Strides for Success

Author: Lorna Leeson

  • Retraining a Horse Who is Heavy on Your Hand

    Retraining a Horse Who is Heavy on Your Hand

    Dealing with a Heavy Horse
    Have you ever had the experience of riding a horse who was so heavy on the forehand, it felt as though your arms were a couple of inches longer by the time you dismounted?!

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    The whole experience is exhausting!  It feels as though you are literally carrying the horse’s head and neck by bracing your shoulders and arms against him the whole time…  Not a fun ride!

    Horses that are heavy or lean on your hands are unfortunately more common than not.  It is usually the result of the horse not been thought to yield to the pressure of the bit.  Or a horse who has been wrongly trained or retrained by a rider to lean on the bit.

    Why This Doesn’t Work for Your Horse Either

    When your horse is heavy in front, he will find it difficult to perform correct, balanced transitions.  He will have trouble bending consistently throughout his body.  His lateral work will usually be stiff and ‘jerky’ and his jumping abilities will also suffer as more weight than usual is on the forehand and shoulders.

    You will also find it difficult to engage the hind quarters and bring them ‘underneath’ your horse.

    In fact, when you are riding, it will feel as though all the energy is falling out the front end of your horses body.  Plus the fact remains that no amount of pulling on your part will actually go towards fixing the problem!

    The lack of balance that is a result of this leaning will become even more evident later, when more difficult questions are asked of your horse.  ‘Heavy’ horses, generally, end up beginning to rely on the riders hands for support and balance throughout the ride.  This, of course, just exaggerates the problem even further!

    Is it a Bit Problem? Nope, Not Usually!

    Most riders will try to remedy the problem by shoving a stronger bit into the horse’s mouth.  The thinking is that it will give them more ‘leverage’ to haul on the horse even further…

    However, this will generally will only worsen the problem as the true cause for the leaning has not been dealt with.

    The Most Common Reason for This Happening

    Horses being heavy or leaning on the hand often become like because of their rider.  More specifically being ridden by a rider who lacks an independent seat or lacks confidence.  The unstable rider will use the horse’s mouth for balance and support.  This then trains the horse to firstly ignore the rein aids and, even worse, lean into in the contact.

    Anxious or nervous riders will tend to hang on to the reins often as reassurance that they are ‘in control’ of the situation.  

    Again, this leads to the horse’s mouth becoming hardened to the hand aid.  The result often being that the horse moving more and more onto the forehand.

    Very often the stiffness and dependency of the rider carries through and is passed to the horse.  This creates a similar stiffness and co-dependency in the horse.  The horse begins to use the riders hands for physical and mental support.

    The Never Ending Battle

    After being ridden like this for a while, the horse will learn to begin to ride into the pressure.  This will soon transition to pulling against it.  Which is what makes this such an exhausting experience for the rider who encounters a horse like this…  The rider will never win against a 600kg horse!

    The cycle is self-perpetuating.  The heavier the horse becomes, the more the rider hangs on trying to bring their head and neck up.  Which causes the horse to pull more; causing the rider to haul more… 

    Other Reasons for this Occurring

    Heaviness can also manifest itself in the horse becoming over bent through the poll.  This causes the horse to become ‘locked’ in an unnatural frame, behind the vertical.  This is often the result of too harsh a bit having been applied to the mouth.

    It can also be due to a rider who is obsessive about being ‘on the bit’ without actually using their legs and seat correctly to first engage the hind quarters.

    A horse that moves like this may ‘look pretty’ to an uneducated eye.  But really they are just forced into, and learn to hold, a shape which inhibits their natural movement.  This results in their training stalling and going stagnant.

    Due to horse being fixed in this unnatural shape, he learns to brace against his riders hands to hold himself there.

    Starting Your Re-Schooling of Your Heavy Horse

    Re-schooling a horse to lighten up in front takes time and consistency from a rider.

    Before you begin focusing on your horse, make sure your seat is indeed truly independent.  Especially that you are not dependent on the reins for support or confidence.   Also, begin paying more attention to your aids.  The ‘how, when and where’ you are applying them.

    Confusion on either you or your horses part will almost always result in a loss of balance.  This will only ‘tip’ your horse further onto his forehand.

    Working With All of Your Aids

    Each time when you are asking your horse for something, begin to apply and use your aids in a sequence.  Seat, then legs and finally hands…  There are many different situations and circumstances that we find ourselves in while riding.

    Doing things this way will allow you to prepare both yourself and your horse in a way that will interfere the least with the natural flow of energy and balance.

    Schooling Using the Walk to Halt Transition

    Start by working in walk and begin asking for halt using your seat and core muscles.  Then use your legs to support your horse and make him ‘close’ the halt with his hind quarters.

    Your horse must step into a halt, not fall into one! 

    Finally, close your ring fingers on the rein, resist with your hand.  Many riders will have been advised at some point to lift up their hand as they give the rein aid.  Rather think about closing your ring finger and as you do, allowing a little movement in your wrist which will bring your finger nails ‘up’ more.

    As soon as the horse responds, even a step, reward by softening the rein.  Softening does not mean throwing the reins at your horse or dropping the contact.  It merely has you softening the pressure by relaxing your ring finger again and ‘allowing’ a little with your arm.

    Understanding the Balance of Your Aids

    If your horse insists on walking through your hand and ignoring you, apply a stronger aid, asking for a very firm ‘stop’.  Be sure to reward as soon as he does so.  Sometimes you will have to be quite stern on your horse, particularly if he has become quite good at ignoring you!

    Make sure that while you are being firm, you are also holding your correct position and asking correctly for the halt – just applying more pressure as you do so.

