Riding Q & A Day!
Jan 20 2010
I just had a fun idea for a post. We have quite a few people reading here who are professionals or very experienced amateur riders. We also have quite a few people reading here who are beginner riders, or re-riders struggling with regaining their skills. So today I want to have a total free for all Q & A session. If you’re struggling with a riding issue, post it here. Swinging lower leg? Elbows sticking out like a chicken? Or just a bad case of show nerves? Tell us what you need to fix, and maybe someone here can share exactly how they fixed it for themselves or a student of theirs.
When I was a little kid, I always got pulled forward by the lesson horses. They’d yank their head down and right down the neck I’d flop. Then they’d swerve into the middle or into the hay storage area with me. They were having a great time – I was not. Fortunately, our barn briefly got a very talented instructor. She stood in front of my horse and pulled the reins forward. I flopped as usual. Then she stood next to me and tipped my shoulders back behind my hip bones. She told me to stay there and returned to the front of the horse, where she gave the reins a good yank forward. My seat bones connected with the saddle but my upper body stayed upright. It was a total light-bulb moment for me, and I applied it and started to get the better of those fed-up old school horses. I will bet a lot of people have a story like that – of an instructor who found a way to say something or do something differently, so that you finally GOT it. Maybe you can share those stories today and help someone else!
I want this one to be about your riding issues, so I’m not going to post any questions about your horse’s issues or training problems – those’ll disappear so don’t write them up. This one is about how to fix those pesky riding issues that are making riding more uncomfortable for you and/or your horse, or keeping you in the green ribbons instead of the blue ones!
P.S. If you are the person in the picture, please continue upon your quest to remove yourself from the gene pool without that poor palomino horse, who jumps like a drunken deer, and who is apparently about to cut his feet off on your scary wire fence.
One of these days I will learn that looking for pictures of riding faults on the Internet always results in finding something that scares the living hell out of me…
358 comments to “Riding Q & A Day!”
my horse is totally food oriented and i am constantly trying to get her head up while she is constantly looking for the next mouthful of grass. i tried wrapping the reins around the horn so that when she tried to put her head down she got held up, but is there another way? i use a bitless bridle so please take that into account and don’t suggest i go to using a bit.
I love bitless bridles! Read my original post – you need your shoulder to go behind your hipbones so that she cannot out-pull you and get her head down to eat. Wear gloves if she’s pulling hard, that will give you more grip. Past that, you’re just looking at driving her forward and asking her to focus. You may be too nice to her – she knows she is riding, not grazing, and a hard pop with your heels and a growl is not at all inappropriate here!
thanks for the tip about shoulder/hipbone alignment! and yes, getting her to move off, go circles, do anything but try to eat is a tactic i am trying to employ. she is not a very forward horse, she’d actually rather back up than go forward so i have even tried that a few times. she and i are still trying to smooth out communications, and some progress has been made, especially since late last summer. right now the snow and ice is making riding impossible (no indoor) so we are spending a lot of time communicating on the ground. not a bad thing. and reading down the comments, i agree, bareback riding is the very best thing an unsure rider can do to gain confidence and “feel” – been there done that!
I don’t know how you ride or if you use spurs, but over this past summer I spent a lot of time standing around on delicious-looking grass, just waiting at shows. (In this case I was riding western, with relatively mild western spurs. My horse is very used to them.) I got sick of her trying to graze but I didn’t want to haul on her mouth because she has a stopping issue and needs to remember to respect the bit, not ignore it. I discovered it works very well to give a light check with the reins to get her attention combined with a little jab of one spur into her side (I ended up alternating sides) each time she moved to graze. It worked very well, and now she’ll stand quietly on delicious grass.
I would head out on a walk and when she reached down for a nibble, I’d bump her with my legs, cluck, smack with a crop, whatever to make her trot for a minute or so. Then walk her again, and repeat until she quit going for bites. Put her away after she’s been well-behaved for several minutes.
Hopefully this would get her to associate snacking with extra work? You have to immediately get her going when she reaches down; don’t fuss with trying to pull her up.
To start with, do NOT start a fight with her head. Give her her head, loose the reins and give her head, Sit down in the saddle and drive her forward. Be ready to take up the slack as she dives forward in surprise. Use you voice and let her know you disapprove. Once you have done that a few times, she will realise you are in control of when she eats, after all, this is NOT a horse that is going to starve to death looking for her next meal, she has just got into a bad habit and needs to get out of it, pronto!
I hate this, it is bad mannered and ignorant of the horse, and it is bloody horrible for the rider!
I’m not a fan of bitless bridles unless there is a reason for them, they can be far more severe than a nice, well fitted bit in the wrong hands, but I am assuming those hands do not belong to you!!
thank you. and yes, i have good hands with a bit. this horse needs bitless for numerous reasons.
I agree. Keep her moving forward and ask her to pay attention to your leg aids. Also try to ask the horse a question periodically. Often times a horse on the trail will eat because they are not being asked to do anything by the rider. Asking for changes in walk (faster and slower) or slight bending from the leg will help keep her attention on you.
thank you ! Yes !
Also for those horses with eating problems- NEVER let them eat while you are on their back. A horse can’t read your mind and doesn’t really understand when you have thought “ok you can eat now” or “no you cannot eat now” and will constantly be testing you every time you stop along the trail/arena edge/XC course, etc. To simplify matters only allow them to eat when you are dismounted and it will solve the problem of your horse constantly begging for a bite.
I have to disagree, I think novice riders, or riders who have trouble controlling their horses should NOT let their horses eat. However, I will stop along the trail and give my horse a break and a snack. And she has learned that when I pick up my reins it’s go time. I don’t ever have to fight her, and she has learned to NEVER try to eat along the way. She waits for me to let her know its OK. I think horses DO read your mind, not telepathically, but they read the most subtle body language that they know when you are THINKING about asking for something – obviously they would have to have a pretty good relationship with their rider to be able to do that.
I do have to agree with the advice given above, it’s not about her head – get her going forward.
Unless you’re riding for hours on end (like me- competitive distance), there is no need for your horse to snack along the way. For the majority of riders, eating while under saddle is an undesirable behavior. If you get your position corrected as Cathy mentioned, and you’re still struggling, get a crop, and don’t hesitate to use it.
My experience with a crop is, once the horse knows you WILL use it, you usually don’t have to. The best way (IMO) to teach your horse that you WILL use the crop is to start by asking the horse in your usual manner not to eat, then if the horse ignores you, I would wave the crop at her to warn her that I will use it, if that fails, give her a light pop with it, and if that fails, smack the s**t out of her (just once- we’re not trying to deliver a beating, just a strong aid!). Be prepared for it to startle the heck out of your horse, she may jump or spook or even buck (avoid smacking the flanks, that seems to encourage bucking). I like the crops with the flat leather end, they make a big noise without a lot of pain. Try whacking yourself with it first! I often will pop my leg (I hit my half chaps so it’s noisy but not painful) with the crop to warn my horse that if she doesn’t listen I am next going to pop her- the sound is always sufficient!
I also think that anyone who carries any type of crop or whip should know exactly what it feels like to be hit with it- so that any time you are tempetd to whack your horse, you know what it will feel like. I’m not kidding when I say, whack yourself with it like you’d whack the horse, and see how it feels.
Then just follow this process each time, always warn your horse by waving the crop before actually hitting her- and eventually your horse will respond to just the presence of the crop hanging on your saddle. It’s very, very important to always give the horse the opportunity to correct their own behavior before you hit them- ask, then tell, then INSIST with the crop as a last resort.
Crops can work wonders when used carefully. My mare likes to plod and poke along when going away from home, and I have to wear my legs out to get her to move out- but all I have to do is carry that crop and she moves out pretty as you please.
I will add to this. I use bicycling to stay fit and control my weight- and I have discovered that, when you work out regularly, and your get fit, and your muscles are toned, riding becomes so much easier! Your balance is better, you’re stronger and more easily able to stay centered. You don’t get as fatigued from riding your horse. Plus you’re healthier, and you get all the benefits of being fit and at a healthy weight.
When the rider is fit, it benefits both rider and horse. Horseback riding is an athletic activity, and like any athletic activity, the fitter you are, the easier it will be and the more success you will have. In addition to cardio work, strength training and stretching, things like yoga and pilates, help, too.
I also disagree, because I ride competitive trail-trained horses that are used to going 30ish miles a day with little to no breaks. They have learned that they can grab a quick bite provided they keep moving, because 6 hours is a long time to go without a meal and horses simply aren’t designed for it. With the occasional quick bite, their digestive tract keeps moving, and it lessens the chance of mild impaction colic. It also provides them something to do besides misbehave.
I’m a big supporter of the “drive through” method, but sit down and eat? Definitely not allowed.
This issue is near and dear to my heart, because my horse and I are Novice-level Eventers, but we also do lots of wilderness camping trails where grazing areas are few and far between and I can only carry 2 days worth of alfalfa pellets on my saddlebags. I WANT him to graze when he spots snack-worthy grass on the trail, but obviously not on a cross-country course. He pretty much understands the difference between 5 minutes of galloping and then he goes back to a food-filled stall, and 3-4 days of having to spot potential food, by moseying along and giving him a loose rein when we’re near a bit of wilderness pasture. But it’s still a challenge to get him to graze enough, and especially to get him to drink enough water, when on the camping trail.
I don’t feed my horse “treats” while training. I praise or a release of pressure and a pat is all. One thing I do on the ground with all the horses I start is “keep your head up”. That means whenever I am on the ground, grooming, bathing, tacking up, my horse always has their head up. The biggest problem is after the ride, when horses want to scratch their heads. I just reinforce that I do not allow their head down, and I rarely have a problem with my horses diving after food. If you just want to hand-graze your horse, try not to associate riding with eating. If you are out on the trail, take your saddle off or just loosen the girth, remove your bridle, and then hand graze. If you are only out for a few hours, your horse will not starve if you choose not to allow her food.
I have to chime in that you should never have your reins behind the horn, espeacially wrapped around it. If your horse would ever happen to spook, whala you have no reins to stop your horse. Just something that has been drilled into my mind from a very early age and that i get onto any beginer for doing.
Part of the problem is timing and part of the problem is that your horse doesn’t really believe you. Timing means you need to be a split second ahead of your horse and stop the problem before it stops-right before he reaches for a snack-either drive him forward with your legs, a pop with a crop or whatever it takes (doing the very least amount to get a response) or to take one rein and pop it up just as he goes to grab a snack. If you drive him forward, don’t immediately yank on the reins. Those are conflicting signals and he won’t understand. If you take one rein and pop it up just before he goes to grab the food, you are anticipating his actions and he’ll understand that if he reaches for food, there will be a consequence. This is the more difficult correction and takes excellent timing. You absolutely have to be consistent-on his back, from the ground, always! If you lie to your horse, he won’t see you as a leader worth following.
excellent, thank you!
A simplistic answer is to use “check reins”. Essentially (because you are using a bitless bridle) is to attach a second set of reins or lead ropes to the bridle where the reins attach and leave them long enough not to interfere with your ability to steer or ride but short enough to NOT allow your horse to grab at grass. They are tied to the saddle firmly. They are commonly used on trail horses who tend to take advantage of uneducated riders. They work not unlike a standing martingale. They provide instant, horse determined, correction. If the horse doesn’t reach for grass they don’t engage. If the horse does, they end up bumping themselves.
I prefer to train my horse myself to not “snatch” but it’s a personal thing. To suggest never allowing a horse to eat grass in your presence or in a bit suggests you never trail ride long distances as I often have. It’s a necassary “evil” with overnite, long distance trail riders.
As FHOTD suggested I use my back and core muscles to “object” to snatching” grass. But I’ve used check reins on trail horses before. They are effective and not particularly abusive IMHO.
Good Luck!
I ride frequently in a halter. When my mare used to try and eat, the second I saw she was diving for grass I would slap her lightly with the whip, or if I didn’t have one, kick hard enough to make her take notice – no ineffectual “tap-tap-taps.” The degree of firmness depends on how sensitive your horse is – look for one that makes her jerk her head back up and maybe step forward quickly. Then you settle her and relax again. Do this every time it happens. Horses are stronger than you, and if you ever want to be able to ride on the buckle, or have a casual trail ride where you aren’t paying close attention, do this – otherwise, she will always be looking for the chance to get her head down.
Like I said, my mare used to try and eat. I would smack her flank once with a whip, and make that “Eh” sound that means NO. I don’t have any problems with grazing now, even when we go bridleless. I can let her eat, and choose when she stops and she won’t push me for more.
My gelding was the same way. I got him young and for awhile would only ride short times, and at a walk. he got used to moseying, but as I’ve become a better-balanced rider he’s much, MUCH more forward.
To address his bending down to eat, I had to get SERiOUS and CONSISTENT with him. Until you are able to be very consistent, it’s going to be worth a try for him to see if he can’t get a bite or two. Riding without leaning forward has already been mentioned. Tipping forward, even a little, throws the horse’s weight onto the forehand and makes it easy for him to ‘match’ your neck with a ‘grazing neck’.> Plus, you can be pulled forward out of the saddle.
For me, there were a couple key things that work:
1. Learn to use the horse’s own energy and musculature to pull you DOWN into the saddle instead of forward and out of it. Think of your arms as a channel, and the channel sends the energy from your shoulders thru your elbows and DOWN. That puts your behind firmly in the saddle, and now the horse is pulling on a rock.
2. Preemptive strike.. pay attention to what your horse does just prior to reaching down to graze.. and as soon as you feel it coming on, THINK forward and ASK for forward. Go so far as to look down the road. DO NOT LOOK at the ground (see suggestion 1)
3. When bringing that stubborn boy’s head back up, use ONE REIN, nearly straight up. You won’t have to use a lot of strength, once the head begins to turn. Use lots of energy, but go light on the ’strength’. Once that head is up, ask immediately for hte hrose to move out.
Do whatever works EVERY SINGLE TIME.. because if you give up, the horse will continue to do this. If you sometimes give up, you set up an intermittent reward schecule, which is just as much reason to try for the reward as if he got to eat every time. (anyone who does clicker training can speak to this better than I can.. I get it, but don’t have the right words to explain it)
My horse gets to eat a bite or two if he needs to stop and pee while I’m riding.. or if he’s held a good, fast flatwalk or runwalk for a lot of distance. The problem with letting him eat after peeing was that.. well, he’d pretend he needed to go. He’d go so far as to stretch and squat, once he got over a good patch of grass. Now, he gets TWO BITES after I hear a good pppsssssssss and he is done. He’s quit trying to trick me! He also knows he’s not to reach down till I give him a signal that it’s OK. If he’s rude, he gets no snack. After some time and consistency with this, he’s quit being rude about it, and is a pleasure to ride. If you were to ask HIM, he’d say “She finally learned to ride me with relaxed butt and legs, and quit hunching over my neck. I don’t mind moving out, nowadays… now that she can ride worth a flip!”
When I started Dressage lessons (a re-rider who never had lessons, just from the old school – get on the horse and ride), my instructor said “Why are you always leaning forward?” I had no clue that I was, that was my posture for all my life – I mean all as I was very late 50’s. When she showed me where was upright, I was stunned. I made it a conscious effort to fix my posture at all times – driving, sitting, walking. Miracle of Miracles!!!!!!! My back had never touched the back of a seat cushion in my life. Suddenly I was able to sit properly. The greatest thing that happened is the years, and years of pain in the neck and shoulders disappeared. I had been to doctors of every shape and kind who diagnosed me with stress-related pain. WhooooHooo, it was a posture problem fixed by a dressage instructor. No more pain, no more painkillers. This is the most amazing thing to me.
You sound just like ME! I, too, found out that my ‘upright’ was actually ‘leaning forward’.. it took work with an instructor to help me feel what ‘upright’ felt like, and once I’d felt it I began to practice in my daily life. Stretching the pecs help, and stretching my iliopsoas. Learning to look forward, not downward, helps also. Sitting/standing/walking UP didn’t feel very natural at first, but with some stretching and loosening.. and some strengthening of traps, lats, etc, it’s easy now to feel when I ‘fall off the wagon’ and start walking around like I’m in a wind tunnel.
Yoga helps a lot, for me.
If you have an instructor, or even someone on the ground to watch you ride, ask them to let you know the exact moment you’re ‘getting it right’. Once you know what correct feels like, it’s not so hard to get there again. AND.. when you’re correct, everything is easier on your horse and you’ll feel a difference in how the horse goes.
I became an adult beginner about seven or eight years ago. I’m now 52, and have two horses of my own. Working through issues is not an easy task — and sometimes, a person who has recently overcome similar issues can relate better than a person who’s never had a particular issue, and provide more help. I sure hope I’ve been of help.
All my riding life, (nearly 40 yrs – eeek!), my right leg has always felt a bit longer and I’ve always felt unbalanced. I compensated by lengthening my right stirrup by half a hole, but I still seemed to lean to the right and got into a bad habit of shifting my saddle left and fidgeting. I’m horribly one-sided, riding much better to the left. I’ve had my legs & hips measured and I’m completely even. Now that I’m older, I’m having significant back problems and if I don’t do my yoga in the morning I look like a pretzel. I’ve always had an over-curvature of the lower lumbar spine, which tips my butt backwards (ugh). I am currently focusing on tilting my pelvis back so that my seat bones are more underneath and trying to not be so “busy”.
Does anyone have any exercises, mounted, mental, or otherwise, that I could try?
Centered Riding by Sally Swift, Connected Riding by Peggy Cummings– bothmethods address one-sidedness and a “hook leg”( what your off leg does to keep you in the saddle when you ride with one leg longer than the other.) problem with great imagery and exercises to straighten you in the saddle.
This hook leg of which you speak — I haz it. For me, it’s an attempt to get more leverage for my right leg by “bracing” myself. And it leads to all sorts of badness. Think Hunchback of Notre Dame on horseback. Argh. Sigh. Whimper.
I have excellent balance — 7 years of ballet saw to that. In fact, that’s part of my problem. I can find a point of balance even if I’m sitting in a wildly asymmetrical fashion. Convincing my body to be strong and symmetrical is the problem. Even more of a problem is that my one instructor will tolerate bad form if I can “get the job done.” I’ve recently begun riding with a second instructor and she gives me shit constantly. I love her.
I have this problem also! For me what happens is my hips slip out of alignment resulting in one hip bone (and therefore entire leg) being higher than the other. It causes crooked posting, crooked stirrups, and low back pain. I have found the cure to be regular yoga (you’re on the right track there!) and regular chiropractor visits. My chiropractor resets my hips and the yoga helps my muscles keep them where they belong! Of course they still go out of wonk every once in a while and I won’t normally even notice for several months so to keep that from happening I keep that monthly or bimonthly appointment.
My teenage daughter had this trouble with her hip, very painful and it concerned me that it was happening at such a young age. We bought her a different saddle (barrel) and for whatever reason it works but if she rides in someone else’s she is back to the pain. Maybe you could test drive a few saddles to see if that helps at all – good luck.
I had the same problem for ever. Before anything make sure you are sitting centered in the saddle and not off to the side. Then after you warm up, posting trot with one stirrup (i.e. drop the other one) doing this will help make the non-dominant side more stable and take more of your weight. Be sure to do both sides because you dont want one side to develop and the other side to not. If it feels like you are an 8 year old again learning to post then that is the side that needs more work :p As well to work on getting your pelvis forward, sit in the saddle like you are in a chair (with your legs over the front of the saddle, draping down the horses shoulders) Shift your pelvis as far under you as possible, without falling backwards, and then slowly lift your legs off the front of the saddle (with out moving your pelvic position) and try to bring them back under you into position. You might not be able to do it at first and more than likely you are going to feel a cramp from your hip to your upper thigh. Hope that helps some adn you can understand what I am trying to explain. Good luck ~Jazz
When in this position, don’t do what I once did and try to trot over ground poles. Needless to say I didn not stay on…lol
I totally empathize, I have always felt like my right leg was longer than my left, althought in my case it is due to a tightened heelcord that prevents good flexion in my left ankle. As a fix that has really helped me was riding without my stirrups while practicing all sorts of dressage moves. I normally ride western pleasure, but working laterally is a good beginning.
