mentioned. This means he’s obedient and willingly does whatever we ask.

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