    Once your horse has halted, ask him to stand for a few seconds.  Use this time to reevaluate your position and correct it if necessary.  Your horse should not need you to keep applying the ‘hand brake’ while he is halted.  He should merely wait patiently for your next question and then respond accordingly in a timely fashion.  No dilly dallying!!

    Repeat as Necessary

    When you are satisfied that you are sitting correctly, ask him to walk on again, using your seat and legs. Make sure that although you have a contact, you are allowing him to step into the walk, not resisting with hard hands or arms… Soft, Soft, Soft.

    Walk for 5 strides and again, using sequence of the seat, then legs and finally hands, ask for halt again.

    Be firm if necessary, but make sure that you are not leaning back and hauling.  Let the firmness come from your core, with your legs underneath you, rather than having a tug of war leaning backwards and hauling for all your worth!

    Working on Suppleness

    Once you have established a good baseline for halt, using the seat, legs then hands sequence, ask for halt again.  Once there, open your right hand away from your horse’s neck and ask him to bend his head and neck a little to the right by ‘having a conversation’ with your ring finger.  You can do this by squeezing the ring finger two or three times.

    As soon as your horse yields to the pressure and bends the head and neck reward him.  Do this softening the rein and using the voice if necessary to reward.

     

    Repeat to this same exercise to the left.  If you horse is more hesitant one way or the other, make a note of this.  I suggest working some suppling exercises into his schooling sessions to begin remedying the problem.  Also, some horses can become so stiff through their heads and necks because they are leaning so much that only the slightest of ‘gives’ is all you will see.

    Reward any small step in the correct direction.  Then use this as your measuring stick to gauge how much progress you are both achieving over time.

    Balance in the Halt Itself

    Your horse should continue to remain in a square halt while he does the above exercises.  You may find that he wants to move his shoulders to try counter balance himself.  Use your legs to hold him in a square halt.  Again, remember to only ask for small movement in the head and neck to begin with.

    You can also begin to add some trot in to the schooling, particularly transitioning between walk and trot.  Choose an amount of trot strides you want to ride, perhaps 5 or 6, each time and make sure it is an active working trot that you are riding.  Use the same downward aids that you applied in asking for halt to ask for the walk.  Walk for 5 or 6 strides and then forward to trot.

    Consistency and Time are Essential

    Continue to move up and down between the gaits, focusing all the time on not participating in any tug of wars or leaning matches.

    It will take time to retrain your horse and also you the rider, however it is essential if you want to move forward and progress with your training.  A horse that resembles an arrow aiming for the ground while being ridden will never achieve the lightness and self carriage in front that is essential to them becoming the best version of themselves.

    Happy Riding
    Lorna

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  • Increasing Your Horses Suppleness

    Increasing Your Horses Suppleness

    Have you ever ridden a horse and they feel so wonderfully loose and pliable underneath you?  Perhaps you can remember how your horse was able to really and truly use his body and how the suppleness made it feel like he was performing movements in the best possible way that his body, fitness and confirmation allowed?

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    True suppleness allows your horse to bend without stiffness and work freely without excess tension or stiffness throughout his back and muscles.   This enables him to perform smoother movements and transitions with greater balance which leads to building strength, development of muscles and growing confidence in both horse and rider.

    Increasing Your Horses Suppleness

    As riders, we are seeking true flexibility or suppleness in our horses, and should always work towards trying to establish, and then allow, elasticity throughout the horse, particularly the jaw, poll, back shoulders, knees, hips and hocks.

    However this is often difficult to understand due to the simple fact that we will not achieve suppleness by ‘fixing’, ‘forcing’ or ‘restricting’ our horses in any way.  Rather than forcing your horse into unnatural frames or positions trying to promote this relaxation and flexibility, think of asking your horse to stretch himself in a natural way, little by little in slight increments, to grow the natural pliability of his muscles and joints.

    Also, when he is flexing or bending, if you are ‘fixing’ him or holding him there, he is not truly supple himself.  When riding , ask your horse for a small about of flexion or bend and then allow him to carry on with the movement himself for a period of strides or seconds.

    As his strength grows, he will become more flexible and his ability to carry himself for longer periods will also increase.

    Suppleness can be thought of in both a forward movement capacity and a sideways or lateral capacity. It is important to ride exercises that boost the development of both. Your horse will not achieve true suppleness if only using his body a certain way. In fact over-development of one will  often result in stiffness in the other.

    Another advantage of working to increase relaxation and suppleness is that it can have a positive effect on your horse mentally and emotionally as well. Often we try to ‘relax’ our horses by speaking to them in a soothing manner, however, if we think about life, feelings follow actions (it is rarely the other way around), so by relaxing the body, we can often dissipate anxiety and stress in the mind and put that energy to better use elsewhere.

    In riding, we are thought to think from the back of the horse to the front of the horse.  Energy created in the hind quarters and then sending it to the front of the horse.  However, we should think of loosening or relaxing our horses the other way around, from front to back.

    There are many horses that are flexible, pliable and supple through their backs and limbs, however they are ‘stuck’ at the poll or jaw which causes that flow of energy to also become stuck or blocked and makes true connection  impossible.

    When working on increasing your horses suppleness, I suggest starting with the poll and jaw.  Place two poles parallel to each other across the center line about 1 meter apart.  In walk, bring your horse between the poles and ask for halt. Try to keep him straight, using the poles for guidance and reference. Then, remembering to keep his neck straight, as him to flex his poll, first one way and then the other.  Use your inside hand and turn your wrist slightly so as the underside is more on top and your thumb is about 45 past the vertical to the outside. Gently squeeze with your ring finger.