From there I STRONGLY encourage working up to sitting a strong, forward trot. A intermediate step is to post without stirrups as doing so still makes you consious of gripping with your legs which in turn will keep you in balance-sitting the trot is more when you have reached an automatic stage. It is really hard to do this without your stirrups unless you are centrally balanced over your horse’s back. This also has the added bonus of fixing any shoulder dropping issues you might have. One caution however, is that you have to be careful to not compensate with your hands, although, in my experience, your horse should inform you if this is happening by either pulling or seriously overflexing such that there is always unintentional slack in the reins.
I have the same one leg feeling longer then the other problem which makes me sit a little heavier on one seat bone. I love centered riding. One excercise I do every time I ride during my warmup is: when posting every time I go up I throw a different shoulder forward. So if I’m sitting on 1 and up on 2 it would go like this 1 2 left 1 2 right 1 2 left and so on. I find this helps me get my center and loosen up a bit. Here’s a video on youtube of a rider doing the same excercise. The one on the pinto. As you see you don’t do it all the time. What I do it ten on ten off. I also use this with all my lesson students.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk8V9Bfld4A
Malkie,
i am also very one sided and it has driven me nuts forever! I have discovered a sport that REALLY helps with this, its cycling! If you tend to “favor” one leg over the other when horseback riding, riding a bicycle with your legs clipped into the pedals forces you to use both legs evenly. If you don’t have a bicycle, try taking a spin class at your local gym. Most gyms offer a free week trial if you don’t have a membership.
If you concentrate on using both legs equally and properly in a full circular motion, both legs develop muscularly with more symmetry. – liz
Is it possible your hips are out of alignment? I had the same issue, my right leg was “longer” so I shortened my stirrup. Turns out my right hip was knocked out of alignment during an accident and healed that way. Once I got it put back things were normal and I felt comfortable again.
pilates. The ‘core’ abdominal muscles pull your butt under you but remember to breath.
In an english saddle, take the stirrup leathers off, and make them into a connected loop, drape the loop over the top of the saddle, and put your feet in the stirrups. You will QUICKLY discover which side you drop your weight into. Ride like this for ten or fifteen minutes at the beginning of the session, then drop the stirrups entirely and ride without stirrups. The issue I had with just dropping stirrups entirely is that I ride differently and sometimes braced in the stirrups. This will cure that problem too! Needless to say, do not do this on spooky bolter unless your seat is enormously secure! I do it on a school hack in an enclosed arena so I only have to worry about me and my position and not the horses behavior problems. Eventually you will be able to go over trot poles and all sorts of things using this method because you will be in balance.
I have always ridden hunter and had great balance with a quiet lower leg. The issue I had was getting the horse to respond to my leg. I would always put my heels down and my knees would roll out along with my toes. No one every corrected its position because it was still and my heels were down.
I now have a great dressage trainer, that looked at my leg and said you know the back of your leg is on the horse, not the inside. No wonder you can’t do laterals correctly, your leg is not correctly asking him to move. With four simple words “toes in and up” I was able to correctly do laterals without having to kill my leg.
As a terrified rerider, I lucked into a quiet cowboy trainer, who did not like teaching humans. His assessment at the beginning? First you need to ride. Alot. He put me on a “broke” horse, who’s utter reliability allowed me to relax and enjoy riding again. After a few months of that, he started to yell at me. This is his teaching style, but it worked great. I most learned from watching him ride , calmly and professionally, horses that were utter terrors. He could ride and tell me what was going on with the horse at the same time, never raising his voice. (Unlike instructing humans. Which I just realized is funny.) I still hear his voice in my head in times of crisis on horseback. I really miss riding at his barn, I feel like I am not learning on my own. I think of the many things he taught, one was have a routine and have a plan. You must assess your horse every day, and alter your daily plan based on your horse’s attitude that day, while sticking to your overall goals. So if the horse is having a freak out day, maybe you need to do your plan at a walk instead of a canter. If your horse won’t stand quietly to mount, you need to work on that before canter circles. Basic. Calm. Common sense. Priceless.
I’ve been riding for ~22 years and thought I could ride before I met a “cowboy” like you are describing – yeah, right…I thought I could ride…hahaha! He is incredible with horses and can see all kinds of things with people, but has harder time communicating with people than horses! I learned tons from him – both listening to him yell at me and from watching how he worked with the horses on the ground and under saddle. He was certainly the first person who ever actually taught me to ride. When I met him, I thought I could ride…and then I really learned what it meant to have balance and use my seat. You can’t just sit up on top of a working cutting horse and think you’re going to stay on!
I’ve moved and had to leave his wonderful instruction, and I could seriously use a refresher (I have a super bad habit of putting my weight into my heels (to keep them down) instead of sitting on my butt and using my seat and weight to control the horse). I can hear him hollering at me in my head whenever I get on a horse and start to even think about moving! It usually makes me laugh and then wish I was back at his farm.
Wow I think we all knew the same old cowboy! I was riding a horse of his at a different trainer’s barn, and he came to a lesson and was screaming and yelling at me the whole time. The trainer felt awful and was trying to smoothe things over later in the tack room, trying to be nice about all his yelling. I told her he yelled like that all the time, and it was what he wanted the horse to do, not me, and I was so far beyond taking it personally. I ended up telling her not to worry about it. He was a sweet human being though, who had this amazing presence that horses seemed to naturally and immediately respect. I worked under him for years, starting his young quarter horses, exactly how he wanted it done. He and I adopted mustangs at the same time, and I couldn’t have done it without him. I saw him take in numerous re-riders over the years, and do the exact same thing. Put them on “old reliable” and let them relax, and then started stepping their horses up a notch every few months. Eventually he’d match them with the one they would ultimately buy, and he’d keep them on in lessons for months after that just to make sure it worked out. He could really chew you a new one if you needed it, but he was a true horseman and mentor…
I’m somewhere between a beginner and an intermediate rider…
How does one relax without getting floppy? When I ride I sit up straight, heels down, elbows are “L”s, head is looking up ahead. But my shoulders get soooooo tense and tight that they ache all day after my lesson. Sometimes my trainer has me has me take in a deep breath, hold for 10 seconds, then release slowly. This works to relax me, but then my elbows are floppy, my back is slouched, etc.
Any advice on how to relax without losing good form? I don’t like to ride with tension because my horse is REALLY sensitive to that sort of thing, so when I’m tense, he’s tense.
(BTW great idea Fugs!!)
Zanthia, I’ve always had the same problem. My trainers would constantly be saying “Breathe!” instead of “Leg on!” What I’ve found to help the best, and it’s good for setting your position back to the correct one again too, is to: (1) Shake it all out – just like our horses and dogs do. Stand up a little in your stirrups and shake out tension from your head down (and your legs, ankles and feet real good once you sit back down.) If you keep your head nice and straight and up, when you sit, your spine should be back into place, putting you in the seat correctly. Do this whenever you feel like your getting really tensed up and out of sorts. Then, (2) fall into a rhythmic, relaxed working trot and zone out with your rising. Clear your mind and just exist in the movement. It sounds pretty weird and all existentialist, but I’ve found it’s the best way to get in sync with your horse…and then the breathing comes naturally, followed by release of tension. Good luck…Us “wired” types can relax in the saddle, it just takes practice.
-Sadie
You could try this exercise.
When walking around the arena, slow your breathing a little, then *consciously* focus on breathing in, two, three, four, out, two, three, four…in rhythm with the horse’s stride. This will bring your entire ‘body rhythm’ in sync with the horse (It also works very well for calming down a tense horse).
Also, make sure you are not tightening your hands and ’setting’ them on the horse’s reins. Think of the rein contact like squeezing a sponge…tight hands can lead to two sets of shoulder tension..yours and his.
I have very limited riding experience, but I’ve danced Ballet for several years and your problem sounds familiar. In class we’ll practice holding a pose on the toes of one foot, which is hard to balance, but also extremely tiring for that leg and hip. I end up tensing every muscle in my body trying to keep myself there – and then the teacher says relax your shoulders and arms! She’s right, you can’t hold yourself up with your shoulders, but when you’re working hard the tendency is to tense EVERYTHING.
For me, the key was to learn to isolate muscle groups. Learn what it feels like to work one leg and let the other one relax. Sit in a chair, find your abdominals, your back muscles, your shoulder muscles. Practice tensing one muscle group at a time and letting everything else relax. (Yes, you kind of have to tighten your abs and back at the same time, or you tip over.) Hold the tension for a few seconds and check other parts of your body, make sure you can move your shoulders. Tense your butt and keep your calves relaxed, and vice versa. Once you’re aware of the different muscle groups and know what it feels like to use them independently, it’s much easier to use only the muscles you need and let everything else hang naturally. Not floppy, just natural! It’s about developing a middle range between stiff and floppy that gives you stability where you need it without too much tension where you don’t. It’s harder than it sounds!
If you want to work on it more outside of riding, dance is really great for learning this, so is yoga, so is Tai Chi. Pilates focuses more on building muscle strength, my experience is that it encourages overall tension rather than isolating movements.
Just my $.02, I hope it’s useful!
Zanthia- Try the following exercise on the ground and see if it helps. Stand with your back straight and shoulders back. Hold your abdominal muscles firm. Then focus on breathing slow deep breaths and relaxing your arms, legs, neck, etc while maintaining a firmness in your abs and keeping your posture correct. Once this becomes easy for you the transition to trying it on your horse. first at the stop, then walk, etc.
This is also the base of Yoga so if there is a yoga class going on nearby you should think about trying it out! It will really help you to use your muscles yet keep them relaxed at the same time.
Ask your trainer for a longe line lesson! I used to teach beginner riders for my trainer in the summer when I was in college and I put all of my newer riders on the longe line. Once they were on the longe line, I would have them do a series of stretches without reins, and sometimes without stirrups, to help them relax and loosen their body (arms out to the side, up in the air, arm circles, etc). I’d start this at the walk, and once the rider was secure, we’d try it at the trot. The point is to use your core to stay balance on the horse and allow the position to be muscle memory. Your body will not retain muscle memory as well if you simply hold a position stiffly.
Also try some yoga and basic pilates exercises at home. There are some great books out there by professionals such as Betsy Steiner that illustrate exercises to strengthen the rider. Good luck!
You are pulling your center up into your torso, and trying to use your shoulders to balance. Sometimes I see riders who pinch with their knees compensate by doing that. Think about your lower body, relax your knees, relax your legs. Find your seat bones and imagine you are connected to the horse through your seat bones. And when you do your breathing exercises breath out through your heels – imaging pushing the air down through your body and out through your heels. Focus on relaxing your hips so they can follow the movement of your horse. Now pull in your center, lift your chin, breath and ride. Also – forget about your shoulders. Instead, think about pulling your chest up gently, that will naturally bring your shoulders back without adding tension.
Riding quietly is all about your seat, so that is where you should focus, and build up from there. Good luck!
OH! one more tip! Sometimes we over think a problem, try riding to music, or singing while you ride. I have found this to REALLY help nervous/tense/rigid students, and get you breathing without having to think about it.
Read “Centered Riding” by Sally Swift. Hands down the best relaxation, visualization techniques out there for this problem. She was an amazing person and her techniques work fabulously. She uses awareness and breathing techniques to get you working with your horse. It came highly recommended to me, and I eagerly recommend it to others. I wish I could have taken a clinic from her!
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!! that lady riding the palomino!! HAHAHAHAHAH!! Sadly, I have had moments like that too, not jumping too high for my ability, or over a dangerous wire fence, but just when I get “discombobulated” and completely FAIL at life, hahaha…..
As for a riding issue…there are so many, how can I pick just one?? um….How can I learn to RELAX and just go with the flow when riding instead of “bracing for impact” all the time?
One thought – you can’t relax if you don’t feel secure. So all of that tedious work without stirrups and/or bareback is going to do a lot to relax you. As you get more secure in the saddle, there is less to fear. Trotting bareback is a great cure for bracing on your stirrups, which a lot of riders do. They think they need to relax their back but the problem is really a locked leg that offers no shock absorption. I taught a lady years ago who could not sit trot until I took her stirrups away (on my wonderful, slow jogging WP horse so that it wasn’t scary). She was so surprised to learn that her legs were what was making her bounce!
My suggestion is work on the longe line with a coach, without reins, once a week. I know longing seems like a beginner thing, but it is not. It’s a great way to focus on seat, legs, and balance without worrying about hands and what the horse is doing. As has already been said, a secure seat will go a long way towards helping you relax, and being on the longe line means you can focus on relaxing while working on seat and legs.
Riding bareback is probably the best thing you can do, as you HAVE to relax to stay on at any pace faster than a walk. Also, you could get someone on the ground to tell you when you’re starting to tense up, so that you can take a deep breath, and to put your shoulders back (when I tense up my shoulders fall forwards). Works for me. =)
Thanks for the advice! I’ll have to try more bareback work, part of the reason why I am so nervous was a horrible train wreck of a trainer when I was 12. This man terrorized me and my old TB Jake for about a year before I could talk my parents into switching barns, but by then the damage had been done. Jake was psychotic (not his fault at all, totally the trainer’s abusive methods) and I was almost killed several times. However, I can pinpoint the moment I lost my nerve. The trainer had forced me and this pony, Molly, over a 3′9 jump (which was waaaay beyond our ability as the pony was green and I was a novice rider). When Molly refused I fell off, and since I was wearing winter riding boots, my foot got caught. I was dragged through the course of jumps and threw a crowd of horses (getting stomped all the way), while the trainer chased Molly with a 2X4 and beating her thinking that that would teach her to stop.
Long story short, the bareback idea is actually a very good one because I can’t get dragged if there are no stirrups!
hopefully I’ll relax, or I’ll hit the dirt, once again. At least my partner this time is a VERY forgiving TB mare who puts up with all of my antics 
by threw, I meant through
… holy crap. I’d lose my nerve too.
Gee, what is it with bad trainers of age-12 girls??? The one I had at that age was awful, too. I am so sorry you were stuck with that person, and glad you have been able to move on with your riding after such a scary wreck. Sounds like you have a wonderful, confidence-building trainer and horse now.
The trainer I had constantly overfaced us lesson students and terrified me. It got so bad that I would cry before my lessons and thought seriously about quitting. My parents really have known something was up, as I lived for my riding lessons! I still remember the day he made me jump 3′9″ or 4′ on a pony. The pony wasn’t green, at least, but I was still a novice… so scared I was even looser in the tack, which did not help!
That ought to be, “my parents really SHOULD have known.”
yeah, my parents should have known too, I used to live for my lessons and be a confident calm rider. I used to clean up at the shows and was never afraid to get on a difficult pony, however the trainer mentioned before changed all that. I would literally be hysterical, I used to fake sick before my lessons or pretend to have an asthma attack so I wouldn’t have to ride. My father even witnessed the abuse but said nothing, he sided with the trainer saying that I was being sensitive, he even said that he was wasting his money if I couldn’t get over it. He regrets saying those things now, but as with the trainer, the damage had been done, I am 21 now and still trying to get my nerve back. Sometimes I feel like quitting, but I love riding too much to give up…maybe someday I’ll be “real” rider again, haha, for now I’ll just have to live vicariously through the 13 year old wonderkids who post their videos from the Devon classes on youtube, hahahahaha
OMG!!! one of my biggest fears is coming off and being dragged. Last time I came off, I had my gelding in a nice long trot (hard for him.. he’s bracey at times) and a little old man on a bicycle appeared *out of nowhere*. Pad tried to get us both the hellouttadodge by jumping sideways and as i went down I saw foot in the stirrup. OMG OMGOMG! I screamed to myself.
Got the foot out, kicked free just in time. Good thing, too, cause my horse went an entire, hair-raising ….. 4 inches…. before he was able to get himself stopped….. !
Bareback riding does help.. No dread of feet in stirrups and there is no better way to improve balance (besides perhaps well-taught stirrupless longeline work!)
I agreee about the work without stirrups, but the other thing I would recommend that is confidence building and relaxing is stretching on your horse at a standstill. I do this when I have had a frustrating day at work and need to calm down before getting on my youngster (as a perk it has also taught him that the first thing we do when we start is relax). Although I will say that this is assuming that your horse is comfortable standing still for some length of time.
First start by reaching halfway up your horse’s neck and touching there. If all is going well reach up for his ears. Let your legs slide back. Then reach backwards towards his tail as far as you can. If this is comfortable, try something that is a little harder, like reaching forward and rubbing your horse’s chest with one hand, then reach down on his hip. At some point your horse might either raise his/her head with uncertainty and/or try to move. To fix this massage the areas you are reaching with your hands a little (in the case of motion, stop said horse using one rein and massage, until said horse understands that this just means extra attention which is to be endure while standing still-in my experience this doesn’t take more than 5 tries).
If you are as tense as you sound, one (or more) of these is/are going to be uncomfortable. To which I can only say go as quickly as you feel comfortable with. If these are easy at the standstill, try them at the walk with one hand on the reins. The more you get comfortable moving around on your horse’s back the more comfortable you will feel with him (or her) moving you around as they move.
This reply is for antibyb, and I hope she reads these posts again. What your instructor did bordered on the criminal (what is it with the sadistic instructors?), but don’t feel you are stuck with only watching videos in order to “ride”. As a confirmed “chicken”, I am terrified of speed, of being thrown, of being run away with – the whole nine yards. But whenever I had a bad experience, and as a worse-than-mediocre rider, I’ve had many of them over my 5 decades of riding, I would go right back to square zero. For example, after I lost my retired police horse, with whom I’d blithely and safely explored tons of territory, including riding beside highways frequented by semis, I bought on the rebound and too soon, a horse with a lot of problems. It wasn’t long before we had a nasty accident, and I was back to being petrified. So – my riding world shrank from miles and miles of trails to an indoor arena, only at a walk, for only 10 minutes. It was all I could handle. But gradually, over the weeks, that became boring, so I tried a little trotting – and lived. Then the arena became boring, so I ventured out to the outdoor arena, walking only – and lived. Then I dared to take short walks around the stable grounds – and lived. Months later (told you I’m a chicken!), I finally dared to go out on the sideroads again.
The point of this for *you* is – find a good stable, with a kind and understanding instructor who is OK with letting you just walk, in the indoor arena, on her/his gentlest, most bomb-proof schooley. Or maybe just getting a horse out and grooming it and putting it away. Soon enough you will become bored and want to do more. Might be trotting, might be going to the outdoor arena, might be walking around the grounds – whatever feels OK. And on from there. Perhaps you’ll never get around to jumping again, but, heck, there is *so* much more to riding than jumping! And just perhaps one day you’ll find that wonderful horse who makes you feel safe and competent, and you’ll buy it, and together you will rediscover the joy of your love affair with riding. I hope so!
Thank you for this! What an excellent idea!
I have serious show nerves. I show cutting horses. When I”m working the flag with friends, practicing at home or loping horses, I’m fine….but as soon as I know I’m due in the pen it starts. By the time I get into the pen I’m so tense, I can get the mare I show (who usually sucks back into the herd) to run up and say hello to the judge. I’ve tried concentrating only on relaxing my legs, sitting deep in the saddle. I’ve tried concentrating on my breathing. Nothing works. I end up late on a correction, or losing cattle because I forget to kick my horse across the pen. It’s gotten to the point where I’m not showing as much because I’m tired of spending money just to make a fool of myself. Help please. Any advice would be appreciated.
I used to get really bad show nerves and I actually fixed it by accident. I started riding a few green broke horses and taking them to shows just for the experience. Looking at it that way I stopped worrying about how I placed and what the judge thought because I was just there for the horse’s benefit and as long as I made it through in one piece everything was great!
Cutting shows are pretty expensive and also high-stress. What if you took one of your turn-back horses to some local ranch sortings? The atmosphere is much more laid back and the entry fees are cheap! You can practice riding in front of people in a competition type environment without spending $400+ per class to get nervous and mess up.
I never got over my competition nerves. They stemmed from a feeling of ‘if i don’t win, it’s 100% my fault’ pre-class nerves. Stomach clenching, jellied muscles, teeth chattering state that my poor horse never paid attention to. Still, it ruined competing at that level for me, in my head. If anyone has ever felt the same, I’d love to know what they’ve done/are doing to overcome it!
Have either of you tried a herbal remedy?? We had my stepson on Kalms, he ate them like sweeties (no overdose level) just before going in the ring, he was always on edge as he was showing predominantly against girls, so his ego was being squashed constantly!!
I have NO idea water it was psychosomatic or real, these things are only Valerian, basically, but they worked for him.
It does take around a week of taking them to “load up” very much in the way that it takes a week to get a supplement into a horses system. Good Luck and remember….SMILE!!! Look as if you are enjoying it and, eventually, you will!!
( sorry this is off topic ) Not sure how to send this to you directly… but THIS should be a prime target for your Bad “Trainers” blog, this video is SOOOO WRONG… ugh ! I drive & train driving horses and watched it with my teeth gritted so hard my jaw hurt when it was over ( not to mention WTF is up with the music ?!?! )
Have at it !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf9AucoJUSc
As horrible as that video was, the last 15 seconds or so ALMOST made up for it.
omg and wtf. That’s all I can say.
What the hell is that!? Wow.
OMG! Poor horse!
THAT is why I’m training my ponies for harness myself. That horse would have been a cute flashy harness horse (I’m a sucker for the four white feet) but now may NEVER get over the terror inflicted on it by those IDIOTS!
Also, is there any way to grab YouTube vids? I’d like to use that for my course and I suspect it will be deleted soon.
If you want to download a video, tyr using Youtube dowlnoader
http://www.savetube.com/
UGhH. Did all that drama take place on the same day? It looks like it. I was wincing through the whole video, expecting at any moment a line getting tangled aroun a leg, a broken shaft staking the horse, etc.
If it wasn’t for the poor horse’s obvious panic, it would be funny–”Let’s try getting someone to lead the horse. Woops, they’re about to get a hoof in the face, she should lead from the other side of the fence. OHNO, Fail, let’s get her moving forward by having a horse and rider ahead of her—woops, that didn’t work either” etc. And the “thing” they harnessed her to—that’s like putting your 16-year-old child behind the wheel of a semi-truck the same day they failed their learner’s permit test.
What was wrong with “we got the horse walking around and even a bit of longeing wearing the harness, so we told her Good girl and turned her out until tomorrow.” I guess a video like that wouldn’t be worthy of Marilyn Manson music.
Finally! I’ve been in need of a post like this! Alrighty, here I go: I’m a beginner Saddleseat rider, and have only been taking Saddleseat lessons for about the last month. Before that I took western lessons at a not-so-great stable. Lately I’ve been having troubles with the double reins and also posting on the correct diagonal! That’s all I can remember right now, but it’s early and I’ll prob remember more later on today and post ‘em then! Got any tips?=)
MY tip is not to worry about the bottom rein just yet. I know that in English, somebody with so little experience would not be using two reins. Worry about the top rein, your hand position and contact, then add the bottom one in when you feel more secure.
I couldn’t agree more. Don’t take up any contact with that bottom rein until you feel ready to do so.
I also agree. I don’t ride saddle seat, I ride dressage, but the issue with the second rein is the same. Don’t take contact with the curb rein until you are secure and balanced and can use your hands independantly from the rest of your boddy.
With the diagonal, many people tell you to watch the outside shoulder. Try sitting back on your seat bones and feeling the hips of the horse instead, and rise with the inside hind. This will also keep you from looking down and jeopradizing your shoulder position.
the saying is that you “rise and fall with the leg on the wall.” So watch the outside shoulder for posting. Eventually you should be able to feel which diagonal you’re on. After you get consistent, make a point of NOT looking, then check a few strides later to see if you got it right. That part comes after many hours spent in the rising trot.
And I really do not mean to come off as snotty, but I must ask, WHY are you riding with double reins? Please tell me that you are not riding with a double bridle (two bits). Double bridles are reserved for only the most advanced riders. I rode saddleseat for most of my junior riding career, and I was not allowed to even think about using a double-bridle until after I had been in private lessons for YEARS. You should be starting out with a single rein. Many saddleseat horses go very well with a single snaffle rein and a German martingale, if you need something more. In fact, 99% of the time, the double-bridle is reserved for showing only.
If you are having a difficult time with posting, then there is no way you should also have to deal with two sets of reins. That makes learning everything that much harder when you have to do 50 things at once instead of just being able to focus on one thing at a time. And honestly, I would bet dollars to pesos that you are bumping your horse in the mouth at the trot.
If you have only been riding for a month, and your trainer already has you in double reins, please please please find another trainer.
Hold the reins together, as if they were one rein.
Slip your little finger between them.
That is it.
It is not magic, it is not rocket science, it is not hard.
All my kids rode in double bridles, if a seven year old can do it, so can you, and I can assure you that none of the kids worried about those reins, it just became second nature.
Roundings were banned!!!
Thanks for the tips everyone! I should have noted earlier(I was still half asleep haha), but it is actually two sets of reins connected to a snaffle bit, but my instructor wants me to hold them like it was a double bridle. Princessjess327, thanks for the saddleseat info! I also thought that the doubles were pretty much only for show, and the instructor usually only uses them for show too, except for a couple of her horses. Do you think that the two sets of reins on the snaffle will affect the horses mouth? The horse I’m riding now is actually from Saddlebred rescue, which I think is pretty cool, as I’m really big into rescue. Oh, does anyone know where to get Jods? I cannot find them in SmartPak, Jeffers, etc. Thanks for all the help again! I’m gunna use some of the tips tommorow in my lesson!
Ooh…if I ever manage to get *seriously* into dressage, I’ll remember that. I USED to know how to use double reins, but it’s been so long I doubt I remember. Putting the bottom set on an ordinary snaffle sounds like a great way to practice holding the second rein without upsetting the horse…it *shouldn’t* affect their mouth.
However, I would still worry about your posting first.
Is it possible for you to ride with a snaffle bridle while you develop your seat and hands?
When using a double bridle, the top rein is connected to a snaffle bradoon bit and the bottom rein is connected to a shanked curb bit. Confusion arises when the reins are picked-up and crossed. In your hand, the top rein is the curb rein and the bottom rein controlled by your pinkie finger is the snaffle rein. The snaffle rein is usually wider than the curb rein to help distinguish between the two.
If you can’t use a snaffle bridle, try to rely more on your snaffle rein at first and reserve the curb rein for fine tuning your horse.
I hope this comment doesn’t appear multiple times…my BlackBerry does not like the threaded format.
It took me FOR-EVER to learn how to ride a trot without looking like I was riding a jackhammer. I was so frustrated in lessons and would go home beat up. I was determined and finally one day it just happened!!
Also, learning to move the horse over to the rail with the inside leg/rein was a revelation. In essence, side passing the horse over instead of trying to neck rein the horse over and having them bent to the inside rather that the outside.
I’m sure there are others, but those are the two that stand out. As for the picture…….YIKES! I don’t jump, and don’t plan to, but would not be jumping a wire fence in any case!
Don’t I know it! But I had not only problems with the trot, but also with the canter! I exclusively rode a Standardbred (I think it’s the right term for what we call American trotters, yes?) with a super still back at the canter for a mere year and when I got back to riding real riding horses (sorry all Standardbred owners, I know they tend to have a heart of gold, but they just not bred for riding imo) after that I just couldn’t follow the horses movements! It literally took me years to learn to position and move my pelvis correctly again. When I finally got the movement then it was like a light pulp had been turned on. I was sitting in the saddle within a month
After that I could finally canter more then one circle around the arena (I was bracing with all the wrong places and simply exhausting myself).
My ‘oh so THAT’S it!” moment came the one time I rode in an arena that had a huge mirror all the way down one side. I could finally see what sitting correctly felt like. All these years – and decades-long gaps in riding at all – later, I can still remember and reproduce that feeling that was based on seeing, and get that not-so-bad seat back.
I LOVE arenas with mirrors, and in fact have been nagging my trainer to install some. Though it can be funny with some horses, who get “stuck” in the mirror like a parakeet watching the other bird in mirror, LOL!
I’m a re-rider. Haven’t been to a show in 25 years. I take a dressage or h/j lesson occasionally and ride “unsupervised” a few times a week otherwise. Most people I know ride Western and like the speed events, so they don’t offer comments about my riding (well, there is always that one person who has comments about everyone’s riding…). I have to admit it’s hard to get any kind of endurance back without riding consistently, even though I run and work out regularly.
I don’t usually get a horse to pick up the correct lead right away. Maybe my friends’ horses aren’t as easy to ride as the schoolmaster the dressage instructor has, but let’s assume the problem is me
Because it probably is.
I want to ride over fences again like when I was in High School (only better)! And it’s like I’m 11 and can’t canter properly!
Try thinking of a leg yeild before asking for your canter depart. In order to pick up the correct lead, the horse needs to shift his weight from his shoulders to his outside hind. Apply more inside leg at the girth and catch the horse’s energy in the outside rein. Once he shifts his balance, continue to ask for the leg yeild, but add the cue for canter depart. Make sure the horse doesn’t drop his weigh back onto the inside shoulder
Thanks! Probably not making enough impression with my inside leg. Might be a fitness issue.
And remember, while you are getting your feel back, there’s nothing wrong with “cheating” and asking on a corner!
I moved my horse in May, and the barn owner is a 78 year old classical dressage instructor, former dressage judge, etc. I asked her to start me like I’d never been on a horse before, and I’d make my own sense of what I’ve learned before and what she’s teaching me (I’d consider myself a beginner. I’d had 2 years of lessons as a re-rider when I moved to her farm.)
(Of course, the lesson was bareback – she said you have to ride the hooves, not the saddle.) She started to explain the whole driving from the seat. A lot of her theories seemed to be based in kineseology (sp?) and tai chi to use your seatbones to control pretty much everything. She explained squeezing not as much as squeezing your legs together, but more pulling your left seatbone deeper with your right heel kind of thing.
Up until this time, I’d been forcing my seatbone DOWN to weight it. She explained that you don’t do it that way, you simply raise up the opposite seatbone UP, and the opposite will lower and be weighted! DOLT!!!
LIGHTBULB!! She said it’s like a scale, if you weigh 150 (I freaking WISH), and you lift your left leg, you still weigh 150, it’s just all on the right leg. She said I should reach straight up for the roof with my hip, not forward; nor should I push that seatbone down. Also, when his back muscle rises to meet my raised seatbone, I should thank him by lightening the contact on the rein ever so slightly, for just a moment.
Once I started to “get it” my horse really lightened!!! I felt more impulsion from his rear and he seemed much more engaged, not just ambling along anymore. We didn’t get out of a walk, but we went from the “amble”, to the, “OK, I’m waking up now”, to, “is THIS what you want me to do?” To, “C’mon! Let me trot!!”. …All at a WALK!!!
She sounds awesome! You were lucky to meet someone like that. She’s doing it right – hopefully she has a young assistant she is training to follow in her footsteps.
She does have working students who’ve been with her for many years. They are wonderful as well.
Don’t get me wrong, the first instructor I had as a re-rider was absolutely incredible! She got me back on a horse after a 20 year hiatus (bareback on a 17.2 horse, no less!), and over the course of 2 years got me W-T-C and jumping tiny crossrails. I felt secure and confident, both in the arena and out on trails – I even bought my lesson horse from her! But the new barn owner has 70+ years of experience and a keen interest in how the human body flows with the horse’s… that concept of lifting vs. pressing was so eye-opening to me!
That was pretty enlightening info. It reminded me that I still remember my first instructor, a nice British lady named Cookie, and I learned she’s now the head instructor now where I rode 30+ years ago. I could stand a few more lessons from her but I’d have to go back to the east coast
Wow, thanks for this. I’m going to try it tonight!
“She explained that you don’t do it that way, you simply raise up the opposite seatbone UP, and the opposite will lower and be weighted! DOLT!!!
LIGHTBULB!!”
Hey, that makes perfect sense. I’ve been struggling to weight the correct seatbone for years and the more I try to lower the seatbone, the more locked up I get and the lowering part seems so illusive. Can’t wait to try this technique with the lateral work! Thanks! My instructor did not like me riding bareback though, due the sheer fact that either the minor support of the saddle or the knee blocks make it easier to prevent external rotation of the thigh and leg, resulting in the back of the leg against the horse instead the side of the leg. Also, not as easy to keep the pelvis . I guess if you can overcome those foibles, bareback would be really good to teach balance and proper alignment.
Oh I know I have at least a few! Lets see here… (1) I know my heels need to be down, but I am constantly catching myself with them up! Maybe it would help if I stop wearing high heels to work and sat at my desk with my toes pionted up all day, lol! (2) Feeling leads- I suck at feeling leads!! (3) posting correctly. I grew up showing WP (until I was about 13) and never learned how to post, now 15 years later I just trail ride. My mares trot isn’t the most comfortable to sit so I try to post but I usually end up leaning way forward and am probably rising with the wrong leg at least half the time. However, I have sought out the help of a trainer and start lessons in Feb!
I learned to get my heels down by stretching the muscle to get the “feeling” of what heels down feels like off the horse. While wearing your riding boots, find a nice friendly wall or column. Facing the wall, get as close to it as you can. Put one foot flat against the wall with your heel resting on the ground. But your WHOLE foot must be touching the wall, as best as you can! Still try to keep your body close to the wall, leaning on it if you want. You should feel a huge stretch on the back of your calf all the way from your Achilles to your knee. Think about what it feels like in your lower leg to have your toes way up and your heels way down. Hold for about 10 seconds then step down and rest for 10 seconds. Repeat with other foot.
Start of slowly and gently so you don’t pull anything! With a little practice this weird exercise gets easy and is a great way to strech out before a ride!
Once you’re comfortable getting up close and personal with the wall, take a moment while sitting on your horse to point your toes as high up as you can. Hold it for 10 seconds, concentrating on the streching sensation. For a few rides, focus on having your toes way up and your heels way down. Yes it’s extreme and can feel awkward, but eventually a medium level of heels down will feel natural and you’ll do it automatically.
I used to be awful with heels up, but now I have good foot form without ever even thinking about it
Wrong *diagonal* a-duh. Sheesh, I can’t even call it by it’s proper name, let alone actually DO IT!
I have a short Achilles tendon so I do the stretching on a step thing (face up the stairs, let your heels hang off the edge, and drop your weight into them) as well as stretching with an exercise band. Has helped lots, though I’ll never be as deep into my heels as some.
Also, think of your ankles as springs. Feel how you sink/flex more deeply into them at the top of your post (as you rise) and how you unflex (slightly) at the bottom (as you sit). You don’t, don’t, don’t want to lock your heels. Leads to other problems.
Once you can feel the flexy-springy thing at the trot, you can try for that feeling at other gaits, too.
(At the walk, the spring action is not so deep and alternates in time with the cadence of the walk–left foot, then right foot. It’s much easier to feel at the posting trot, though.)
When feeling leads, super easy trick: at the canter let your seat collapse on the saddle a little, so the saddle (or horse if you are bareback) is dictating your rhythm just a little. Now ask your horse to turn roughly 90 degrees like you are beginning a circle. If you are on the correct lead (whichever one that might be) your hips will stay under you, or come to the inside portion of the saddle just a little (inside being relative to the turn). If you are on the incorrect lead, your seat will move noticeably to the outside and you will definitely feel off balance. This is especially feelable(word?) if your horse has not been taught a high degree of shoulder control. From there it is just a matter of practice.
I have nerves in general now from falling off while sturrupless reinless cantering. Not to mention I seemed to have lost all my balance since the middle of October when I fell off. I’m trying to figure out how to get confidence back…I’m fine walk-trot but now the canter scares me crapless…not like I will even be cantering until I can get balanced, but anyone know of how to gain back the confidence when cantering, or alteast going into the canter, even while I’m not cantering?
So sorry to hear about your fall. It’s so hard to regain confidence after a fall. I would say not to push yourself. Maybe ask for a longe line lesson, too, like I suggested for the other person looking for ways to relax. Do some work without reins but while you still have your stirrups stretching your arms and moving around at the walk. Drop your stirrups when you are comfortable without reins, then when you are comfortable at the walk, try the trot. Doing this on the longe allows you to just think about yourself because someone else has control of the horse. Gaining confidence comes slow sometimes, and rushing yourself back into canter can do more harm than good.
Hello Golden- one thing I do with students who are intimidated by the canter is first off- put them on a good horse that picks up the canter nicely and stays slow (no power trotting since that is very intimidating). Then during the lesson I have them pick up the canter, canter for approximately 5 strides then come back to the trot or walk where they are comfortable. Then we repeat. Sometimes we think that to get over our fear we need to drill ourselves and force ourselves beyond our limits but I have found that when it comes to horses that will only make matters worse and you will tend to get more and more tense the longer you canter. Once you are relaxed for just a few strides of canter at a time then ride it out a little bit longer. Pretty soon you will be confidently cantering nice circles.
I had this exact same problem. I lost a stirrup going around a corner and hit the wall before hitting the ground. After that I was terrified of cantering again.
That was a couple days before Thanksgiving, and while I’m still not 100% back to normal, I have improved a lot. My suggestion to you is to just bite the bullet and canter again. I agree with the person above me. At first just a few strides here and there. Then the next time you can go around the ring once here and there, and the next you can go twice. If you slowly work yourself back into it, you will build up your confidence each time without scaring yourself too much.
Of course, I’m still very careful when it comes to cantering, as soon as I feel I’m losing balance I typically stop rather than working on regaining during the canter (though that is getting better too) but I’m definitely not scared anymore.
Good luck!
Is it normal for my knees to hurt after riding for an hour? It feels like the joint has been twisted all weird.
I would say no that is not normal unless you often have knee problems while doing other activities, such as running or going up and down stairs.
Are you putting too much weight in the stirrups? Are the stirrups the right length? Is your knee rotated too far in or out? (Your toes should generally point forward.) Are you leaning forward?
I would ask an instructor or better rider to watch while you ride and ask if any problems with your form jump out at them. Maybe a friend could videotape you or snap pictures for you to look at later? Or find a huge mirror to watch yourself ride
I’m at work so I can’t really dig up pictures of good riding form, but I think googling would produce some good examples? Watch out for BYB riding examples though!
sometimes happens to me too when I am “riding the stirrup” my old school trainer said to imagine that you have a baby bird between your foot and the stirrup-you want to hold it there not crush it. Now this is for Western, I do not know if that applies to English
What seat are you riding? I’m a saddle seat beginner and my knees always ache after a saddle seat lesson!
Yeah, that sounds about right. I ride western but not very often, and I may be relying too much on stirrups.
You might either be unconsciously be bracing with the knees or have tight illiotibial bands, the connective tissue that runs down the side of the leg. My pilates teacher has me work on a foam roller to roll over the side of the legs (hard to explain the exercise, but I found a YouTube video that will give you a good visual.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9aJtO0VCqw&feature=related
okay so whenever I go into the show ring I get super nervous. Everyone knows nervous rider makes a nervous horse. What i found that helps me calm down is to sing a little tune in my head. I have no idea how it works but it helps me take my mind off my nerves and concentrate. Btw i have been reading this blog forever and this is my first comment!!
This can also be very helpful if you’ve got a song (or a poem, as often works best for me) that’s very rhythmic and you’re reciting it while doing a rhymthic activity, like cantering or dribbling a basketball or anything that needs rhythm. (Longfellow’s “The Village Blacksmith” is great for practicing lay-ups.) You’re able to sort of relax into the rhythm of the poem, and it has the added benefit of needing to focus on the words in addition to whatever you’re doing, so you’re not focusing on the activity to such an exclusive degree that you tense up about it.