    When asking for the movement, keep in mind it is very slight flexion in the poll, not bending though the neck. Ask to the right and then back to center, and then back to the left. You can repeat this quite a few times, all the while noticing any resistance or stiffness. If this shows up, rather invest more time over the coming weeks and months, slowly asking for the flexion and then working it out.

    Don’t force it! Suppleness does not happen overnight, it takes time for your horse to soften, relax and become flexible

    Once you have mastered this in halt and your horse understands, you can begin to incorporate it into walk, trot and eventually, canter.  Use the center line, and if necessary, place some parallel ground poles to work between school to help keep you ‘straight’ and on target for where you want to go.  Remember, you are only flexing your horses poll, not bending the neck.  In walk, ride up the center line and begin asking you horse to flex left then back to straight and then left.

    Pay attention that his shoulders are not ‘swinging’ where you are flexing to which will give your horse the appearance of being slightly inebriated!  Also, focus on keeping him straight through his back, not allowing the hind quarters to fall in or out

    As mentioned, it is important to work all parts of your horses body, so I recommend beginning to incorporating some large circles into your work.  how well your horse can maintain the bend in their body on the circle, will depend on how supple your horse is.  the smaller the circle, the more difficult it will be for your horse, so stick to large circles initially in walk or trot.

    Increasing Your Horses Suppleness

    When riding the circle, Establish and maintain a consistent bend to the inside, all the way from neck to tail. The degree of the bend will depend on the size of the circle as you will follow the arc of the circle.

    Notice if your horse is falling in or out through this shoulders.  Often, when we ask for the horse to bend to the inside, he will begin to literally fall in towards the center of your circle, rather than maintaining the ‘line’ of the circle and his back replicating the arc of the circle.  If this is the case, use your inside leg to encourage him to stay ‘out’ on the circle, however once he is there, he must learn to balance himself so you are not all the time supporting him on the circle or bend.

    There is nothing more exhausting that riding a horse which you have to hold up with your legs

    Again, start your circles in walk and once he understands and has a nice equal bend through his body, go forward to trot and later canter.  Work on both directions and pay attention to any stiffness, tension or lack of balance on one side more than the other.

    If you do notice any problems, see working in it as a long-term project that will be successful if you consistently work little by little at stretching and loosening up your horse

    You can also begin to incorporate some serpentines into your schooling.  Obviously work on your bend while riding the loops, but also focus on your straightness as you cross the center line.  Transition in and out of the two by beginning to ask for some flexion through the poll for 2 to 3 strides before and after the center line.  As you round your ‘loop’ again, straighten the body with just the poll flexed and as you cross the center line, straighten your horse, so you can then change the flexion in order to ride the next loop.  Work the serpentines from both sides, again walk, trot and then canter if necessary.

    You can also incorporate some halts into the serpentine, as you cross the center line, and spend the time in halt flexing the poll again in order to flex the poll and reinforce the principle, in both your head and your horses!

    Finally, you can begin to add some counter bend to your circles.  Ride a large 20 meter circle in walk and once you have established bend to the inside, see if you can ‘change’ the flexion to the outside, paying close attention that the shoulders do not come off the track of the circle.

    The flexion to the outside will be very slight at first, and not held for long periods.   Work on a quarter circle to the outside, then change to a half circle to the inside and then returning to a quarter circle to the outside.  Slowly, your horse will begin to increase his suppleness and flexibility throughout his body and from there, you can begin to make the circle smaller or begin working in trot and, again, later canter

    Suppleness is something that must be continuously and consistently worked on in order to maintain and improve with your horse

    Just like us, if our horses become restricted and only use their body in a certain fixed movement, over time they will lose their ability to bend and be pliable..

    It will take time to build true suppleness, and it will have to become an integral part of your training program to maintain it

    Happy Riding
    Lorna

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  • Setting Up Better Canter Transitions

    Setting Up Better Canter Transitions

    Who doesn’t love to canter?  It may just be the most enjoyable gait to ride when in the saddle for many riders, however it is also the gait that might just have us working the hardest to actually successfully get there and then, returning back to trot or walk seems to also open a whole can of worms for many riders too!!

    In fact, often the lack of competence felt by a rider with regards to riding smooth, balanced canter transitions is enough to make them avoid canter like the plague… It becomes something that is only performed when it is absolutely essential and necessary!

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    However, many of the aspects to riding a good canter transition can be put in place or improved before you actually go forward into canter at all.  The preparation of both you and horse, mentally and physically, for the canter is vital to performing a successful canter transition, whether it be up or down.

     1.  Focus on the Quality of the Current Gait

    One of the first things you can do to prepare for a successful transition is to work on the quality of the current gait you are riding in.  Make sure your horse is moving forward in a rhythmic, balanced way and is responsive to your aids.

    Setting Up Better Canter Transitions

     2.  Become Clear on What You Are Doing in the Saddle

    Begin working on your own position and becoming clear on what you are going to ask and when.  Start in walk.  Notice where your seat bones are in the saddle, how they are moving and how your weight is distributed over them.

    When we ask for canter, we shift our seat slightly more to the inside seat bone and ‘scoop’ our horse into the canter with it.  Use your walk to practice firstly, identifying your separate seat bones and how you can move them independently from each other and then secondly, begin experimenting how the ‘scooping’ motion feels when you apply that aid.

    If you are struggling to isolate one seat-bone from the other, try moving your outside shoulder back slightly… You should feel your inside seat-bone ‘scoop’ forward a little.

    That is the movement you are after, however it is important that you can perform this same movement without having to rely on moving your outside shoulder.  Just use your outside shoulder to help identify the muscles involved.

     3.  Encourage Suppleness in You and Your Horse

    Next, look at how supple you are through your hips and pelvic area.  In order to ride a successful trot to canter transition, you must be able to move with your horse in sitting trot and, from there, follow him into the canter when he strikes.