I used to have a job working with wild horses, some of them with histories of abuse and some of them with just a very keenly-developed sense of self-preservation. And one of the things I learned about working with them is that you can’t be TOO focused on them. A lot of times while working a horse I would sing to them, not so much because I think they liked it, but because it gave me something else to think about so I wasn’t too intense for them. When teaching newbies to work with the horses, usually their biggest problem would be focusing with intensity and far too much energy on the horse (and thereby completely freaking it out)… when they (or the horse) would start getting frustrated, we would often stand outside the round pen and ask the person random questions — so, where did you go to school? What did you study? What’s your history with horses? Where’d you get that shirt? — in order to distract them; as soon as their attention wasn’t 100% focused on the horse anymore, the horse felt the lack of pressure and was able to calm down. Sometimes multitasking is the best thing you can do when working with a horse who can’t stand to have all of your attention at once.
I’m a re-rider, and the biggest problem I have is confidence. Something happens and I become convinced that I’m going to die. It’s been a year since my horse freaked me out, and I’m just now getting to the place where I feel more confident to handle her (which is why we have a trainer.) When I ride I have a huge problem using my seat and legs correctly. I rode HUS for years when I was little, and now I ride dressage. I still lean forward in the saddle and fall forward when asking for transitions. I’m trying to find that place where I am correctly balanced and can stay on the horse. I guess it’s not much of a questions since I know what the problem is, but asking for insight into using my seatbones and lower leg correctly.
http://www.wildponybeast.blogspot.com
I am not a beginning rider. I went to an equestrian college for three years. I just have really bad balance. I don’t know why… What I really want to do is to be able to ride my horse bareback at the canter. She’s completely safe and I’ve watched a few of my friends canter bareback for the first time on MY horse. Is there an exercise I can to do to lead up to this?
To improve balance I would suggest:
-a lot of two-point seat work at the walk and trot.
-a lot of work without stirrups at the walk and trot
-gymnastics work in two-point over small cavaletti and gymnastic lines.
-lessons on the lunge line on a reliable horse with no stirrups and no reins. Eventually, with the help of a good coach, work your way up to cantering with no reins, no stirrups, and with your legs OFF the horses sides. This will improve your balance.
do you walk and trot bareback? canter is much easier to sit to (even if your horse has high withers!) I guess the transition and the adjustment to the gait at first are the tough parts, but once the gait is even, it’s pretty good.
have you tried being lunged whilst bareback, perhaps with a neck strap so you’re focusing on your balance and not having to focus too much on where your horse is going at first?
Not all horses’ canters are easier to sit. My mare’s trot is like riding a couch, can trot around bareback all day and be fine, but her canter is ungodly uncomfortable, and it takes a lot more effort to not go pitching off the side when cantering bareback. Best thing to do with bareback is to focus on NOT holding on with your legs, if they’re swinging/flopping it’s not that big of a deal in my opinion, as long as you aren’t bouncing on your horse’s back. I ride bareback in the “chair” seat a lot of the time, doesn’t look as good but it’s easier to stay secure and not bounce.
If you can already do sitting trot with no stirrups, then you could try that at a canter. My instructer had me do 3 crosspole bounces with no reins and no stirrups (with arms out to the side), which boosts your confidence as well as balance. Try (with a saddle) cantering around in your jumping position, and concentrate on keeping your upper body from falling foward. Then of course you can do bareback walking around corners and circles (so you know you won’t slip off), and progress to trot and canter. If your horse is sane enough you could get someone to lunge you so you don’t have to concentrate on steering.
I kept thinking I had a balance problem, and kept blaming my age (mid-forties).. I mentioned it to my ENT Dr. at my last appointment. Guess what? After a balance function test, they determined I really DID have a balance problem! I went to Physical Therapy for about a month, worked on some exercises from my PT, and I’m SO much better now!
I love riding bareback. Self-taught and have done it since I was little. If a horse gets too spirited, bucks, or trys to run off with me, I always feel safer with my knees forward and legs in a 90 degree angle and feet lined up under my bottom. When I grip with my legs in that position, it is hard to be thrown forward, backward, or sideways. Once the horse settles, I relax my legs back into long and loose position. I think you could start cantering in that more secure position and then try lengthening into the relaxed position as your balance improves.
I ride dressage, so constantly trying to perfect my riding. I have inherit misalignments in my body that are impossible for me to get rid of. Problem is exacerbated on the horse. Left side dominant (I’m left-handed, and left bodied) with my left shoulder high and my right side collapsed. As a result, all my horses (I have 4) are stiff to the left and hollow to the right. I have taken up pilates, which has helped, and my instructors constantly remind me to look toward the center or my circles to the left, and look at the outside shoulder to the right to even out my position. I have also discovered a great video by Jane Savoie on YouTube where she addresses this very problem. She tells the rider to imagine touching the tail of the dominant, most forward side, to get the shoulder back.
Hi,
Sounds a lot like my problem. I’ll look for that video on YouTube.
OK, I have a question: My conformation isn’t very good
and my hip bones are uneven in terms of forward and backward rotation, out of line with one another. In addition one of my legs is longer than the other. All this causes some discomfort when I ride.
I often wonder, how can I possibly be sitting evenly on a horse and using my seat bones properly if this is the case? Is there something I can do to address this when riding and when saddle fitting? Will this problem of mine affect the correct movement and way of going of the horses I ride? How can I conpensate and work towards correct use of both seatbones?
Thanks in advance to anyone with insight on this subject.
I break my left wrist. I canNOT keep it straight for some reason! That is my biggest equitation fault. Well, that and my bubble butt. Not sure how to fix THAT one, though.
my old trainer (she was 80 years old and learned how to ride on military bases) used to take a short crop, and vetrap it to my arm/hand so that I literally physically couldn’t break my wrists (I am sure that one of those wrist braces at RiteAid would have been sufficient, but the crop and vetwrap are what we had on hand). She had me ride like that for a month. It taught be how to feel the reins totally differently and to ride from my elbows, not so much my wrists. I still break my wrists on occasion, but then I just have to image the crop/vetrap, and they snap back into place!
Gotta love those old-school trainers! LOL! I used to ride with my ankles angled much to far out (so that the back of my calf was on my horse instead of the inside of my leg) and my toes sticking straight out perpendicular to my horse’s sides. The trainer I was riding with at the time took hay twine and literally tied my stirrups to my girth. I rode in excruciating pain for months and couldn’t walk comfortably for hours after riding but low and behold I now have near perfect lower leg position. I wouldn’t recommend learning that way to anyone else but lord knows it worked.
*sigh* I, too, have crappy toe position with the backs of my legs in contact with the horse instead of the sides. All you have to do is look at my tall boots – you can see where they’re worn. When I was little, my instructors never said much about it. As a teenager, I certainly noticed that my toes did not point straight ahead like some people’s, and worse, definitely turned out past George’s “no more than 45 degrees.” Especially over fences! The one and only clear photo I have of me jumping is a side shot, and I never show it to any other actual equestrians. My foot is perpendicular to the stirrup leather!
My trainer tried back then to get my toes in. I bet anything tying the stirrups to the girth crossed her mind. I remember one day when she walked over, grabbed my foot, and said, “LIKE THIS!” My heel immediately came up and I cried out in pain. She was like, “Oh – that’s different.” What we finally figured out is that the way my hip sockets are designed, my legs are naturally angled out. It is virtually physically impossible for me to point my toes straight ahead while mounted if my heels are down. It just doesn’t work. Now, I still tried real hard to align those toes (especially when equitating in the show ring and passing the judge), but I came to realize I am flawed and I just have to deal with it. (I can, however, sit on the floor with the soles of my feet fully touching each other and my knees on the ground – not many can do THAT!
As a re-rider, I was surprised and gratified that nobody complained about my toes. Guess the backs of my legs work “okay”… may not be pretty, but I am told I am a good rider and I get along well with many horses. I still fight with my toes going past judges, tho!
I have the same problem with always breaking/flattening my left wrist. After years, i finally had a new instructor tell me to stop dropping my left shoulder. As soon as i fixed the shoulder, the wrist straightened out. Of course, now i just need to remember that left shoulder…
So my mom used to show many years ago, and although I am a casual rider only, having taken h/j lessons for just a year, one thing that stuck in my mind on keeping those heels down was when she would have me stand in front of her holding my index fingers out. She would have me put all my weight on my toes and pull forward on my index fingers. Would throw me forward every time. Then I would put my weight on my heels and she would do the same thing. I would be much more stable. She said the same thing applied under saddle as well.
My instructor had an AWESOME former Grand Prix thoroughbred that was 29 when I was taking lessons on him. You would never have guessed he was that age at all, and loved to give lessons. He had HUGE movement and was a lot of fun to ride. He did have a habit of throwing his head forward and jerking you in the saddle while standing. My instructor said for me to bridge my reins and brace them across the pommel of the saddle, so that when he did it, he jarred himself in the mouth. He only tried it a few times before stopping. I’ve discovered that it also works for my horses at home as well.
As far as being relaxed but still keeping a proper position practice practice practice. Find a peice of furniture that can sub as your horse, and use it to practice. Barstools, arms on couches…..anything that can work and anytime you sit be concious of your position and try to hold it. Keep your feet flat to the ground while sitting on the computer at work or put them up onto the wheels and hold them down. Sit straight and keep your elbows at your side….The more you do this the more it will become second nature and you wont have to think about it, thus allowing for a more relaxed but proper position.
I had an instructor who hated when your heels went up. Tried everything to keep them down until one day another boarder told me act like your heels have christmas ornaments on them and if you pull your heels up they will hit the stirrup, break and cut your horse. I went to ride the next day and the whole week before the next lesson and TADA! It was never a problem from then on….. In fact from that point on any horsemanship or equitation class I went into I was always top three
If you stand back and really look at yourself and evaluate yourself like a judge would it will help you be able to help yourself!
I’ll say it again – try to find access to a month of vaulting lessons. There is nothing for your brain to do to get in a bunch about. You aren’t in control of the horse. You are along for the ride and the horse just canters in a large circle. Often you ride with your eyes shut and your arms straight out to the sides. Your body learns true balance while you learn to empty your mind so you aren’t bothering your horse with your fears and disappointments.
One the same note, never listen to the other riders about particular lesson horses and their quirks, or about how the instructor reduced his last class to tears. I once rode a gelding in a jumping class that “always refused” the second jump. I did not know this “fact” and guess what? He went right over it without hesitation. Keep your mind clear of clutter. If you need to – focus on an object like a lovely tree in the distance, or the color green in all its marvelous shades. I had an instructor once that said, “Why slap the horse on the fetlock and say GIVE to pick up his hoof, when all you have to do is reach while making the request in your mind? Why not be as elegant as the horse?” Our brains, full of fears and power struggles and lists get so badly in the way when dealing with horses.
Confidence. I have NO confidence after numerous injurys/accidents with my prior horse. Now anytime more horse acts up, thinks about acting up, or I think she could act up I freak out. Its been 8 months since my last accident and I’ve been riding once a week since I could get back in the saddle (July). I’m terrified of coming off again. Anybody have any suggestions on what works for them on regaining confidence?
Again, please check out the January Horse Illustrated, where I covered this but overall – start slow and easy. Don’t expect too much of yourself. Sometimes you have to rebuild from a very low level, no matter HOW good you were before your confidence got shaken.
I have a question about Ponies? What breed of pony would you recommend to beginners (TOTAL beginners) who want to have a set of ponies to ride and drive (sleigh and/or cart). My nephew and his wife moved to Colorado and want to get into horses for their 4 small children. I know nothing about ponies??
If you want a SMALL pony, go for the smaller end of the Welsh Pony.
If you want a medium to large, Haflingers are awesome. Highlands are even better, but hard to find in the US.
I would not recommend Shetlands for inexperienced people as, as a breed, they tend to have a lot of attitude and willpower…they are great ponies, but are highly inclined to take advantage of any mistake you make.
I agree, Shetlands can be too smart for their own good at times and learn bad habits from a single mistake.
One of mine had the experiance of being tied up with an (apparently old and brittle) peice of bailing twine as a saftey break away when he was younger, a stray dog scared him and it broke. Now he always has to be tied with a fairly new peice because every time he’s tied he will give it one or two hard tugs to see if it will break.
Not a huge issue really but it amazes me he still keeps trying every time after getting loose just once. Is also proof to me that the people who told me “Whatever you do with your Shetland, good or bad, they will NEVER forget” were right.
I personally don’t think that the breed matters so much. It’s the ponies personalities and their training that does. I’ve worked with a large variety of ponies and I feel I can say that they differ as much or more so then horses. It can be hard to find one that truly listens to kids when they ride them. Most are overly-food-oriented and will tug the reins out of small hands to eat the grass at the edge of the arena/trail. The thing is that it’s hard to find a well-trained and behaved pony because if it’s small you can’t put an adult trainer on it, so that makes them hard to train.
As far as breeds go, I’ve met good and not so well-behaved of many breeds. I do like POAs, they often have the nice easy-going nature of the appy, but in a more kid-friendly size. They can often be big enough for a well-balanced adult to ride the kinks out if needed as well. They can be trained to drive too, and I have a friend who used to have POAs for their kids to ride and the husband and wife showed them in driving. =)
I totally agree that it is the personality of the horse/pony that they should be going for, as well as the personality of the kid. My POA was my sister’s and mine first pony. we all had a love hate relationship. me and pony = love. sister and pony = hate. this was because i took the time to get to know him, and wasn’t taking any pony ‘tude. (you want to go right? ok, we’ll go in a right circle and end up going left, ie the way i wanted to go. compromise!) Sis on the other hand only hopped on when her friends were around to watch, and rode backwards crosslegged… you name it. (she could have been the girl on the drunk palomino, if she ever figured out how to stay on while he jumped…) Unfortunatly, she handled the pony when our younger sisters were learning to ride, and he bucked them off. the now 8 yr old is scared of him, and would rather ride my horse (who is a cross between a wall and a tank, tall and WIDE). the poor kid looks like she’s attempting to do the splits.
Please PLEASE make sure that the parents keep any eye on them the whole time, and hopefully they’ll be open to larger horses if need be (i know some 16 hh horses who would be more suitable for a kid than my pony).
we still have the pony (he and my mom are best buds, even tho she doesn’t ride). we have a very sweet little girl with balance issues leasing him for shows, and he puts her in the ribbons, 1sts 2nds and 3rds. my youngest sister is doing leadline with him (i will be leading!). he’s a special guy.
My personal favorite pony breed is Connemaras. They have the size of a pony with the personality of a horse (not to mention athletic ability)
what about severe mental issues?? lol I had a serious riding accident about 5 yrs ago that almost left me crippled, broke my ankle in 6 places including breaking the ball off the tibia. Took 2 metal plates and about 19 screws to fix, Dr’s said i was lucky to be able to still walk.
My escape time has always been riding, however, its now becoming a battle with myself. I rode only once last year. I want to ride again, but my mind says it too scary, i get worked up to the point of crying. I can handle horses confidently from the ground tho, no problem there. I feel i have ‘lost’ my escape time, and i am just not sure how to get it back.
I have contacted a riding school to do some lessons, just have to wait till hubby’s hours pick up as my son’s lessons come first.
I just hope i can one day regain my escape time.
Springwolf, I hate to say it, but have you considered counseling. It sounds like you could use some talk therapy to help you get over a very reasonable fear.
Counseling is never a bad thing – fear is VERY real and can be crippling. However, also see my response below about starting very slow and learning to say no to pushy instructors.
This is a whole separate blog, but I have to say that I totally disagree with the “just make ‘em do it” philosophy when it comes to riders with fear issues. You know, sometimes fear is your common sense telling you that you aren’t ready to do something and are likely to have a wreck. I really believe that we are ALWAYS our own best judge of what we feel ready to do and I don’t like trainers who push but I know not everybody agrees – we’ll have to have that debate one of these days!
Maybe try taking lessons at a therapuetic facility. Make sure you do your research, but many therapuetic facilities have instructors that are also recreational therapists. They are trained to deal with people with disabilities, recovering stroke victims, recovering accident victims, etc.
i never thought of that honestly, hopefully i didnt get someone who either doesnt like horses or fears them! But i think i will be looking into that.
I did get as far as emailing a therapy riding school…they emailed me back but i havent replied back yet. Maybe try to get an appointment to see the facility.
We board a few horses here, and one of my boarders told me i was a hopeless case recently. So that didnt help my esteem much.
One of my ideas was to build a ‘dummy’ horse that i can put my saddle on and work on ground mounting and getting up there…good thing we have 10+ foot ceilings!! That way maybe i can get my ankle to flex…or maybe try the other side. Going to look for that issue of Horse Illustrated. THANX!!
There’s no such thing as hopeless in life. There is hope in every situation, you just have to look for it sometimes. Most of us have had to overcome some kind of adversity when it comes to our riding. Don’t give up. Try the therapuetic riding school (good for you for contacting them) and try the counseling, too. You’ll find most counselors are kind and generous and it helps to have someone to talk to. When someone tells you you’re hopeless, make an effort to prove them wrong instead of taking it as a blow to your self esteem. I rode with a nasty hunter jumper trainer when I was in high school who said I would never amount to anything as a rider. I don’t jump anymore, but I’ve had several people tell me I’m a talented dressage rider. There’s a place for you, too.
Look for a counselor/therapist who is experienced in treating phobias…a lot of the same techniques work well with fear that has a cause. What she would most likely do is talk therapy combined with a desensitization course…you would need to get the instructor on board with this.
for SpringWolf – I had a bad accident and now have lots of metal work in my ankles as well. The big thing for me to get back riding was having my sister’s cob around – we’ve had him for 7 years and he is brilliant – as soon as my mom would let me I was on him (the day after my last cast came off, lol), we walked round and I didn’t ride again for 4 months. I then spent the next 6 months walking round for a few minutes at a time and slowly built it up. I still get scared cantering in the school, even on Chippy, but we’ve done a few small jumps etc now. The best thing I would suggest is find a horse you can trust, be it at a riding school or a friends horse, and start just sitting on it, then be lead round and build it up gradually. It is possible to get back to enjoying your riding, just take your time, find a sympathetic horse/trainer and go at your pace.
I must concur with the previous opinions about therapy. Although some simple questions that might help are at what point in the riding are you noticing that you feel stressed? When you are getting ready to mount? When you are sitting up there waiting to start? While walking/trotting/cantering, ect? If you know when that point is you are in a much better position to make progress. One older lady at our barn had had a similarly spectacular wreck with her previous horse. Her first step ended up being sitting on our 30something dead lesson horse while being he was on a leadrope being held by our trainer or myself. From there she started walking in spurts, then walking continuously, the moving faster. I would say that now she is completely comfortable on her super broke gelding doing anything from arena work to trail riding.
Having watched her (and a few others) has taught me that the recovery or lack thereof is completely dependent on your own ability to accept your limits. Few people realize how hard it can be to just sit on a horse, never realizing that this is a starting point. At somepoint you will be comfortable doing more, and then you can go for it. But for now stay where you feel comfortable and know that later you will move on.
What about sticking with horses but trying out a new field? What about driving ponies? There are some really neat events now for driving that look like a lot of fun! Riding astride isn’t the only way to have horses in your life. Or there are some real neat horses out there that aren’t sound for riding but need a good home and lots of love.
A riding friend had a terrible crash in my teens, killed a nerve in in her shin and left a dent in her helmet where the front hoof caved it in (ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET!). She was terrified to get back on, but my trainer, bless her, put her on the tiniest little horses- to where it was like like ‘eh it’s only two feet, and its possible to practically stand up and let them walk out from underneath you. A few weeks of that, they moved to her on a large pony but on a pony line, and then off the pony line, and then onto larger horses (first on the pony line again). It took a while of these baby steps for her to feel comfortable again but the trainer never pushed for faster progress or made fun of her. She banned two girls from the barn who were making fun of the rider behind her back. I will never forget the lecture. This was a great trainer, always quietly spoken, gentle minded with the riders and the horses. She was ROARING, she was so angry.
You haven’t lost your nerve, it is just overly sensitized right now. Give yourself time, and nip any boarders who make snarky comments right in the bud. Life is too short, and they need to learn to not be judgmental asses – losing a place at a great stable is a good first lesson. Even if you don’t actually boot them, a calm but firm response reminds them who owns the space, and who is merely renting.
many hugs and mugs of hot chocolate are being sent your way. I also broke my ankle in a riding accident, tho it wasn’t nearly as bad as yours. Do you have any ideas for what to do to increase felxibility in your ankles? even non- horse related stuff would be helpful. i’ve even had my pins and plate removed, which fixed the human barometer issues but almost 3yrs later, i’m still stiff and occasionally sore.
I’m a primarily self-taught rider, I’d call myself an intermediate rider overall. I prefer western, hacking around and trail riding. But most of the formal lessons I’ve had have been english, and I’ve done or tried some of pretty much everything except cow work and vaulting. One thing that my instructors and friends have never been able to help me figure out is leads at a canter from the saddle. I can tell within about 2 strides from the ground in most cases, but from the saddle is another thing entirely. I’m usually too busy balancing and steering to be able to look down and watch which shoulder is moving first. I have ridden some school horses that only like to pick up a certain lead, no matter which direction they are going and it often feels smooth even if they are on the wrong lead as they’ve gotten away with it so much, so I really can’t tell. I feel bad and want to work on them picking up the correct lead, but I just don’t know how to tell so that I can fix it… Does anyone have any tips/tricks/things that helped them with this?
Practice practice practice is what helped me with this. Lots of canter transitions followed by short canters and then back down to the trot.
If you are too busy balancing and steering that suggests to me that you may want to slow down a bit and work on those things first. Either that, or eliminate those issues by (and now I totally sound like a broken record) getting a few lessons on the longe line.
As you know, when the horse is on, say, the left lead, the left shoulder is the one that will come forward in the stride first. Practice identifying that. Feeling it is good, but using your eyes can helpful at first (and you can have a head-down, eyes down moment when on the longe line!). Use your eyes, guess, and then get your instructor to tell you if you are correct. Repeat.
Agreed that you need to start with learning to balance and steer before being worried about feeling the lead, and that longe lessons will help.
Once you are relaxed and balanced at a canter, you won’t have to grip with legs and should be able to feel one leg or the other being pushed forward at about your knee. That is the lead your horse is on. Once you get used to it, you feel instantly through your seat, legs, shoulders, all that your body is doing (and can tell before the horse canters which lead it will pick up) – but to start with it has always been easiest when I’ve been explaining it to others that they try to feel which leg is getting pulled foward.
Ok, thanks for the tip about feeling which leg is being pushed forward, that’s exactly the type of thing I was looking to find. =)
I feel really do feel balanced at a canter, I regularly ride w/t/c bareback (on my current mount and have many times on on others.) The horse I ride now likes to take off like a race horse and it’s hard to keep him at a balanced and manageable pace and watch the lead he’s taking at the same time.
I wish I had taken more lessons and that I could now, but it’s not really and hasn’t been financially possible much. I now have a deal worked out that I can ride free in exchange for cleaning duties, so my only expense is the gas to get to the barn and back, which I can handle. I am at a small barn (3 horses owned by the BO’s and 1-5 boarders) with no instructors. So most of the time I’m riding alone and don’t even have anyone who could call out when I’ve got the wrong lead.
Most of the time we trail ride so on the straight areas where it’s ok to canter it doesn’t matter so much which lead he’s on. But I really would like to learn, as I feel it’s one of the biggest things in my riding knowledge that I’m lacking and obviously haven’t been able to teach myself so far.
Do you have a friend who would be willing to act as a spotter for you? It’ll be a lot easier to fix this issue if you have somebody on the ground…they ask you ‘Are you on the right lead’, you say yes or no, they tell you if you’re right. That way you don’t have to look down to see if you felt it right…and looking down on a horse with afterburners is not often very smart.
I grew up riding western, and as an adult I’ve been learning to ride English. I can’t seem to find the stability to balance standing in the two-point/”jumping” position. Seems that every time I put more weight on those skinny English stirrup leathers, they swing back and forth and won’t seem to stabilize in the middle. I don’t have this problem when I’m in a western saddle with more sturdy fenders — maybe I’m just used to riding in the “chair position” with my legs and feet a bit farther ahead of my seat and torso? Any thoughts?
That’s an easy one. You’re standing up on your feet
Stand on your KNEES. If you rise with your weight resting on the inside of your knee and upper lower leg, you’ll find that your feet don’t move. A swinging, unbalanced stirrup means you’re putting your weight in your feet and you’re putting it there inconsistently as your balance changes.
Start by practicing two point at a stand still and walk, without stirrups, to learn how it feels when you have it right.
While this is good advice I would not word it as standing on your knees. When one makes a conscious effort to grip with the knee the lower leg is often lost entirely and swings more as the knee creates a pivot, especially over fences. Half seat, which is what I think the OP is talking about is more about letting your weight sink into your heel, using your inner leg muscles and A LOT of ab muscles and BALANCEBALANCEBALANCE. Not so much the knee, although it is used, when you put the focus on it problems occur.
Nope, it’s not gripping with your knees. It’s like kneeling on the ground – you roll slightly forward to kneel on your knees. There’s no strong squeezing motion involved but it’s that you’re definitely NOT standing in your stirrups. The way too many of us were taught (I was too!) was to post, half seat, etc. by standing in your stirrups. That’s what I’m pretty sure the OP is doing. You can get away with it western because of the fixed fender, but in a hunt saddle, it becomes immediately obvious your weight’s in the wrong place. Standing in your stirrups makes you like a marionette on strings – that leather isn’t designed to put your foot in one place and keep it there, so you go all over.
There are various ways to describe it but the visual of “kneeling” like I was kneeling on the ground is what helped me fix this when I was a kid.
I was taught to imagine pulling myself out of the saddle into the 2-point by raising myself with my front thigh muscle and supporting it with my butt. The trainer actually described “Pausing” at the top of the post by not allowing myself to sink back to the saddle for the next beat.
Best way to figure it out, is drop the stirrups entirely. Can’t stand in what you don’t have!
My trainer used to have people use a curb or stair for help with this. If you stand with the balls of your feet on the curb and your heels down, practice your balance by slowly assuming a two point position. This will strengthen your legs and abdomen (two key components for a correct two point), and help you learn where your center of balance is. I’ve done it, it’s a great help to learn balance. It also helps tone your legs and abs a bit
I have battled (and sometimes still battle) a wobbly lower leg. I find what helps me is posting at a walk and really focusing on my legs as I do so, figuring out how to roll my knees in and use my thighs and knees to post instead of my feet (if that makes sense). After I do a few rounds posting at a walk, my legs are always less wobbly when I go to the trot.
Thanks for the advice, all. And to whoever (presumably from this blog, with the subtitle “in the reins” just registered the username CabinintheCity.blogspot.com — you SUCK. It took me MONTHS to come up with the name for what was going to be my new blog about urban homesteading. The name was free until a few days ago, so presumably someone read it here, thought it was clever, and registered it. Lesson learned to register your blog name before you mention it — but you still SUCK.
[FHOTD in: I hear you. Someone bought fuglyhorseoftheday.com a loooong time ago and I can't get it back without paying them whatever their ransom is. They can F off. I'm fine with fuglyblog, thank you very much!]
I have been riding western for many years however only recently I have been learning how to ride one handed. I feel like it is my first riding lesson all over again. As steering goes I feel like I am out of control. My horse drifts off the rail and ends up going much faster then usual. The horse that I ride is usually ridden one handed, he knows what he is doing it is just me that doesn’t. I could really use some tips on not only riding one handed but also how to relax while doing so.
I grew up “horsey” and though I had a plethora of ridership issues (and probably still do)- I was always too “tough” or proud to take lessons, so I watched people who did things correctly, and tried to pick up on a little extra tip here and there, without being obvious. I could get a little brace-for-impact from time to time, but I usually just talked myself into it in my head. Always a western rider, I’ve always neck reined and rode one-handed. Problem was, I had a sort of wandering, stabilizer hand on the left side. Sometimes it was on the horn (generally at speed on my hottie of a mare), sometimes it was floating out in thin air (loping through the meadow).
Well, I ended up at a random trainer’s barn up in the woods somewhere, where my friend was thinking of purchasing a young gelding. She’d test ridden him twice, and now dragged me out there to try him out. We were only in the arena, but the side and spirit of this horse had me a little nervous. The old trainer (a man about 70 or so), instead of continually talking about his horse, started yelling at me to relax my arm. Well, I didn’t know where to put it! It was stiff as a board floating out in thin air as usually. He stopped me, put my hand on my thigh and told me to not to move it. I bet he had me on that horse 45 minutes, until I could reliably keep my hand on my thigh for an extended period of time at a trot.
My friend ended up not buying that horse, but whenever I catch my arm somewhere not at rest, I slap it back down to my thigh. As for your other issue, I think you should work on your “look.” Just reining and looking with your eyes doesn’t sufficiently put your horse where he needs to go. Remember to look with your entire body position (shoulders & hips) rather than just your eyes. If you’re using your look correctly, one finger should be adequate for steering=)
Steering comes from the legs, not from the hands. Think of it like this…the reins control the area of the horse in front of the saddle, so the head and the neck. The leg controls pretty much everything else. A horse can easily turn his head and one direction and move his body in the opposite, and most of them are happy to demonstrate this talent.
I recommend a couple of things. Try riding your horse 2-3 feet off the rail. When you do, make sure you are using your legs to guide the horse in a straight line. Think of your outside leg as the rail. Not to say that it is always pressing on the horse, but when the horse starts to drift towards the rail, make sure your leg is there to catch him and straighten his rib cage agian. Also, when steering your horse on a bending line (let’s say we’re circling left), think of pushing your horse’s center from your right leg to your left. I don’t know if you take lessons, but maybe work with a trainer a couple of times a month to help you get the hang of steering the horse and keeping him slow.
Does anybody have a good method for getting over fear that can be nearly paralyzing?
My childhood trainer was excellent at settling a frightened child’s nerves and encouraging them gently to try. She was never pushy, never demanding, and never demeaning. Because of her talented teaching methods, I grew into a very confident and consistent rider in my teens. I competed successfully in Amateur Eventing at low levels with one of my trainer’s intelligent and calm schooling ponies.
My trainer then became sick with terminal cancer, and handed over training to a professional student she had. This trainer was pushy, demanding, and made fun of fears. She also decided the quiet pony I had spent years building a solid, successful relationship with was not a good fit for me (despite our constant wins and high point awards), and pulled me off the pony and onto a large gelding who was flightly and excitable. I understand she was trying to make the fear seem like it was not worth your time to consider, and her goal of putting me on the larger horse was to have me compete at higher levels and gain more skills as a rider, but it had a very negative impact on me: instead of moving past my fear, it made me feel ashamed and the fear persisted. The increased jump height and lack of relationship with the new hyperactive gelding did not help. This led to several nasty falls (resulting in doctor visits) under her instruction. Riding soon was no longer fun, and after over 8 years of professional instruction, I stopped taking lessons. I would occasionally ride rental horses, friend or family members’ horses.
Years later my husband and I met and bought horses. We boarded for a short while at a barn that had a trainer and her apprentice. I trained for a short while under the apprentice and very much enjoyed her methods. Unfortunately, my husband and I had to move out of state for a time. When we returned, the barn was closed and I could locate neither the trainer or the apprentice.
We bought our own place for us and our horses. I purchased a confidence builder (14.1hh mutt pony mare who was in her mid teens – a been there done that horse). I would ride her around our little property and slowly began gaining back some self-assurance in the saddle. However, a few years ago while riding I had the worst spill of my life, and spent months on doctor’s orders not to ride or do anything physical, thanks to a compacted spine (which I fortunately recovered in full from). It has been about 3 years since I last rode. Still have the confidence building mare.
Now my lovely arabian stallion is off to training. My trainer shows her client’s horses and also gives lessons, From what I have seen, she’s a thoughtful person who understands fear and knows how to deal with it. I fully intend to take lessons with her. I desperately want to show my own horse along with having her show him for me, and am perfectly competent and capable of doing almost anything from the ground, but getting onto even my been there done that mare makes me cringe with fear. Has anybody ever recovered from a multitude of traumatic experiences to become a confident rider again, one who doesn’t practically burst into tears just placing their foot in the stirrup to mount? Can you offer me any advice?
For everybody with fear issues, try to find the January Horse Illustrated from this year. That’s what I wrote about, and I can’t republish it all here of course, so please get the magazine (I’m sure you can buy back issues from them if it’s off the shelves already).
Overall I will say this – start SLOW and EASY. Years ago I worked with someone who had a rental horse run her into an electric fence and go down with both of them tangled. Um, yeah. That’ll traumatize you. We started out by having me lead her around at the walk. Can your hubby do the same for you on the confidence builder mare? Don’t feel foolish or silly — fear is VERY real and nothing to be ashamed of. Start super slow, don’t push yourself at all and you’ll find that you start feeling better and wanting to do more.
And I gotta say it – you need to work on saying NO. If a trainer asks you to do something you are not comfortable with, and you in any way feel insecure or like things might go wrong, say NO. It sounds like you’ve lacked a little self-preservation in the past and that might be an area you need to build confidence in as well.
Thank you so much Fugly (I always feel bad when I address you that way!), I will definitely drag my husband around town until we find the issue!!! Honestly just making that post made me tremble.
It wasn’t so much my lack of backbone…I am exceedingly polite but will stand up for myself. However, I was 17 at the time, and the replacement trainer was at least 10 years my senior with 15 more years professional training and riding experience. Not only that, my parents are both teachers. I grew up with “when your instructor tells you what to do, you do it without complaint” as part of my early childhood education. My dad didn’t watch my lessons often once I was older, but he trusted my trainer that became ill. When she appointed the replacement trainer, my father felt that I should trust her as well, especially if she was attempting to make me a better rider. Of course, later when I quit, he finally understood my reasons. He knew something had to be very wrong if I didn’t want to take lessons anymore.
Zell, I know folks around here don’t tend to be Parelli fans, but you might find a lot of value in one of their associates. They worked to develop their programs with a woman named Stephanie Burns, who wrote an entire book on this subject called Move Closer, Stay Longer. It’s only available as an ebook now (you can get it for the Kindle, too), but IMO it’s worth the money (I have a print copy that came with the old Level 2 pack). There are a lot of tools in this book for overcoming fears and building confidence in general, but it is written specifically to address horse-related activities. While you might read some of the suggestions and think, “Wow, that sounds like something from a hokey team-building seminar!” her advice really DOES work. At my old job we encountered a LOT of horse people who were absolutely petrified — some who could admit that, and some who will probably go to their deathbeds swearing that they’ve never felt fear — and we ended up actually teaching an entire clinic on building confidence and overcoming fear, and a huge part of our curriculum came out of that book. I can’t recommend it enough.
ZellGirl:
I ride with crippling fear that stems from a bank robbery I was in – I am terrified every time I jump. When I realized that riding/jumping really does make me happy, I began taking private lessons on school horses once a week for about six months. (My private instructor knew when I was in the danger zone because I would bring my shaking hands up to my face.) Then I moved up to riding once a week in group lessons on different school horses for six more months. Once I started taking lessons twice a week, I started to ride the same school horse for a month at a time. And then I met Harvey – The old school master who I’ve been riding for over six months now. Riding this one horse that I have a connection with has changed my life. I am starting to ride fear-free three times a week – Although the balance can be upset by other riders having a hard time, me being generally stressed, or having a bad stop while jumping. The thing that has helped me the most has been to ride consistently, no matter what. I know everyone is different, but establishing routines and then sticking to them has allowed me to remain calm and really improve my riding. I also count at the canter to give my mind something to do and to help establish a rhythm, but I can’t wait to try singing in my head too! I still have so much to learn and my goal is to lease Harvey this year to keep working on my issues. Good luck with your Arabian!
Trainers have an incentive to push their students into competition or to have them trade up to fancier horses, because it is a promotional opportunity for them–it makes them noticed in the horse show community and they can attract more students that want to excel in competition.
Its REALLY important to decide what you want to accomplish in your lessons and what your goals are. (Those goals should also factor in any financial limitations.) If your goals are to become a better rider so you can have a more enjoyable and harmonious ride with your horse, to become a fitter rider, or for any reasons other than competing, make it known your instructor. If the instructor can’t support that, treats you like you are ‘less than’ his/her competitive or higher level students, or tries to push you into competition or a fancier horse in spite of your wishes, you will either need to get a new instructor or be solid enough in your own goals not to get sucked in to the instructor’s agenda. (Sometimes really great instructors are competitive-driven, so sometimes its a trade-off between the unmatched goals and the lightbulb moments.) However, if the instructor is pushing you to do something beyond your confidence level, or that you feel is unsafe, it would be a good time to switch.
Hello all! Long time Fugly follower, first time poster. I have a feeling my problem is not unique, however I am always open to suggestions.
I work a desk job all day and when I leave work to go riding, I just find my muscles are really tight–especially on the right now. When my muscles tighten up, my heel goes up, my lower leg swings and my balance goes totally off. As I ride horses with really bouncy trots, this is not a good thing.
Are there any stretches to help with desk job-to riding transitions?
Easy one for when you’re sitting at your desk. Sit up straight. Think of making 90° angles with your ankles, knees, hips. Cross one leg over the opposite knee, at the ankle (ie, your left angle rests on your right knee). Try to make your shin parallel to the floor. Slowly lean forward, keeping your back straight. Breathe in, and as you breathe out, trying sinking lower (slowly!). You should feel a stretch through your buttock and in your hip.
Bring an exercise band to work with you. You can stretch your calves with it by holding an end with either hand and placing the ball of your foot in the middle of the band. Use the band to pull your toe toward your knee. Then, using the band as resistance, stretch your toe towards the floor. (Do this exercise at home with a friend/family member and “reverse” it. Place the band over the TOP of your foot (below the toes) and have them hold the ends of the band. Using resistance, pull your toe towards your knee. (This can also be done by tying the band to the leg of a heavy chair or something, but I seem to destroy bands by doing this.)
Another stretch that you can’t really do in an office environment unless you have a door that closes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKFJOTk-cUE
Search YouTube for other hip flexor stretches. I think tight hip flexors are a particularly big problem for riders. And I base this belief on a sample size of one (me!)
Long story short, due to a series of misadventures and bad instruction, I went from being a rider whose favorite thing was to canter bareback (lo these many years ago, in my youth…) to a rider who was absolutely terrified of cantering. TERRIFIED. Finally I found a local instructor in my new town who was a very experienced teacher (and coaches the local pony club), and she insisted on getting me up into a canter and getting past it. In the time between the huntseat lessons of my youth and the huntseat lessons of today, I’d gotten on a lot of horses that either I couldn’t get into a canter at all (and they’d get increasingly agitated, angry, and likely to throw me the more the crappy instructors insisted on me whacking away at it), or once I got them into a canter, the horse would be setting the pace and I’d basically lose control at that pace.
I was struggling and struggling with my new instructor’s wonderful dressage mare, who knows these things inside and out, and again the same problems. I could only get her into a very fast trot and not into a canter, and because I’d been instructed to do this before, I kept wanting to just push her through the fast trot into the canter. But my instructor had me slow her again, and she told me something that should have been obvious, but if you’d been there you probably would’ve seen the cartoon lightbulb turn on over my head.