    Begin working in sitting trot and focus on relaxing your hips so they are following the motion of your horse.  

    Tension or stiffness will show up as bouncing up and down out of the saddle.  It will also be reflected in your legs when they begin to ‘grip up’ and creep higher and higher in the saddle.

    Keep your pelvis open, so your legs can hang long around your horse’s sides.  This is vital in order to both ask for, and then ride, a good forward moving canter.  If you are ‘pinching’ with your pelvis or upper legs and knees, your horse cannot lift his shoulders to begin cantering but also, the canter will be choppy and uncomfortable for all as you will bounce more!

     4.  Develop Straightness through Your Horse

    As you are working in sitting trot, notice what your horses shoulders and hindquarters are doing, particularly through the corners.  Your inside leg must be sufficiently on to keep your horse straight and avoid falling in.  Your outside rein must also be working to regulate the bend and stop your horse falling out through the outside shoulder.

     5.  Question His Responsiveness to Your Aids

    Once you have established a good quality gait, begin to investigate just how responsive your horse is to your aids and if his concentration is wandering, focus on bringing it back to you by being consistent with the aids you are applying.  Your horse must be listening closely to your aids before you can ask for the canter transition, whether it be up or down.

    When you feel that the quality of your sitting trot is high enough to continue to follow in the canter, you can begin thinking about the transition itself.

     6.  Prepare the Transition

    Make sure that you are only thinking ‘prepare’ not actually ‘canter’.  I see many riders in the arena, who once they are told that they should pick up canter in the next corner, automatically think canter!  The horse speeds up and begins to run, they usually lean forward and have a look of terror on their face approaching the designated ‘canter departure point’…  It should not and must not be this way.

    When you are preparing to ask for a canter transition, you do so like you would any other movement in riding.  Think about how you can get your horse to that point in the best possible way for the circumstances you are in.

    Begin with your half halt and use this time to also re-evaluate your position.  As you approach the point where you will ask, begin to shift your inside seat-bone slightly more forward and redistribute your weight a little more over the inside seat bone.

    Keep your inside leg on, sit up through your upper body and ask for a slight flexion to the inside.  Use your outside leg to keep your horse straight and then, when you are ready, to signal to your horse along with your inside leg, to move forward in to the canter.  As you do this, use the ‘scoop’ motion with your inside seat-bone to lift your horse up into the canter.

    Also, it is important to note that at in order to shift into canter, your horse must lighten or lift up his front end slightly which you achieve by riding your half halts to bring his hind quarters a little more underneath him.  This enables him to strike the canter with the outside hind leg, which you indicate with your outside leg ‘swinging’ back.  Your outside leg is merely like an indicator telling him ‘this side’, your inside leg will have the ‘driving aid’ to go forward into the canter.

    Setting Up Better Canter Transitions

     7.  Allow the Canter to Happen

    Once he is cantering make sure you are allowing him to go forward with both your hands and your body.  Continue to following the ‘rolling’ motion with your seat, making sure that your pelvis remains open and allowing the energy that your inside leg is creating to come forward, and connect through to the front end of the horse.

     8.  Notice the Quality of the Transition and the Canter

    Common fault that many riders experience when asking their horse for canter is that the horse tends to run in to the canter rather than striking into the canter.  If you find this is the case when you are trying to transition into canter from trot, bring him back to a balanced trot using your half halt and then prepare to ask again, but next time with a stronger ‘driving’ aid.

    Horses ‘run’ into the canter for many reasons, however often it is due to the rider collapsing through their upper body, which will result in the horse being unable to ‘lift’ the front end which makes a clean transition very difficult.  Make sure you are sitting up through your upper body and think of it as allowing this new surge of energy to come between your legs and up to your horses ears.  You need to make room for this energy, which you will block if you are leaning forward or pinching your pelvis and legs.

    It is important to keep in mind that your horse must canter; not you!!

    Have a plan before you begin to canter and perhaps you decide to canter for 10 or 15 strides, begin then the preparation for the downward transition.  Again half halt is the key to this preparation and your position in the saddle.

     9.  The Downward Transition Out of Canter

    Just like the upward transition to canter, the downward, back to trot, needs you to carry yourself through the transition.  It also needs you to then ride the trot, not just bounce around in it when you are there!

    Use your seat to indicate to your horse that you are moving down from canter back to trot.  Keep your leg on and as your horse prepares to make the transition, you must move your body into trot position; shift your seat bones so they are even, and hold with your core muscles, so you are no longer ‘rolling’ with him, rather resisting him.

    It is important, as with all downward transitions, that you follow with your hands, particularly as he takes that first step into trot.  

    Relax through your pelvis and again, work on following the trot and moving with your horse rather than bouncing stiffly against him.

    The canter transition is one that can initially seem daunting, however, as I said you can do so much in preparation for this movement before you actually perform it, that you chances of succeeding in a correct way get higher and higher the more effort you put in.

    Have a super week and happy riding!
    Lorna

  • Building Your Riding Fitness

    Building Your Riding Fitness

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    Do you find yourself huffing and puffing after a few strides of canter?  Have you been riding less recently and find that now your back in the saddle, you’re less effective than before?  Are you spending hours schooling your horse but seeing little to no difference in his way of going…

    It often amazes me how much time, effort, planning, and work riders put into conditioning and increasing the fitness levels of their horses. And yet completely fail to invest even a little of that towards their own fitness levels!

    Contrary to popular belief, riding is a team sport… You and your horse!  So it leads us to the fact that, as with any team sports, it is essential that all members of the team are doing their best to contribute to the team’s success.

    How Will Increasing Your Riding Fitness Help?