She said, “A canter is a change of gait, not a change of speed.” I took in that advice and, realizing that the reason I couldn’t get the canter from this mare was that I was asking with so much intensity, I finally breathed, relaxed deep into my seat, and asked very lightly with my leg for the change of gait.
That mare moved out into such a soft, smooth, controlled canter that I could’ve cried. Actually I kind of did a little, but I blamed it on the cold wind in my eyes.
We cantered circles for awhile, nobody died, everything was fine, and I felt as if an enormous weight had been lifted right off me. My only problem now is that I can’t afford lessons often enough to satisfy me! 
I never thought of that before. But your instructor was right. Thank you very much, that little tidbit of advice might be a great help to me!!
As a general rule, for those who normally ride hunters, dressage horses, any other breed or type that likes to move out/has “big” motion, if you’re trying to ease into a new skill like cantering bareback or sitting the trot without irons, you may find it’s VERY helpful to try it out first on a stock type western pleasure horse. The speed element can be scary – take that away and just learn to ride the different gait on a WP horse.
For all of you with fear issues, consider contacting a therapist who specializes in cognitive behavioral therapy. For example:
http://panicdisorder.about.com/od/treatments/a/CBT.htm
If you don’t have access to a CBT practitioner, I believe you can locate books that will help you through this.
My son used CBT plus talk therapy to overcome relatively severe depression issues.
I am considering it myself if I can’t get over a spill I took in November that was due to bad footing in the arena and not anything the horse or I did. At least it hasn’t affected how I feel about my horse – and I’m still riding – but I am overly cautious about cantering as well, even though he fell at the trot. I have also found that consistently riding (not taking more than a few days off at a time whenever possible) has really helped. The more good experiences I’ve had since the fall tend to overtake the one bad experience. Also helps that I moved to a new barn with a much better arena.
You have my sympathies with the fear stuff – I think I’m a pretty solid person, but that was a freaky fall I had and it has messed with my mind. But I can’t imagine not riding, so I’m gutting it out.
I have had my only bad accident from the horse falling – over twenty years ago and I’m still nervous about bad footing or anything that may be slippery! It’s one reason I don’t like to trail ride. I like my nicely groomed arena, thank you!
I feel safer on the trail since the accident was in an arena. Crazy isn’t it? For some reason I think he’ll cope better with a natural setting than a man made one. Totally irrational. The best thing I did was to move the horse, especially since I’ve found that my fear isn’t so strong in a new environment.
Never mind that the accident was totally preventable if someone had just done some basic maintenance. It’s a lawsuit waiting to happen – and I’ll testify for the person who really gets hurt the next time.
I will not go down any hills if they look even slightly muddy. We got caught in the rain on a CTR once. We were going down a pretty muddy, steep hill when the horse in front of us lost its balance and started to slide on its side. Without thinking when the horse in front of us went down I pulled on the reins to ask my horse to stop. He of course lost his balance and to this day if I close my eyes and think about it I can still see the back of my horse’s head coming down on top of me. Luckily I wasn’t hurt but no more muddy hills for me… ever! Sometimes fear needs to be conquered and sometimes fear is what keeps us from doing stupid things.
Hi, everyone!
Just wanted to say sorry for commenting all over, but I do hope I was helpful. We all have riding issues and it’s one giant learning process. There’s always more to learn!
My big issue right now is the sitting trot. I used to ride 4th level dressage, but three years ago was in a car accident, and my injuries left me with weakness in the lower back and core area as well as fear of reinjuring myself. Then, a year later, I lost my mare, a schoolmaster, to colic. My riding career took two major blows right in a row.
I’m with a trainer now who is wonderful. She’s working to get me back in shape. For now, we do all of my lessons in walk and trot (which is frustrating for me!) and we are working on getting my core stronger. The thing that has helped me the most has been the image of lifting the front of my pelvis, rather than sitting harder on my seatbones. I also work with a personal trainer at my gym, and she has given me some wonderful exercises to do at home to strengthen my core and relax my back (and if you have any of these, let me know. I’m always looking for homework!). Once I can sit the trot again, it will be on to canter, and hopefully moving up the levels again!
My sympathies, KM; there is nothing worse than being *mentally* able to do something but *physically* not up to it. But it definitely sounds like you’re on the right track. Since I’ve gotten back into riding after years of not really being able to afford it, I’ve also gained 30 pounds, and was constantly frustrated that I couldn’t ride the way I had when I was younger. My muscles weren’t strong enough, my movements weren’t graceful enough, and I was just frustrating myself. Rather than giving up and going home, I’ve taken up running (just registered for my first 5K!), have started a savings fund to get myself back into martial arts lessons, and have completely changed my diet. I’m going to drop those 30 pounds and gain back that muscle, by God. At least you’ve got a good reason for your setback… mine was just too many pizzas. ;D It’s too bad we probably don’t live anywhere near each other, or I’d pledge to be your workout buddy.
Congrats on your 5K, RRP! And I think pizza is a great excuse for 30 lbs…it’s my favorite
I gained weight, too, because I entered into a long time relationship…I call it my happy fat, and I’m on a mission to lose it! It would be nice to have a work out buddy, so I’ll just give you some encouragement from here….we can do it. One day at a time. Take care!
I couldn’t afford to ride like I wanted for 10 years and am finally back into riding regularly (5 times a week if possible!). Trying to get back in shape is killing me! Luckily for me, I’m on horses with shorter strides so the sitting trot isn’t as physically challenging as it would be on a dressage horse – it is hard enough keeping my core working as it should be!
One of my barn friends has a fresian cross with a much more active trot. She was discussing her recent discovery that if she, instead of trying to bring hips forward toward belly button to move with the horse brought butt cheeks up toward shoulder blades, could suddenly easily sit his trot. She has the core support she needs to think of it that way – until you build up your core, that’s really just tempting more back pain.
Good luck getting back in shape – it’s HARD, and after an injury it’s especially important!
Well you already addressed my main problem in your original post…I lean too far forward. I have to admit that although I’ve had numerous coaches yell at me to sit back, I’ve never felt the lightbulb moment…it just feels like I’m leaning too far back when they say it’s just right…I continue to battle riding position. But what about hands, and the two are probably related…lean forward, bad hands. I have bouncy hands that cause problems when I ride with contact. Any advise or little tricks on how to steady them?
I also feel like I’m leaning too far back when I’m correct. I’ve decided it might be related to rider conformation? Correct position simply doesn’t feel right to me but I keep hoping if I keep doing it, one day it will.
Regarding hands, the way I learned was to ride with my knuckles lightly touching the horse’s neck so that I learned to use my elbows as a hinge and not lock them up. Now, that WILL make you lean forward but I still think it’s an effective way of fixing the problem. Once you get in the habit of letting your elbows open and close as you post, it tends to stick.
That’s a cool idea. My instructor is on me constantly to move my elbows with the horse’s movement… it’s one of those thousand things I’m trying to remember to do all at the same time, so I often forget, but I do find that when I am able to keep my arms moving in rhythm with the horse, *everything* loosens up… to keep my arms moving I have to relax my shoulders, I can keep my wrists straight because all the movement I need is in the elbows, I have to relax my hips because that’s the only way to feel my horse’s rhythm…
I’m just at that point with my riding where I feel like I’m on the verge of breaking through and learning a whole new way of carrying myself to be a more effective rider. (OMG, muscles, RELAX!) So of course it’s been nothing but earthquakes and freaking monsoon season out here in my neck of the woods, and no covered arena at my instructor’s to ride in. :-/
Okay, I have my horse and myself in training… green horse and green rider kind of thing. To get my hands quieter, she has had me move my elbows out from my side, to help isolate my arms from the rest of my body. It works, but makes your arms tired as hell! But i am riding a western horse 2-handed, without any real contact… this might not work for an english horse.
get a martingale neckpiece, an old rein, or a long-enough stirrup leather and make a loop around the base of the horses neck. it should have enough slack so that your pinkies (still curled like your closed fist is usually shaped around the rein, but the rein isn’t tucked between the third finger and the pinky for this exercise) can be tucked under it when you are sitting properly and your hands are correct. Concentrate on not dropping the leather loop from your curled pinkies- it’s next to impossible unless your hands are very quiet. The motion of the horse will cause you to move properly, or the loop gets pulled off, and if you pull back the loop either bites into your flesh or falls off. It’s a great physical reminder of where your hands need to be. When you are better about not dropping the loop this way, hold the reins properly, and balance the loop across your thumbs, just on the tip. If you master that, celebrate, because I have been trying for nearly twenty years, and i still can only get about 3/4 the way around the arena before I lose it! Your horse will thank you.
I’d love to hear people comment on their thought processes when jumping a course. I’ve been riding for three years and finally (one of) my instructor pointed out that what I do is, say, jump into a line and then adjust based on what I’ve got. IOW, I have no expectations, no plan, UNTIL I’m already in the middle of the line. She said I need to decide what I want first, and then if it ain’t going to happen, adjust (and to work on my reaction time, too
. I don’t know why I found this perhaps obvious tip to be such a revelation and I’m wondering what other tips y’all might have.
I’m guessing that for many of you, you’ve been doing it for so long that you may not be AWARE of your thought processes, but if you could make a stab at putting those “unconscious” thoughts into concrete terms, I’d be most grateful.
When I was younger and jumping in many shows, my trainer had me not only memorize the course (necessary for jumping competitions obviously), but as I came down from a jump I looked where I was going next, so I was always looking ahead instead of looking where I was. Even if I was riding a straight line to another jump, I looked at that next jump. If I had to turn and ride across the arena to the next jump, as soon as the horse’s hooves hit the ground, I was looking at that next jump. It also helped the horse, they can feel where you are looking when you ride. Sensing where you are looking will give them a better idea regarding where you are going
This brings up a “lightbulb” moment I had – and it wasn’t while on the back of a horse! I was watching a jumping class (Adult Medal) from the judge’s box, which happened to be situated right where riders had to make a difficult roll-back turn after a fence. The judge kept saying, “Nope, she’s not going to make it (i.e. good distance to next fence),” or “This one’s got it.” I asked her how she could tell. She said, “They have to LOOK WHERE THEY’RE GOING as they’re in the air.” I asked why that was so important, and she told me, “Your head weighs at least 10 lbs. The horse can feel it move and can tell where you’re looking and where you want to go.” I was astonished – I’d never heard that before after 15+ years of riding! I had always tried to be “eyes up” and looking where I was going, but this really brought the importance home.
Do you do flat pattern work? If not, stop jumping courses and go back to that for a bit until you can do a complicated equitation pattern easily.
Jumping courses are essentially the same as doing an equitation pattern, except there are fences in the middle. You still need to think about where you need to turn, and think about your next movement as you’re on a current one. The tip about looking toward your next jump is essential. You also need to know yourself and your horse. Is your horse one who wants to slow down before a fence, but it’s a long two-stride combo? (If you don’t know this, get your trainer or someone good at counting strides to help you figure it out when you walk the course.) If you know your horse slows AND that it’s a long two stride- you’d better make sure you’re pushing forward to avoid losing momentum before you get there. On the other hand, if it’s a short three stride and your horse tends to like to go forward, you may have to sit deeper in the saddle between jumps to keep a steady rhythm and avoid speeding up to/at fences and the lengthening which can put you in a bad spot.
I would set out ground poles four forward horse strides away from each other (your horse does not have to jump; jumping is just flat work with stuff added). First, ride out of the corner with an even pace and do the line in five strides. Do it again until you are confident that you know what that pace feels like. Then, do the same line in four strides. Do not rush, stay rhythmic and organized. The easiest way to get the four is to ride a straight line. Think about your line before you make the turn, not just feeling what you have in the middle. Once you’ve done the four really well, go back to the five, and then try a six without breaking, and then go from a six to a four, and then a four to a six. Try to do it as subtly as you can, and then you’ll know what kind of line you’re going to have BEFORE you make the turn and you won’t have to fix it in the middle.
Obviously, your horse does not always stay consistent from the corner, so being able to fix the line is an important skill to have. For example, when you ride in college shows, you have no idea what the horse is going to do and the worst thing is to get a chip, so seeing distances gets important.
I would say ride the line you want from the corner. Too fast? Half-halt on the outside reign. Too slow? Push him off of your outside aides (keeping him straight is the easiest way to get the strides you want).
Fixing a line in the middle should be the last resort because you don’t need to give him something else to concentrate on besides the next jump. Keep it consistent and use the corners to organize.
While I deplore the jumping form, I feel I must point out that, as a matter of course, “fox” hunters in Austrailia routinely jump wire fences – hopefully with horses (and riders) displaying better and safer form that that pictured.
I took a couple of sessions with an Alexander Technique practitioner, and a couple of things she gave me to think about really helped my (dressage) position – especially since I came more from a jumper/eventer background: Keep your elbows at or behind your ribcage; “lead” with your sternum. I’d always been given the “shoulders back” mantra, which is essentially correct, but I’d still revert to slumped shoulders or I’d end up bracing/arching my back too much. The “elbows ahead of ribcage” and “lead with your sternum” enabled me to sit more erectly without being too stiff.
Another helpful comment was demonstrated to me by a clinician I rode with. She made me dismount and she put a lead rope around my back, as she held the ends like reins. She said, “Imagine this is your connection with the horse’s mouth. What happens if you arch your back, rather than keep it straight – you throw away the connection.”
Marky Mark (formerly Sandy M) [had to log on with new name since I no longer have my old e-mail]
While it may be true that Australian Fox Hunters jump wire fences that doesn’t make it either smart or safe. For example, I am sure that Richard Spooner’s horse is completely capable of jumping 3 foot wire fence but would he do it? heck no! On the off chance that something went wrong it would rip his horse’s legs to shreds. Why would you do that? It isn’t worth it.
I am surprised no one has mentioned personal fitness as a solution to many of the problems here. Balance is greatly improved with a strong core – I know no one likes to think about it, but sit ups in their various forms will work wonders. And having a good, strong body also hugely impacts your courage. When I am strong, I am a much more confident rider. I know some of you are recovering from injuries, so you may be exempted from some of that, but go to a physical therapist if you can — they can help you get your injured part as strong as possible. Do mat work Pilates – that will get you a strong, independent seat faster than anything, guaranteed. I am not a skinny person by any stretch of the imagination. Keeping in shape is not the same thing as skinny. Get stronger, and you will be a better rider.
Great point, especially about strength and confidence going hand-in-hand. My riding instructor always tried (and failed) to get me to take ballet classes . . . . these days Yoga or pilates would be more likely.
I think I mentioned I was doing these things in my post. I’m working with a personal trainer on my core strenght. I agree, it’s very helpful.
Haha, I wrote a short blog entry about that very thing: http://showhorsegallery.com/articles/getting_in_shape
Being Physically fit helps immensely. Nothing gets you in shape for riding like riding, BUT if you are strong all over, it will be a noticeable help in your riding.
Maybe this isn’t a riding question, but it’s the one I have. Herdiness at shows and trail rides. I have a mare who hasn’t been lots of places other than around our place and roads etc. When we went to our first (very local very fun) show, she was awful. My normally calm laidback mare was fussy and naughty. She called and fought to be with the others we had brought and these are NOT her normal herd buddies either. (Not pastured together) Any good exercises I can do at home to help when we are out would be greatly appreciated.
What has worked for us is to increase the frequency of going to events/places, the newness wears off a bit. My mare wasn’t buddy bound either but stressed and called out like yours. Once we got to our location, we immediately started working with her and did not give her enough time to sit and think….even if it was just leading her around the grounds and singing her goofy songs. Maybe that will help yours.
I have sort of a generic seat/leg position problem. First, a little background: I’m 28; I’ve been riding since I was 15. I started as a jumper, then in college rode off and on (depending on my schedule) at a dressage barn, and now I ride with an instructor who, when push comes to shove, is really a Western gal who knows some about English.
I’ve always had trouble with leg cues, especially lateral cues, and nobody — EVER, as far as I can remember — has corrected my leg position. I read a ton of stuff and I know all about ideal leg position — heels in line with shoulder & hip, cueing the horse with the sides rather than the backs of your legs, etc. However, it wasn’t until I saw a pile of photos taken during a schooling show in June that I realized I was totally riding with a chair seat! *cringe*
Interestingly, shortening my stirrups a hole helped me a little with that (it seemed so counter-intuitive to me), but I still struggle with keeping my legs in the right place. If I’m not constantly thinking about it (and even, sometimes, if I do), my legs still poke too far forward, and I literally CANNOT get my toes to not totally duck out to the sides. Cueing with the inside of my leg is, physically, almost an impossibility.
When I ride without stirrups I am FINE. It’s easier for me to feel how to lengthen my leg down and my body up. With stirrups, I find it easier to maintain position and to control my lower legs if I’m sitting the trot. Posting presents a problem. Am I bracing on the stirrups? I also have a HUGE post and I can’t figure out if that’s just the way I’m built or if I’m doing something wrong! All these years nobody has ever corrected any of these things. My current instructor gets after me about my feet but doesn’t ever have a solution. I can’t just turn my toes in — it’s uncomfortable and my leg doesn’t seem to be designed that way.
The POV is iffy but here are links to two photos from that day. Please pay no attention to the awful piano hands or the fact that my mare was pretending to be a giraffe in the one photo. We’ve sorted through those issues (mostly
)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/16179876@N00/3639045900/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/16179876@N00/3605940820/
THANK YOU Cathy for this one
If you ride better without stirrups, then ride more without stirrups! Eventually, that leg position will become your ’set’ leg position, and anything else will feel wrong. Then you simple add stirrups on as an accessory. This should also fix your posting issues; the posting you do while stirrup-less should be more correct than whatever you are doing with stirrups.
Of course, if you really want a nice, tight, correct leg, then bareback is the way to go….
Try to think about heels down and out rather than toes up and in. It works for me with or without stirrups. It really gets the correct muscles in contact with the horse/saddle too.
Jess, please check out my comment above re: my “toes out” position. Maybe you have the same hip conformation that I do! Your toes really don’t look that bad, quite honestly. I did I notice that the saddle you’re using has pretty big knee rolls. I found my toes improved a bit with a flatter saddle, so you might want to try that out.
Are you sure that the problem is you – Librarianjess? There are also a number of other factors that can influence your seat? In the photo “don’t mind that big debris pile in the back.”, if you draw a couple of lines – one from the stirrup bar straight down, and another from your shoulders through your hips and straight down – you’ll see a big difference.
What a sweet looking horse! Very purdy.
A a person who has struggled with having a “chair position” for the longest time – it wasn’t until I started trying different saddles that I realized that it wasn’t all me. I’m a shorty – 4′10″ -with short thighs and little feet, and it took finding a dressage saddle with modified (set back) stirrup bars to bring my leg into alignment. To the point that I ended up playing with photos of saddles, me in a bad positions, and plumb lines: http://web.me.com/anthonyandserena/Horses/Blog/Entries/2009/10/13_Observation__The_saddle_is_important_(long_story).html
I saw your post earlier at work and decided to wait till I got home to put in my $.02, and talsgal beat me to it. I had a saddle that I loved but my instructor was constantly harping that it was too small for me, so I found a beautiful used prestige saddle that was supposedly more appropriate. Well, it was a constant battle to stay out of a chair seat in that prestige. I got so sick and tired of hearing LOWER LEG BACK! I was fit to be tied. Finally, I went back to my other too small saddle (that fortunately I hadn’t been able to sell) and voila, problem solved. The upshot was my trainer from then on kept her mouth shut about it being too small. And I found a great home for the prestige at the same price I paid for it. So, it could very well be your saddle or possibly even the saddle is fine but it needs to be restuffed or something.
Ugh…your knees are IN the knee rolls. That means one of two things…your stirrups are too short or the saddle doesn’t fit you. I can’t tell very well from that picture, but my hunch is its the saddle.