    Increasing your level of fitness with regard to horse riding has numerous positive consequences on your overall performance in the saddle.

    You will find that you become increasingly better able to communicate with your horse. And your aids will become easier to apply and clearer for your horse to understand

    You will also develop a more independent seat as your core strength grows. This, again, will increase your effectiveness in the saddle. Another huge positive result is that any stiffness and rigidness that you are holding within your body will begin to dissipate as you both physically and mentally begin to have more faith in your abilities. And, of course, your stamina levels will increase too…

    Meaning you can enjoy your more canters and for longer periods!

    Building Your Riding Fitness while in the Saddle

    Setting Yourself Up for Success

    Before we go any further, it is important that in order to ride these exercises, you are on a trustworthy horse. I also strongly suggest riding in a safe or enclosed area.  A young horse or a strange place is not the best time to try out new exercises. Especially ones that will test your balance and strength!

    If your horse tends to ‘wander’ when you are not directing him, perhaps creating a small chute in the arena using jumping uprights and poles will help. This will allow you to focus on what you are doing. And ensure that you get the most out of the exercises.

    These exercises are also excellent to do while warming up or cooling your horse down.  It is you that must do the work, not your horse!  

    Getting Started; Your Position

    I suggest beginning with giving your position a quick once over, and check that you are in a correct alignment.  Simply put, you’re sitting correctly in the saddle.

    Take your feet out of the stirrups, and start with some light stretches.

    After this, you can begin the first exercise. This involves drawing up your knees, one at a time, to your horse’s withers.  While you are doing this, pay close attention that your upper body remains straight and upright.  It is tempting to ‘curl’ your lower back and shoulders when performing this exercise but don’t.

    Focus on identifying your legs individually and then lifting them using only your leg to do so.  

    Use your core muscles to help you keep your balance while your knee is raised.  Hold it for a few seconds and then gently replace your leg and repeat on the other leg.  If you are feeling brave, you can raise both knees at the same time (jockey style), however again, make sure you are not crouching with your back and shoulders.

    Legs & Core Strength & Fitness

    This is a super exercise not only for your legs and core muscles, but also to help you make sure you are indeed sitting on your seat bones.  It also helps to relax the pelvis which will help with the other exercises and your riding in general.

    If you find that you are feeling unbalanced or concerned about ‘tipping over’ out of the saddle, rather ask your horse to halt and, having someone hold him still if necessary, complete the exercises while your horse is standing still.  

    With your feet still out of your stirrups, begin stretching your legs down nice and long.  Then one at a time lift your leg away from your horse’s side. There should be daylight between your leg and the saddle.

    Try to lift your lower and upper leg. But, make sure that while you lift, you are not leaning your body weight to the opposite side to lift your leg for you!

    The lift must come from the muscles on the outside of your hips and the sides of your torso.  Pay attention that your body remains upright and not collapsing down.  

    After you have managed to lift each leg individually, you can then try lifting both legs together.  Again, it is tempting to lean forward and curl your upper body. But try to continue carrying yourself as you perform the exercise.

    Introducing Sitting Trot

    You can also incorporate some sitting trot work into this initial warm-up.  Pay attention that you are keeping your pelvis and thighs open. Not gripping up, but rather stretching your leg down around your horse.

    Focus on allowing your lower body to move with your horse in almost a back and forward motion rather than an up and down motion.  You can also work some circles into your school movements, all the while maintaining a good basic position.

    Posting in the Walk

    Another great exercise you can work on to increase your fitness levels is posting in the walk.  Obviously you will need to take your stirrups back for this exercise, and once your feet are in…  Yes, you guessed it; Check your position!

    Posting or performing the up-down movement from the rising trot while walking can be quite a challenge. This is due to the fact that your horse’s natural momentum in the trot is not there to help you.

    Keep in mind that when you post or stand, you are doing so on your heel, not your toes.  

    Also, that your lower leg remains underneath you.  Many riders will try to use their upper bodies to ‘pull’ themselves up and whether or not they use the reins, this is incorrect.  Rather think of pushing yourself up using your legs.

    Once up, it will require your core muscles to help you maintain your balance and lower yourself back into the saddle with the sufficient ‘grace’ that is required!!  Do not allow your body to fall back into the saddle as you come down as it will be uncomfortable, and may even hurt, your horse’s back.

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    Standing in the Stirrups

    Developing on from the highest point of this exercise, you can begin to ‘stand’ in your stirrups as you walk around the arena.  When standing, keep in mind that your knees will have to keep a slight bend in them in order to help you absorb the movement of your horse underneath you.

    It is, again, worth mentioning that you should not use your reins for support and balance while performing this exercise…  

    Rather hold a martingale strap or even a stirrup leather that is secured around your horse’s neck for support if necessary.  Also, make sure you do not collapse down into the saddle when you have finished.  Gently lower yourself into the saddle…

    Or remain ‘standing’ in to the trot and even the canter.  This will use your legs and also your core muscles to achieve it correctly.  Start off slow and for short bursts, working over time to longer periods at faster paces.  

    Additional Exercises to Increase Fitness

    Other exercises you can use, which we cover step by step in this week’s Daily Strides Premium are changing the variation of your posting while trotting.  Rather than the usual up, down, up, down, up, down; rather begin sitting or posting/rising for an extra beat.

    This would look like up, up, down, up, up, down, up, up, down, or the other way around; down, down up, down, down, up.

    All variations of this will firstly create mindfulness around what you are doing while you post or rise. And, secondly, require your core muscles to shift from sitting to the rising trot more frequently than your normal up, down, up, down does.

    You can also work in the two-point seat…

    In fact, this is a great way to initially test your riding fitness levels by seeing how long you can hold the position, independently, before sitting down.  Work at increasing this time period on a weekly basis.  Make sure, again, that the weight is down in your heel and that your back is straight, not rounded or arched.

    Your Riding Fitness Is Your Responsibility

    As you can see there are numerous ways to incorporate a mini-workout into your everyday riding and schooling.

    Very often with adult riders, time is the greatest challenge when it comes to fitness, however as before, all these exercises can be performed while you are warming up and cooling down.

    Happy Riding
    Lorna

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  • How to Use Your Leg While Riding

    How to Use Your Leg While Riding

    .How to use your legs while riding

    Do you find yourself a tad confused as to what exactly to do with your legs while you ride?  Do you find that even if you know what to do, degree of pressure to use or how often to apply the aid is confusing you?

    You are hearing terms such as ‘Keep your leg on’, ‘use your leg’, ‘more leg’, ‘leg’, ‘soften your leg’, ‘support with your leg’, ‘back up your leg’… leg, leg, leg!!!  You find yourself thinking back to the days when you were just happy keeping one either side of your horse!

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    Knowing how to apply your leg, when to apply your leg and with what pressure and regularity is something that takes lots of practice.  It falls under the ‘feel’ category of horsemanship and riding skills.  However, you can begin to improve your use of your leg right now with a few simple steps.

    Why Your Leg Aids are So Important in Riding

    You leg is one of the riding aids you use to communicate with your horse.  It is used to influence your horses forward and sideways movement.  It also has a regulating influence when necessary. Couple this with being essential for bending your horse, as well as helping to contain your horse.

    Your leg will always be present on your horses sides while you ride.  It should never be absent or, for whatever reason, taken away.  This is often the aspect of the leg aid that confuses many riders; they initially only see the leg as a driving aid.

    Before we begin, it is necessary to understand that in order to use your leg correctly, you need to have developed an independent seat while you are riding.  Using your legs to balance or grip will make it impossible for you to use them to direct and ask questions of your horse.

    It is also important to realize that consistency is key to mastering the leg aids, for both you and your horse.

    If you wish to better your skills in the saddle, committing to being mindful and present as much as possible while you ride. This is particularly true when it comes to how, when and why you are using your legs.

    How Your Overall Position will Affect Your Leg Effectiveness

    The first aspect of beginning to use your legs as effectively as possible begins with ensuring you have a correct position in the saddle.  Many times an ineffective or ‘hokey pokey’ leg is caused by a faulty seat.  Make sure you are sitting on your seat-bones.  This will allow your legs to ‘fall’ down your horses sides.

    You ideally want to establish the first of the two all important ‘lines’ of riding; the head, shoulder, hip to heel.  What is important to point out here is that your hip is not your backside!!

    Another way to think of this line and really know if it is true and correct is to imagine that if we could click our fingers and ‘abbrakedabra’ our horse away, you should technically land on your feet; not your backside and not on your face… Your feet should be underneath you at all times in the saddle!

    Learning to ‘Drape’ Your Legs Around Your Horse

    Once you have established what is right for you, don’t squeeze or tense your legs to keep them in position, this will happen naturally if your seat is correct and your hips and pelvis is open and relaxed.

    Keep in mind that how your legs ‘fall’ depends a great deal on how you are actually put together!

    In fact, the fall of your leg will depend on many different factors, the most obvious being both you and your horses conformation as well as the saddle etc.  Sometimes taking a few photos of yourself in the saddle from the side and behind can help you establish if your position is indeed correct to the best of the situation.

    Different Situations results in Different Applications

    Next thing to begin thinking about is the type of leg aid necessary for a given situation, and the degree to which it should be used.  This depends a lot on the horse himself and the type of questions you are intending to ask with your legs.

    Generally speaking, hotter horses respond better to a consistent pressure.  Laid back, docile horses prefer to be asked and then the aid taken away.  This action can then be repeated as much as necessary to achieve the desired result.  

    One of the biggest problems faced by many riders is that both these applications of the aids almost seems to appear counter-intuitive when they initially begin working with a horse that may be similar to either of the two I just mentioned.

    A ‘Hot’ Horse Versus a ‘Laid Back’ Horse

    A hot or sensitive horse almost invites us to keep our leg off, training the rider to just apply a mere hint of an aid when they feel it is absolutely necessary…  Frustratingly, this will just compound the problem and condition the horse even more that the leg is something which they must run away from.

    Strangely these same sensitive horses actually respond much better to a steady consistent pressure or contact from the leg, rather than short bursts of an aid here and there…

    Similarly, the same is true for the more laid back horses of the world.  The rider feels like they must give continuous, strong leg aids, usually to the tune of squeezing or ‘pumping’.  Unfortunately, this often increases their frustration as their horse ignores them more and more… These types of horses respond better to short, concise directions that are given when needed…

    Like all things worth doing, learning which aid to apply to a particular horse for the best result takes time.  However it is well worth the investment in the long run.

    The Varying Degrees of Pressure

    The third factor to consider when applying your leg aids is the degree of pressure that you use when applying the aid.  Again, this depends on many factors.  These include those we have already spoken about and others.  The feed your horse is receiving, if he is stabled or turned out.  Look at the work he is doing, his fitness levels.

    Even outside factors such as the weather conditions at that time, the riding conditions…  The list is endless and as I mentioned at the beginning, this again falls under the category of developing your feel as a rider.  Luckily, all of these things, you can work on daily and become aware of every time you get into the saddle.

    In fact, only through increasing your mindfulness will you have any lasting success in increasing the effectiveness of your leg aids.

    When it comes to actually applying your leg aids,  we can broadly break the term leg aids down into three different and distinct categories.  It is important to keep in mind that within these three categories, the aids can be further divided up based on degrees of pressure and regularity of occurrence.