Forget both your stirrups and your lower legs for a bit. Try to do a sitting trot without stirrups. Really stretch down with your legs, don’t worry if your heels are down. And see if you can feel the difference in how your thighs contact the saddle. In your photos, the back of your thighs are on the saddle. You want to open up your hips and use the inside of your thighs rather than back of your thighs. This takes a lot of stretching and soreness, and for me only is really possible when I ride without stirrups (including bareback) or in a comfortable dressage saddle with stirrups. Once you get that stretch, the rest of your legs will follow. I’m knock-kneed. My legs go IN at the knee. I know it can be hard, but once you get it, it helps everything with your riding – how effective your legs are, your balance, your ability to sit.
I’m not saying sit back on your pockets or roll forward onto your crotch – there are different pelvic angles preffered in different types of riding. But opening in your hips looks like it will fix your lower leg problems.
For your huge post – let your horse determine the height of your post. Sit the trot for a few strides, really loosen your lower back and relax into it, feel the bounce, get your shoulders behind your hips and feel the horses motions. When you are relaxed an in the zone with a nice, even working trot, straighten up a little, imagine a string connecting your helmet to the ceiling, and your weight is off the saddle and you can barely keep your seat in the saddle, you are practically bouncing out of the saddle with every stride.
Then let the horse throw your hips up and forward (don’t worry about diagonals yet) – concern yourself more with controlling the fall back into the saddle than with controlling the upward motion, imagine your seat, and ankles as springs with your knees the hinge connecting them – do NOT pull with your front muscles at all, the horse is doing the work of moving you out of the saddle.
Your seat moves as your knees bend and your ankles flex. Do this for five strides, and then sit again. Keep alternating until your post is barely different than the top of your sit.
Your post is as big as the horses stride and you shouldn’t really be going “up and down” so much as “forward and back”. If you are busy cranking your hips up and forward when you post, your lower leg gets pulled up and forward by the thigh muscles that need the leverage.
The string technique works for sitting the canter as well. Pulling the weight out of your seat into your heel while your sort out the “sit and push” sweeping motion that is needed.
Hey! Were you on Julie Goodnight recently? I think I just watched that episode last night (I record them and watch when no one else is around to complain). Very pretty horse!
When I got my first horse, I was 29 years old and hadn’t ridden much since my pony rides in Woodland Park in the 1940s. It was the early 1970s when I decided to do the horse thing, and I bought a broke-to-death AQHA that knew more about everything riding-related than I did (no surprise there). I wanted to ride English and do some hunter/jumper stuff.
At the time very few trainers would give lessons to adults. The money was with junior riders, kids whose parents were willing to pay big bucks for horses, tack, equipment, lessons, and shows. Adults were “afraid” and “untalented,” and I had to search high and low to find someone that wanted to teach ME and not just take me on because I had this talented horse. I relied on books, magazines, and observation at shows. English was a relatively new offering in AQHA shows then, and our classes were smaller but we did very well.
End result was that with minimal lessons, a lot of hard work, and the willingness to go out and give it a try, my horse and I did very well. He got his ROM and points besides, I got a lot of nice year-end awards, and it was a great time while it lasted. During the later years (late 70s) the style of English and Western pleasure began to change, with the poll-at-withers-level, four-beat canter forehand heavy “way of going” taking over. My horse and I were “old school.”
Fast forward 25 or so years and here I am once again considering adventure in Horseland. This time it was with a greenbroke OTTB. I still liked a horse in the bridle, so I opted for dressage.
I got involved with the local dressage chapter, went to several dressage clinics watching the likes of Mary Wanless (the talking head), Axel Steiner (very fun as well as knowledgeable), and Debbie McDonald (before the Olympics ;o) I got books and magazines and added videos and DVDs, reading, watching and learning as much as I could while NOT out on the horse. Finding a trainer willing to teach adults was easier. Finding a GOOD trainer was a bit more difficult, of course — some things never change ;o) — but at least there were opportunities.
My riding style had not changed. Perched forward, soft contact, no preparation before asking for a change or transition (because my AQHA didn’t need such a thing) and riding very much like a hunt seat rider.
My most difficult challenge has been using my seatbones and sitting “upright.” I always thought my canter position was very good, but the first dressage trainer I found told me I “pumped” with my upper body. She offered a clinic with a German fellow, and HE gave me the best advice for the canter: “Ride with your stomach.”
Like Fugly with the trainer pulling on the reins, his comment flipped a switch and that old light bulb just popped right on. THINKING about my stomach made me “heavier” in my core, put me on my seatbones where I belong, AND has helped with the sitting trot, too. My horse has a short back and a slight roach back, so he has to be “over his back” for the trot to work.
I am more “with” the horse and he becomes more connected, more on contact, and more “through” — all those hoity dressage terms that may not look like ANYTHING, but feel absolutely wonderful when all things come together.
I have on tape a comment from this same German instructor. I am cantering along (riding with my stomach ;o), and he says to someone sitting next to him, “That canter looks like it’s all the horse’s idea.”
As it happened, the comment he made was to ME while I was riding. I have had other “light bulb moments” when I have been watching someone else’s lesson or auditing a clinic. The clinician’s instruction “hits home.”
Currently I ride with two ladies. One is also from Germany. She is very into “precision” and correctness. The other is from the Dutch school. She rides with several prominent clinicians, including Judy Harvey from UK and Debbie McDonald. Their methods are different, their verbiage is different, and their exercises for ME are different. But the PROBLEM is the same. The horse and rider are the same. And their suggestions about “using my core” hit home, every time.
I’m not yet cleared to ride after my rotator cuff surgery last November, but I can work on my core muscles and “think” about riding with my stomach and sitting on my seatbones. I cannot WAIT to get back in the saddle.
I love lightbulb moments as much as I hate them. On one hand, I love getting past a hangup and getting to move on to other things, and on the other hand I hate that it took me so long to find out something so obvious. Usually, I laugh at myself.
Hands.
I rode from babyhood to age 19, by which time I was just pottering about on an ex-riding school pony who had no mouth (he was twenty or so by then, and we think the person who broke him in as a colt did some permanent damage, not helped by riding school time). I generally didn’t mess much with his mouth at all.
I’m now 32 and riding once more, in a foreign country, and trying to get my nerve back. We don’t potter aroun dthe countryside, but do low-level dressage.
The issue I have is not knowing how much of a “hold” to take. I want to ride with my legs and my seat, and interfere with the horse’s mouth as little as possible, perhaps because I’ve gotten neurotic about hauling or hurting a horse. I’ve also lost the instinct and confidence I had as a girl and teenager. The instructors I’ve had here in Germany stressed the need to have more of a hold on the horses’ mouths at all times. This seemed less important when I had a lesson at a UK school.
Could someone just help give me a rule of thumb about hand-rein-bit contact?
I’ve just remembered that at the same time that I was riding the no-mouth pony, I was also riding a mare who was so sensitive that if you mishandled her mouth she would stop dead at a fence. I used to be able to get through entire lessons without her stopping, but perhaps this made me supercautious with other horses?
Horses require as much of a hold as they are trained to accept. You can train them to seem as if their mouths are “broken” like the pony of your childhood and you can train them to freak out with the slightest pressure like this mare you mention. There is an excellent national riding program in Germany however I personally feel like they ride with white knuckles which seems more like wrestling instead of dancing. In Spain I was taught that contact should feel like dancing with a partner. You ground each other and communicate in small, even gentle ways. You get this by training and riding your own horse. Strange horses will feel like strange dance partners. So the answer is: do as you are told by the trainer when dealing with their horse because they know how the horse has been trained.
You want a straight line from the bit to your hands. The horse’s nose should be perpendicular to the grown and his poll shouldn’t be too high or too low. Generally at least. If you’re doing pleasure (Western or English) you want a lower headset.
You’re best bet for getting a nice soft grip on your horse is to give and take give and take. Small corrections will soften your horse and you won’t feel like you’re dragging on his mouth. For example when my mare, who has a naturally high head set to bring her head down I squeeze on my reins a little and when she pull back on my hands a release the pressure so she doesn’t pull be forward. By doing this repeatedly she will bring her head where I want it and I didn’t have a tug-of-war match with her to do it.
Also you can control your horse’s pace with your posting, so you can keep a soft contact with their mouth. I always ask for speed/gait changes with my body before I touch my reins. For example if you want a slower trot, slow your post. Most of the time you can slow your horse without evening touching your reins by doing this. Think slow, breathe slow, talk slow and post slower. It’s like magic.
If all else fails, have someone videotape you ride. This is always helpful for discovering a multitude of problems and from there you can try and fix your posture, hands, etc…
Thank you! Those definitely help.
LOL at slower posting. The problem is, the German school horses understand German much better than I do. The instructor says, “and walk” and while I’m still figuring out what he said, the horse has dropped a pace.
There is no rule of thumb. Sorry, but that is my experience. Different horses need different approaches and so do different riders. However, by current trainer always tells me that when she goes to a new stable to teach, the first thing she usually has to teach her new students (usually not beginners) is that their horses will not brake and it’s actually ok to use your hands when you ride. Leaving the mouth alone is ok at the beginning, but as you and your horse progress a stronger contact might be necessary at some point along the way.
Also, different countries do have different riding styles. For example: I have noticed that the American show jumpers are usually much more lighter in their saddles while the Europeans tend to sit more into the saddle before a fence.
I hesitated to say that it was a German/British difference because there’s all sorts of riding going on here: centered, western, Parelli (yup), old-school dressage, tolting on Icelandics…
“Feel” is the hardest thing you will ever have to learn. One thing that helped me was the idea of “pushing” the horse to the contact, not “pulling.” Most of us try to bring the bit to the horse by pulling more on the reins and bringing our hands closer to our bodies. Try keeping your reins shorter and your hands in front of your saddle pad at all time, and then riding the horses energy forward into your reins (the reins should be a straight line, so they should be somewhat taut, but NOT pulling). If the horse resists, add more leg pressure, rather than pulling on the rein to ask him to submit. To keep the horse from going faster, squeeze your outside rein (the regulating rein) and close your elbow. That prevents the horses energy, which is being generated by the inside hind, from escaping through the outside shoulder. Remember to be patient with yourself and to appreciate the small victories. When you do finally achieve contact with your horse, it will probably only be for a stride or two at a time. Start with those few strides, get familiar with what you feel and what you did to achieve it, and then add a few more, until it’s consistent. Happy riding!
I have a question: when Miss Mare has a case of the naughties and would rather scrape me alongside the roundpen than w-o-r-k, what is the proper way to correct her? I’ve tried bending TO the rail … sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I’ve also tried circles at the spot that she began being naughty and just when I think we’ve worked it out, she’ll do it again.
I’ve found that this has caused me to be unbalanced (weight drops to the inside leg, the one that doesn’t get scraped), so it’s really nice to see so many balance suggestions!
Miss Mare usually only does this when we’re working on our trot-to-canter transitions. She doesn’t like to canter which I think is partly because SHE’S unbalanced (we’re working on that) and so heavy on the forehand.
Any help is appreciated!
One other thing you can do is to shift your weight into you inside leg to bring her away from the rail. Also don’t let her get too close to the rail to begin with. Your outside leg should apply pressure to push her off the rail and you should keep your hands steady so she doesn’t try to turn to the outside. If you use the correct aids to get the right bend she shouldn’t be able to get close enough to the rail to rub you off.
Maybe find a dressage arena to ride in while working on getting the correct bend? This way there is no rail to be rubbed off of.
If she’s being very aggressive about trying to rub you off, running to the rail, I would smack her good and hard when she does it with a crop on the shoulder. That’s very naughty behavior. If you let her continue to get away with it she could really hurt you.
That being said always make your correction only as severe as it needs to be. And then carry on. Don’t ever correct out of anger, and don’t make a big deal out of it afterward.
Miss Mare’s never overly aggressive about it but she definitely tests the waters from time to time. A crop is a good idea though, I’ll see about one.
Dressage is exactly what we’re trying to learn but I live in a small town and there’s no dressage arenas (and, unfortunately, no dressage instructors), everything here is geared towards western. I’ll see if I can’t find an empty paddock at the barn this weekend, I’m anxious to try out your suggestions.
Thanks for commenting!
One of my favorite exercises is leg yielding on a circle. You can leg yield in to make the circle smaller, and out to make the circle larger. You can find an example of this exercise and step-by-step instructions in How to Build a Better Athlete by Leslie Webb (there are a ton of great exercises in this book, by the way). Remember when you leg yield out to make your circle larger that your outside leg is still present and you’re not allowing the horse to just drift to the rail. And having a crop or dressage whip to reinforce the leg is a great idea.
Also, you mentioned not having an arena available, but what about a field? I love working in open fields because it challenges me to really use my legs to guide the horse on a line rather than depending on the rail for a reference. We’re just as dependant on the rail as the horses are most of the time.
I don’t know too much about your horse obviously, but when my horse was a lot younger she was very wobbly. What I mean by that is she didn’t like to go in a straight line. She didn’t bend the way I wanted either. She also tried to rub me off a lot. And when we would go for trail rides she would try to rub me off on the trees.
She knew what she was doing too, it was completely deliberate. Part of it was immaturity on her part and part of it was her greenness and another part was to see what she could get away with. I did exactly what I suggested to you and now at 11, her brain is fully formed and she’s gotten so much better at walking in a straight line and bending. I wouldn’t put it past her to try it once in a while, but (knock on wood) she doesn’t attempt to rub me off ever.
I agree about working on circles in an open area and doing leg yields. I would also add working on doing perfectly straight lines too.
Is there a reason that you are riding in the roundpen? I have found that it is very difficult to ride in the round pen on any horse without scraping your legs along the rail and it isn’t necessarily your horse’s fault. Try riding in an arena or large square pen and see if that helps.
Do you have to ride in a round pen? Often times some straight work can help a horse with balance issues-they learn to carry themselves with a straight, balanced body – then learn to bend and stay balanced. In this case, though, I am guessing you need to remember to support your horse with outside cues. If you’re having the problem at trot-canter transitions, your outside leg should already be on her to ask her to canter. Are you turning her head more to the inside to try to ensure she gets the correct lead? Most likely, you are throwing away your outside rein – not maintaining contact, so even if you have outside leg contact you’re losing half her body. She’ll throw weight to the outside shoulder and rub you into the fence. In the end, this actually sets her up for the wrong lead, as well. (Assuming that is what’s happening, as I’m guessing.)
Ok I am new here on FHOTD but I wanted to post. I have been riding for going on 14 years and have prided myself in having a good seat. Straight line from ear, shoulder, hip and heel. Heels down toes in the whole circle.
I started working for a lady that has Paso Fino’s (and have completely fallen in love with them) and have been riding them for just over 10 months. The issue I am having is that while ridding them I tend to slip into a chair seat. My legs slip forward and I start slumping. I realize and fix it but before I know it I’m back into the chair seat. When I am riding any of the other horses (non-gaited) I can keep my good position without having to think, its automatic. Any hints as to how to fix this on the Pasos?
My other question is when I ride my right foot starts to hurt and then after about 20 minutes goes numb. I have always had bad knees (stupid genetics) and I have tried different saddles, different stirrups, english, and western. The ONLY thing that helps is riding with my toes out (taking my foot out of the stirrup and letting it dangle)
Any hints on that?
What kind of boots are you wearing? Do they fit fairly well or are they a bit too big so you add extra socks or are they a smidge too tight? Are they tall boots that need to be broken “down” more so they don’t cut off your circulation?
People with new tall boots can get heel raiser things. They fit in the heel of their boots and raise the heel up a bit so the boots don’t cut off circulation at the knee.
Just a couple of thoughts here. Been where you are, for sure.
Currently I wear Ariat Terrains. And they fit perfectly with normal socks. Currently I dont wear tall boots (used to) but the problem has been there and has gotten worse as I have gotten older (ok im not old Im only 22).
I used to ride in Justin Ropers and I thought maybe the new boots would help (that and my old ones were so worn the soles had holes in them) But the problem has remained….
I mentioned this in a reply earlier, too, but it may apply for you as well. Make sure you’re riding more on the inside of your thighs than the back of your thighs. I’m just getting back into riding shape, and that involves a LOT of stretching to be able to do this. When I was first riding again, I would get pain in my right leg and my foot would go numb. It came from having my body trained for correct position, without being on my inner thighs (due to lack of physical ability to do it until I re-developed the flexibility) and having a strange break/angle in my ankle which I didn’t notice until I was in pain! Now that I can sit more deeply in the saddle (because that’s exactly what switching to inside of the thigh does for you) all of a sudden my lower leg pains are gone.
Hmmm…. I had never thought of that… Im going to try that on Friday when I go riding again.
I get show nerves, which doesn’t make much sense considering I’ve been showing my whole life. But that was barrel racing. Last year I started taking jumping lessons and I get extremly nervous while having a crowd watch me, once I settle in i’m fine but you don’t really get that chance at a show. I do just fine while practicing, getting the right strides and going into 2 point at the right moment. But when I get nervous I get sloppy. It also doesn’t help that I have a sensitive horse. But I don’t show english very often, but I’d really like to be able to do it without a fit full of nervous when I do.
I am a rider who began three years ago, when I was 9.
I was taught by an instructor, who, as long as I could stay on the horse I was good. Looking back, the barn was incredibly unsafe and I’m lucky have made it out without any serious injures;)
Now I’m doing English, and want to do serious competitions after perfecting my riding as much as possible. My posture is bad off the horse and mediocre on the horse, to me my leg is painfully loose, [but my instructor says it probably isn't as bad as I'm thinking it is. I absolutely love her;o] and with various other issues, I can never get my diagonal or my two point right.
Maybe it’s because I’m out of shape? I can post quietly when I’m on the correct diagonal and if I really work hard my leg isn’t as bad and my two point keeps getting better. I have no fear but I know I’ve become soft since we moved here;) No riding green horses before a rodeo, just awesome old lesson horses and one fat little pony named Tico<3
So, all you great riders, send me tips or advice, ANYTHING, on riding that will help me. But for now, I'm going to talk to my instructor and study those books;]
PS ~ If you would recommend any horse forums that will help me, I'd appreciate it too:)
When you say you can’t get your diagonal, I presume you mean you can’t pick it up correctly without looking? Try this:
Get a nice, steady trot going, watching the shoulders to find the correct diagonal and get yourself on it (starting along the fence will help you find it easily.) Once your trot is steady and you are sure you are on the correct diagonal, start counting in time with your posting. Count to five, then start over again at one. 1-2-3-4-5-1-2-3-4-5 ect. Do that at least three times, then sit the trot for the count of five, then start rising again. Don’t loose count, but check the shoulder to make sure your on the correct diagonal. Once you’re ready, do it again. Eventually, you want to be alternating five strides sitting with five rising. The goal is to feel the movement of the shoulders in time with your counting. Once you can track where the shoulders are without looking at them, finding the right diagonal without looking is easy.
Another thing that might help is practicing changing diagonal of the posting trot without changing direction: when at the posting trot (up down up down) sit for two strides (down down up) and trot on that diagonal once around the ring in the same direction. Then sit twice, for two strides, again and then you will be back on the correct diagonal/the diagonal you started on.
You’re right, LearningDressage, I absolutely cannot get my diagonal right without staring at the horses’ outside leg like an idiot. It makes me soo angry, and honestly, whenever I ask for help on it I feel stupid because I’m the only one in my lesson group speaking out. When my instructor tells me what’s happening and what I need to do to correct it but sometimes it only confuses me more. But, thanks, I’ll totally remember what you told me! Hopefully there will be an improvement this Saturday.
Oh, and thanks devvie(: I’ll see if I can get extra riding time to do what you say without getting screamed at:P hahaha lol
I like the equisearch.com forums
You have restored my faith in the next generation with your good grammar. Thank you.
I would just get out and practice. Your young, and you can only go up from here. Don’t worry about being competitive and don’t concentrate on your faults- you’re too young! Listen to your instructor. She sounds great.
Thanks for the compliment, forNARNIA!