    Your Driving Leg Aid

    The first is the driving aid.  Terms to describe this particular aid can often be heard resounding around arenas, ringing in the ears of exhausted riders.  Exasperated instructors and trainers can be seen, turning red in the face and heard roaring “Put Your Leg On!!” or “Give Him Some Leg!!”.  Sometimes, a short, repetitive and quite often effective ‘LEG!!” will do the trick.

    What the instructor or trainer is trying to say is ‘Use your leg to create initial energy in your horse’… Hmmm, come again?!

    I suggest thinking of your driving leg as turning the ignition or key in your car, or just switching on the vacuum cleaner. You ask and it responds without having to be continuously pushed in or turned.  When your horse is truly listening to your aids, this will also happen when you apply this aid.

    I recommend  that you imagine your legs are going to wrap underneath your horses tummy and pick him up.  Try lengthening your leg and then imagine that using your calves, you are going to lift his barrel up underneath you.  Of course, if you do really imagine doing this, your seat and core will also begin to respond in the correct way to ask for the forward movement.

    Your Maintenance Leg Aid

    The second use of the leg aid is a more maintenance aid.  Once your horse is going forward, this will be used to keep him doing so in the way you desire.  This is often expressed as ‘Keep Your Leg On’ or ‘Hold Him with Your Leg’.

    There is confusion surrounding this application of the leg aid.  Many riders turn purple in the face from the physical exertion of squeezing continuously while riding… Which of course is not what this means at all!

    If you can think of your legs as being the barriers on the side of the road.  Except instead of keeping your horses direction on the straight and narrow (which of course your legs help to do) rather, for this aid, think of keeping the energy being created focused where you want it go.

    Its like when you use the accelerator pedal in your car to go faster (your driving aid).  Once you have reached your desired speed you lighten the pressure.  This is while still keeping your foot on the pedal.  You are now maintaining that speed (keeping your leg on).

    Your Relaxed ‘Leg Off’ Leg Aid

    The final term and leg aid that often confuses riders is the ‘Relax Your Leg’ or ‘Take Your Leg Off’.  Again, this does not literally mean what it says.  In fact, trying to lift your legs off your horses sides for any length of time will quickly tire you out! This often results in twisting your upper body to compensate.

    Rather this means that, given the situation, think of softening your leg in order to achieve a particular outcome  

    For example, often relaxing your outside leg while leg yielding will allow your horse to actually move to the outside.  It creates a ‘door’ of sorts for him to move through.  Again, the use of this aid depends a lot on the situation and circumstances of it being applied.

    Becoming more mindful as to how you use your legs involves paying attention to the reaction you receive from your horse.  Keep in mind that only through consistent correct practice will you eventually achieve a ‘better’ leg.  This will lead to having almost invisible conversations with your horse.  Quiet and soft, with the result you desire.

    Happy Riding
    Lorna

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  • Simplifying the Shoulder In

    Simplifying the Shoulder In

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    Does the thoughts of riding shoulder in leave you feeling less than confident in your riding abilities?  Are you a little unsure about the angle, the bend, and the degree of collection required in order to successfully ride the movement?

    Shoulder in is super for encouraging suppleness and collection in your horse. However, if ridden incorrectly, things can quickly begin going the opposite way of your desired results…

    Shoulder in is a great movement to begin really flexing and strenghtening your horse.  However, for many riders it seems far too complicated to even consider riding.

    What is Shoulder In?

    Shoulder in is a lateral movement and when ridden correctly, will entail your horse bending around your inside leg. The shoulders will be at an approximately 30-degree angle to the side of the track or arena. With the shoulders in, you will then ask your horse to move forward on the line, moving away from the direction he is bent.

    It is also important to mention that the bend should be consistent from head to tail, not broken or over-bent in places.

    Simplifying the Half Halt

    3 Tracks, not 2 or 4…

    Normally when we ride our horses forward, we do so on 2 tracks; namely made of the inside hind leg following the inside fore and then the outside hind following the outside fore.

    However, for shoulder in, you will ask your horse to shift his shoulders more to the inside, off the track, which will result in your horse travelling on three tracks.

    Track number 1 will be the outside hind leg. The second track, number 2 or the middle track, being made up of the inside hind following the outside foreleg.  And finally, the inside foreleg on its own separate track, creating track number 3.

    Suppleness & Crossing Legs

    As your horse performs shoulder in, his inside legs will cross over and in front of the outside legs. This will be more apparent with the front legs, rather than the back legs.

    Also, as your horse becomes stronger and more developed and balanced, he will become lighter in front. This will lead to a more expressive movement through the shoulders while performing the shoulder in.

    Before Working on Shoulder In

    Before starting out teaching your horse the shoulder in, it is worth noting that he should have a good understanding of leg yielding. He should also have started showing some collection in the gait.  Additionally, the ability to make small adjustments to his stride while consistently maintaining the rhythm, tempo, forward energy, and balance throughout will help.

    The leg yielding is important for a few reasons. The most notable being that he understands the forward and sideways movement. This while remaining straight through the leg yield.  

    The straightness is important because it is this same straightness that will allow him to keep his hindquarters on the track while shifting his front end off the track and bending around your inside leg.

    Preparing for the Movement

    The quality of the shoulder in depends on the quality of the gait leading up to it… Preparation is key to a good shoulder in!

    I suggest introducing the shoulder in, for both you and your horse, in the walk.  This will allow both of you the necessary time to ‘figure’ things out in both your minds. It also, more importantly, gives you time to figure out how to move your bodies accordingly.  Often riders try to rush the shoulder in and this often leads to the horse remaining straight through their back and over bent through the neck.

    Shoulder in is only really shoulder in if the actual shoulders move in off the track!

    The Angle of the Shoulder In

    Before we go any further, I think we should look at the angle of the shoulder in.  What the angle means, is that of your horse’s shoulders to the original track you were riding on.

    Often riders try for too great an angle than the 30° that is required.  If the angle is too great, your horse will not be able to perform the movement.

    Simplifying the Shoulder In

    To help visualize 30° I suggest bending your elbows and putting your hands out in front of you, palms facing each other, about hip-width apart (like a robot!).  Pivot your upper body around 90° from your hips, so your arms are essentially creating a right angle to the line your hips are on and where you were originally facing.

    Now, once there, think about it like this… If this is 90°, let’s now move your hands back to 45°…  So estimate halfway and move your hands and shoulders there…

    Now, 30° is actually only 2/3 of the way to 45°… so once again, do a little estimation of what a third of the way would look like, and again adjust your hands and arms to there… And voila; the angle is not as severe as most riders first imagined it to be!

    It can also help to get out a trusty protractor and, using the straight side as the track, look at where 30° actually is…  Again, it is not 45°!

    Start on a Circle in Walk

    To actually ride your first shoulder in, I recommend starting walking a 10m circle in the corner. As you complete the circle, begin to ride the long side of your arena while asking for shoulder in.  Notice the bend in your horse and as you move down the track, focus on keeping the hindquarters on the original track where they should be, but the shoulders ‘in off the track’ at about a 30-degree angle.

    Ride this for 3 or 4 strides and then, to finish or ride out of the shoulder in, rather begin another circle where you are than try to place your horses shoulders back on the track.  This is easier for your horse to achieve and feels like a more natural conclusion when first learning about the shoulder in.

    Your Circle is a Tool…

    Use your 10m circle to begin your preparations.  Notice your position while on the circle and make any adjustments to correct it.  Pay particular attention to your shoulders and upper body. It is often tempting to ‘lean in’, which inevitably pushes your hips and seat to the outside of the saddle.   Use your half halt on the circle to balance your horse. And, also, tell him that something is about to happen…

    Use the natural bend created by riding on the circle to help place your horse in the correct position as you come off the circle and begin to move down the track.  The half halt will help keep you both balanced and, depending on your horse, you can ask for a degree of collection in the gait.

    As your horse takes the first step of shoulder in, pay attention again to your upper body.  Your shoulders must be kept in line with your horse’s shoulders. Also, take care to carry yourself and your upper body. This will, in turn, allow your horse’s front end to lighten a little as the weight is transferred onto the inside hind leg as it comes underneath him.

    Your Aids Through Shoulder In

    Although you should look where you are going, I suggest rather keeping your head in line with you and your horse’s shoulders. Look through the ears, rather than glancing out the corner of your eye down the school at the track.  The reason is that when riders first begin riding shoulder in, they tend to turn their shoulders to keep in line with their head…  Which, in the case of looking down the track of the arena, will lead to you shifting your weight incorrectly in the saddle.

    Your inside leg is what the horse is ‘bent’ around. It is used to keep creating the forward energy and the sideways movement happening underneath you.  

    It is your outside leg that controls your horse’s hindquarters and prevents them from swinging out, which is a common fault in shoulder in.

    Your outside leg also helps to keep the horse moving forward and keep the outside hind leg moving underneath the horse. This, in turn, will encourage better use of the inside hind leg, allowing the horse to lighten more in front and free up the shoulders for better movement.

    Your outside hand supports the outside leg and controls the degree of bend, It also helps regulate the rhythm and also controls the horse not to continue on with the ‘circle’ or become over bent.  Your inside hand asks for the flexion, however must remain soft and giving throughout the movement.

    It is up to you, the rider, to find and then maintain a balance between both hand and leg aids in order to maintain a consistent bend and angle throughout the movement.

    Trouble-Shooting Your Shoulder In

    The shoulder in can go wrong in many different ways…  Your horse may over-bend through the neck while keeping his back straight.  This is often caused by too much inside hand on the rider’s part and must not be mistaken for a correct shoulder in.

    Another way too much inside hand shows up is in the rider crossing their hand over the horse’s neck, from inside to outside… Your inside is your inside, your outside is your outside!!

    Riders can also become overly tense while trying to ride the movement. This causes them to ‘pinch’ their thighs and close their pelvis.  Which generally results in the rider getting ahead of the movement, slouching through their upper body, and being unable to correctly use their aids.  Particularly legs to maintain the forward energy.

    All too often, lack of preparation will result in too fast a tempo or lack of rhythm in the movement. This causes the horse to become heavy on the forehand and become unable to use their shoulders correctly.

    Developing Your Shoulder In

    Later, as you become more skilled at asking the correct questions at the correct times and your horse becomes more skilled at actually carrying out the movement, you can begin to ask for shoulder in down the centerline or across the diagonal.  However, initially, I strongly suggest you use the track on the arena. This will help you to gauge where the hindquarters must remain and the angle of the shoulders.

    Shoulder in can be performed in walk, trot and later, canter.  As your horse develops greater strength and balance, he will become more able to transfer his weight from the front end to the back-end.  

    It is also important to note that the angle of the shoulder in may vary slightly depending on the horse and the level of training and suppleness. However, all should be equal on both reins.  Any resistance on either rein should be noted and worked on overtime.

    Shoulder in often initially seems like a daunting task. However, if you approach it correctly, in a well prepared, patient, and relaxed manner, once your horse can begin to perform the movement, it will open many more doors. And, it will pave the way to further lateral movements and greater strength and suppleness throughout his body.

    Happy Riding

    Lorna

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