If I could I would be out at the barn 24/7, however I have a social life and the stable is overran with barn rats to begin with;o Before we moved here, (when I rode Western) I was literally at the barn every day except Wednesday. I was lunging, grooming, mucking out stalls, riding green horses and warming up the “lesson horses”. On Sunday I was doing lead pony for hours for the little kids. But now, there’s an actual waiting list to help out! I was horrified.
But, as soon as I could, I was on the list and I’m patiently waiting for my turn. EVERY Saturday I request a different horse, because variety is the spice of life. ;] Supposedly she’s switching me to another horse this upcoming lesson so I have a wider selection for the coming shows this Spring/Summer.
And on the not concentrating faults thing… it’s so hard. I want to be the absolute best I can be so I can eventually get a scholarship for riding. That’s why I’m on this board to begin with; to improve my riding. ;D
When riding western, do you sit back on your hip pockets or on your seat bones? I’ve heard either way and not sure what is correct.
We’re trying to find someone who’ll give lessons on our horses that is close by and easy to maneuver in and out so I can haul the horses there with our kids (I’m not the best at maneuvering the truck and trailer), but no luck so I’m learning by reading.
Does anyone have any suggestions on DVD’s for beginner riders? Or how to do ground work/training/trust building exercises? Clearly I want to know it all but can not afford lessons as much as I would like. Also, how about a riding instructor near Monterey, California? Also, is there an exercise that anyone can recommend that does not require lots of equipment to improve balance? I would appreciate any and all suggestions.
I just finished reading “Beyond the Homestretch”! It was wonderful and really put my mind at ease that I am not the only person that constantly doubts my abilities. “that horse will kill you!” ha ha GREAT BOOK!!
Thanks.
Julie Goodnight has some awsome dvd for beginners. She uses natural horsemanship but not to the extreme. She believes in having a relationship and trust between horse and rider but that there are also times when the horse is being plain rude and needs a good thump to listen. On her website she also has a question and answer area. She also does the Horse Master Tv show which I don’t get in Canada and you can apply to be on the show. Hope this helps!
http://juliegoodnight.com/
I love Clinton Anderson’s Downunder Horsemanship for english and western riders book. Lots of great groundwork, and easy for beginners to “get.” It really helped me!
I am a re-rider, having had two lessons now after a hiatus of 15 years. I was never a good rider, and have always ridden hunt seat. I got a gift certificate for lessons at a saddleseat barn. I am very overweight and out of shape, so of course riding is a challenge. I so far I have been mostly walking circles and serpentines, with brief periods of sitting trot and even briefer of posting trot. During the second lesson, I pulled a groin muscle. Does anyone have suggestions about stretching exercises or other ways to prevent re-injuring the muscle or pulling others.
Also, being new to saddleseat, I am not sure if I am being given the right instruction. My coach is telling me to saw on the mare’s mouth to get her head up (she is in one of those bicycle chain snaffles). That seems rough to me. The mare does get her head up, but gets very tense and hard to ride. When my coach let me do it my way, I had her head down and flexed nicely like a dressage horse, which my coach thought was funny, but I found much more comfortable. Is it normal to “saw” at a horse’s mouth to get their heads up?
OMG, no no no! That is not normal at all! And the bicycle chain snaffle – oh no!
I would like to respectfully suggest that you look for another place to take lessons….
AGH! I would find a new trainer. Bicycle chain bits are incredibly harsh and would explain why your mare is so tense (who would blame her?). Try and find a trainer who is willing to work with you at a slower pace with more gentle methods to get the results you are looking for.
Are you sure you want to ride with this individual? It sounds like you want softer, more relaxed movement, and that’s just not really what saddleseat is. I haven’t ridden saddle seat personally, but you can see how tense the entire horse’s body is. Before worrying about if what you’re being told to do is the “right” way to cue – ask yourself if this is even the type of riding you want to do!
Welcome back to the saddle, though! My break was about 9 years, and getting back in shape is HARD!
I train Arab saddleseat horses, and we follow the same training pyramid as Dressage trainers. Relaxation and suppleness are absolutely very important to our Saddleseat horses. Without relaxation one cannot collect and utilize the brilliance in a performance. Brilliance in a Saddleseat horse is no more a loss of relaxation than it is in a properly trained upper level Dreesage horse. Saddlebred training is quite a bit different than what we do,and bad training is bad training in any discipline, so please don’t paint all Saddleseat with the same brush.
One thing to keep in mind is a lot of saddleseat lesson horses are old show horses that have had years of bad hands and/or bad trainers – it is not easy to undo that damage. The trainer could put her on the horse with a less severe bit but that could result in very little control which could be unsafe. But to answer your question, you don’t want to saw as much as you want to bump left, bump right. A lot of Huntseat riders will use a series of half halts with a lot of leg to get a horse into the bridle but often with a saddleseat horse, the issue isn’t so much about getting the head “in” as getting it up so using the alternate bumps helps raise the head.
Aieee! Run! Get thee to a barn that is nicer to their horses and suits your preferences better.
Also, get a stability ball and sit on it instead of a chair. Around ten minutes in, your core will be having a fit! When you can sit on one all day at work (or just all day if you don’t have a desk job) add yoga or pilates. Alternate with light weights (cans of soup are fine) and just GET MOVING. I am working on shedding 80 extra pounds and I find that “exercise” bores me, but just moving is okay. Walk the dog, do a load of laundry by going to the dryer, taking out one garment, walking to the living room, folding it, walking back, get one more, etc etc. Tai chi chuan is quiet and stretchy if that is available for you. Swim! Water aerobics, water walking (walk along the water in a lap lane in a 3 foot pool, it is surprising how much resistance the water adds). Swing at the park. Geocache or orienteer on horseback (trail riding with a purpose, LOVE IT!) Muck stalls and scrub buckets for lesson time.
oh noes! I am not a saddleseat expert, but sawing is never nice. And with a chain bit, I would go so far to say as it’s cruel.
It sounds like you are a sympathetic rider who is naturally seeking harmony with the horse. I think dressage would be right up your alley.
The feel on the bridle you are looking for with a saddle seat horse is a lot different than you’re looking for with a hunt seat horse.
You shouldn’t be seesawing- what you should be doing is setting your own form, shifting or bumping the bridle just enough to get the horse to come up off the bridle, and then stay in that neutral contact, leaving the bridle light and steady unless the horse goes back down on the bit.
Also meant to add- the seesaw or bump shouldn’t be a BIG motion. when i think of shifting the bit or bumping my horse back , I am not moving my hand or arm- merely closing my fingers into my hand, and then releasing.
I have a problem sitting my horses’ trot. He’s nicely built, but his slower, non-extended trot is really uncomfortable and I look like a Jell-O rider when I try to sit it. Does anyone have any tips on how to sit a more uncomfortable trot without extending the jog?
I had this problem when I was riding a Warmblood–my trainer’s answer then was the longe line! If you can find someone to be the handler, start walking, no stirrups. When you pick up the trot, grab onto the cantle with one hand and under the pommel with the other. This will hold your seat and upper leg. Eventually let go of the cantle, then the pommel. And when doing this exercise, always always wear a helmet because at first it can be hard to balance.
Thanks for the tip! I’ll try that next time I ride!
i’d try riding bareback, or with a good suede non-slipping bareback pad. at a walk feel the horse’s feet as they pick up and put down. try to move with the motion in a gentle way. have someone videotaping you and when you feel good say this is good, when you feel bad say this is bad so when you watch the video you can figure out what is going on between the horse’s movement and yours. then try the same at the trot.
Is he truly jogging? It sounds like he may be half-walking or something? I’ve never known of a horse who was more comfortable when faster. When rounded and using his back, maybe. How are you getting him to slow? Can you sit a faster trot?
If you can, start by going into a faster trot, sitting. Just slow your body’s rhythm. Your horse will slow to match you. Feel where your horse starts to fall apart, if your horse starts to fall apart. Usually if you slow with your body/seat instead of your reins, your horse will be able to hold itself together better. Work on circles and slowing your rhythm and using your legs to encourage your horse to lift its back, and you should be able to sit the slower trot, too. Just remember that sitting a trot and appearing still actually means moving a lot! You should be moving in the waist, and your legs should be absorbing your motion so your shoulders/head are the only part really truly seeming to be still.
I’m having a bit of an issue with a young pony mare…she’s very determined to keep her nose to the wall no matter what, no matter how much inside bend is applied. Her body and neck will turn, but not her nose. It is very hard to keep her engaged and in a steady rhythm. If anyone has any ideas, I will be so so thankful.
This sounds like a physical issue. Have you had the pony checked by a vet or a chiropractor? I would, just to check. She may have some discomfort.
Yes, the vet literally just came out a few days ago for a good general exam, but, recalling this issue, we had them look at her back and mouth just in case, but the pony is pretty young so we think it’s more of a, “Oh heck, I just don’t feel~ lie paying attention today; there’re pretty things over there, too….” thing. She does have easy days where her whole body, nose and all, is going in the same direction, but she’s not a very smart pony overall and when her attention is disengaged it just makes for one very awkward looking corner and such.
With a firm inside leg at the girth, feel the inside rein until…you may have to be quite firm…she flexes her head and neck IN. Then release. I’ve found that over-correcting this particular problem causes them to eventually realize ‘Hey, it’s easier to just go straight’. But you need to keep the leg on solidly, or she’s going to turn inwards.
I need some help with staying seated!
I take lessons at a farm near my house and I’ve been riding for two years now. I’m usually seated on the old lesson horses who don’t have the best movement (fuglies, but lovable fuglies.) I’m currently riding an Appaloosa gelding whose trot is short and choppy. I ride western, so I don’t post to the trot. My question is, how can I minimize bouncing and moving around in the saddle? Even if I’m not bouncing, my upper body still feels stiff and jerky with the horse’s movement. I never know where to grip with my legs either- calves make the horse go faster, knees make my lower legs wobble. I’ve Google searched how to stop bouncing, but I can’t seem to stop jiggling around nonetheless!
Any advice can help!
Mary11 – Here is something that works for me, not a master of any particular discipline just somebody that rode a lot over the years in various styles. I always concentrate on relaxing and almost “flowing” into the horse from that part way down low in my lower back. Not the butt checks. The spot right in your tailbone or perhaps slightly above. For me, just an all-around sort of trail rider, that’s always been the “core” of my balance and seat on a horse. When I can feel the horse moving through me in that spot, then I can easily “move with” the more jarring gaits especially sitting a bouncy trot. And when I can relax that spot, then my legs can be long and deep in the stirrups and relaxed as well – NOT gripping with the knees or the lower legs. And my shoulders are back and relaxed as well. When I’m feel nervous on a horse I work on this technique as well, it relaxes me and seems to relax the horse as well. Riding bareback once was sometimes a faster way for me to find that “sweet spot” although now that I’m not the young whippersnapper I once was I do admit bareback can be ouchy even when it is all going right!
Mary- I always balance from my core (abs). It’s the only parts of your body that’s always in a position to stablize yourself. Legs are for cues, not for stablitity!
I seem to have troubles keeping my balls of my feets properly in the stirrups when I go into the canter. My foot just ends up slipping back, and I can’t figure out why. It only happens in the canter and I keep my heels down, so I don’t quite know why that’s happening. I also wanted to know how to relax more in the sitting trot. I always end up tensing up and I feel a little ridiculous as if I’m flopping around and my hands all over the place. I tried deep breathing, but it doesn’t seem to work too well. Any suggestions?
I would just do about a million canter pickups and experiment with different positions and try to become more self aware.
As for the sit trot, try getting a friend help you out and lunge your horse so you can figure it out. Grab the front of the saddle to sink deeper just to see what it feels like.
I would pretend that you were going up and down more than going forward. That being said, don’t start pushing because then your horse will speed up and you’ll never sit that fast and hollow trot. Get contact on your hands so you can control the speed without legs as you try to figure out where they should go, but don’t start to rely on your hands and don’t pop your horse in the mouth. The mare I ride won’t abide by sloppy hands. Typical mare. Anyway, I can’t sit the trot and stop her from escalating at the same time.
try dropping your stirrups: unless you don’t feel comfortable with it
slow down before you commit to sitting: this way it’s easier to sit the trot and your horse learns to slow down when you sit
try it on a circle at first: push your outside seat bone into the saddle if your horse falls in.
work on a circle at first
Thanks for the suggestions! I will definitely work on my feet the next time I canter.
The problem with lunging is I’m not in a private class, so we don’t do lunge line stuff, but I will work on my sit trot with those things in mind. I think part of the problem was I have been on the same horse for the entire time I’ve ridden (only 2 years) and she’s quite a stubborn one. I was always more focused on getting her going and listening to me, keep her pace etc., that I didn’t get time to focus on my position. Now that I’m in my Prep to Jump class, I have a different horse that’s alot less stubborn, so it should be easier to work on these things.
Thanks again. ^^
I’m another one with poor conformation.
I’m short and I have short legs and arms. The problem starts when I need to keep a bend in my elbow, but then my hands aren’t in the right place because I have to have the reins longer than normal people to keep the bend. This is confounding to my instructor who yells at me to shorten the reins, then yells at me to put a bend in my elbows. Don’t tell me I shouldn’t have a draft cross for starters; she is my BFF. Any ideas would be very much appreciated!
This is such a great topic, I’ve read every single post and learned a lot.
Swinging lower leg? Check!
Elbows sticking out like a chicken? Check!
Bad case of nerves? Check!
My daughter says I look like someone strapped a rubber chicken to the back of a border collie. *shrug* Hence the barrel racing. Pretty doesn’t matter.
Well, not that I don’t have training problems but they don’t compare to these people!!! Yikes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf9AucoJUSc
I can’t seem to be able to keep my hands in proper fists when I ride. Instead I constantly find myself riding with a open, claw like hand. When I make a fist I feel like my whole upper body tenses up and my horse starts leaning on the bit. I have tenseness issues with my arms and shoulders as it is so that just makes everything worse. However my trainers (both dressage and jumping) are really annoyed with my open hands and tell me that I can’t possibly get a proper contact like that. Any ideas?
You can have closed hands that aren’t tight. Make a loose fist where the tips of your fingers just contact your palms, your thumbs are flat over your curled fingers. Do this in a lotus position in yoga, rest your pinkie side on your thigh or knee and just relax without moving. Keep your head up, back straight, etc, just focus on relaxing your shoulders down and into your elbows, and holding your fingers closed but calm. Picture energy running down your arms into your hands, and then back through your fingers and up your arms.
When you are mounted, keep the same exact fist you had in the yoga position. if you need to correct or give direction, briefly squeeze your fingers to tighten the fist, then immediately loosen back to your relaxed position. The energy runs down your arm into the rein to the horse, who returns the energy through the light contact up the rein, into the tips of your fingers, from there through your palms and up. You need the closed fist to complete the circle.
Having an open hand invites jammed fingers if you are pitched forward, so regardless of contact or not, its a bad habit because you can get hurt.
I used to have this problem, big time! To maintain a soft, elastic contact, i couldn’t do it without leaving my fingers open and flexible. Closing my fist felt very stiff and unnatural.
A new instructor explained to me that my reins were TOO light. To achieve better throughnes and collection, I needed to take up a slightly firmer contact. I always shied away from that because I felt it would create stiffness. She kept saying “Closed fists, elastic elbows!” I’ve always had a quiet position and steady hands, but I was creating flex through my fingers when I should have been creating ‘give’ in my arms. It’s a whole different feeling and took some getting used to but once you have that ‘aha’ feeling you won’t want to go back to open fingers.
I imagine a big rubber band stretched from my horse’s mouth up to my elbows and seat and down to his hindquarters, held taut and stretching and flexing with elastic “positive tension”. (and I imagine his back coming up and rounding along with this rubber band.) Elasticity comes from my seat and elbows. I HAVE to hold on with closed hands otherwise the imaginary rubber band will snap out of my hand and all of the connection and collection will fall apart.
I also practiced at home, tying some reins to a chair or staircase and ‘trotting’ up and down, getting used to the feeling of holding my fists closed while allowing my arms and especially elbows to be really elastic and flex. It felt clumsy at first and like my elbows were pumping but it doesn’t look that way. Do this in a mirror and you can see right away how your elbows have to stay loose to keep your hands still while you jump around.
Hope that helps.
My current problem is that I have NO strength (had a surgery), so my goal is to build that up before I start going back to any hard things! I’ve only been walking for the most part – a bit of trotting
Any fun horseback exercises you guys love?
Make what you do really interesting. If your just walking, do figure eights, circles, create your own shape. Try tying your reigns in a knot and see how well you steer with just a neck strap.
Drop your stirrups and post all the way around the ring at a walk. My instructor is a no-stirrups-Nazi. Pick them back up and try jumping position all the way around.
Get creative and have fun!
I was severely injured by a horse I absolutlely loved, a gentle horse I thought i had some kind of bond with, a horse I had a down payment on, on 2/14/99. 5 days in the hospital with a punctured lung, 3 broken ribs, a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament in my right knee, and a severely sprained right wrist. $25,000 hospital bill. One of the most expensive trail-rides in history.
I wish i wish i wish I could get over this. I love horses. I just don’t trust them anymore. I took it personally. I guess I miss the fear-free aspect most of all. He had the floatiest canter…
I still take riding lessons once in a while, but the whole time i’m up…I’m tense and not breathing and waiting for the critter to find some reason to dislodge me .
I had a very similar problem. Now, the reason I bought this horse, and what went wrong, is a long story, and irrelevant. But in the process of me being a stupid 16 year old who wanted a horse that I really couldn’t afford, nor handle, I bought a supposedly calm and gentle 4 year old paint mare. Now, nobody harp on me about that, I realize it was absolutely stupid.
Now, we quickly figured out she was drugged when I bought her. When I hopped on for the first ride after I got her home, it was like a bronco. The barn manager at the barn I was at said she was arching her back, rearing, and bucking and lashing out just like something you’d see at a rodeo. It didn’t take long for me to hit the dirt. The injury I sustained was FAR less serious than your injuries, just a very badly slipped disk and some pinched nerves in my back. But I think my trust in horses was hurt far worse…
About a year later, after trying not to think about horses, I finally admitted to myself I couldn’t give them up. I was nervous as all get out though. I called a local barn that offered lessons and explained my issues, and we scheduled a lesson. I mean, I thought any second the fat, lazy little horse they picked out for me was going to go psycho and murder me. Even on the ground. I had been a rider of 10 years, but we started out from absolutely the ground up. Leadline lessons. Stretching and balances lessons. Trust lessons. And even though I still have my fear moments, the “tests” I’ve gone through and good horses proving themselves to me have really helped me gain confidence. I’m even considering jumping in later this year.
So my suggestion is first, to concentrate on all the GOOD times you’ve had with horses, not the bad times. Find a trainer and barn who can sympathize with your fear issues and needs, who will be patient and work through them with you. Ask if you can do stretching and balance exercises. Those helped me a lot. Just knowing that even though I was moving around like a clown on the horse’s back, he wasn’t freaking out and trying to kill me, really helped me trust more. I also thought to myself silly thoughts, like how the horse probably thought I was cracked the way I was riding on him!” Working with the same horse also helped me, because I bonded with him and learned how he was and learned to trust him.
Most of all, I think having consistent positive experiences was the key in it…you can’t give up. You have to keep up in regular lessons to build up a trust for horses again…
That picture… yikes. I’m still cringing.
Anyway, I’m curious to know if anyone else who rides here has patella femoral? I’m a re-rider, and PF was a problem for me even when I still had my horses. At the time, as I was riding trails alone most of the time (being a generally foolish/fearless teenager), I developed some coping mechanisms that unfortunately became bad habits. The one I still struggle with (and I think I saw someone else mention this one too) is getting my toes forward. I’m currently dabbling in dressage lessons, and it is painful fairly quickly as soon as I start trying to get my toes forward with my heels down.
Anyone have any suggestions?
Talk to a good saddle fitter. It may be that there is a make or model of saddle that is good for people with PF and will help you compensate for your physical issues.