Post by horseguy on Nov 26, 2016 15:06:16 GMT
There are things we do with horses that can make us heavy handed even if we know better, meaning coarse with our reins to the point that we lose our subtlety. Fox hunting is one. When a rider primarily hunts and rides hard to keep up with a fast pack there are times when it seems necessary to become heavy handed, say in a move to avoid a sudden danger, or to overcome a horse's resistance to a specific required task. If we ride like this over and over, we risk losing some or all of our subtlety of communication with our horse. I have known many people who only fox hunt. These riders tend to establish a norm in their riding that compared to an educated dressage rider or perhaps (I am guessing) a Vaquero rider is measurably coarse.
On the other hand, I have known horsemen (term inclusive of women) who could hunt three times a week for 3 to 5 hours at a time and never deviate from the softest, most precise communication with their horse. These are master riders, and no matter where we are in the progression of our riding, this should be our goal.
I use an image of communication with a horse that involves a spinning top.
To move a spinning top in a desired direction requires great care and subtlety. If we touch the top in order to change its direction, our touch must be deliberate and gentle. If we begin too abruptly, we risk a touch that will send the top off the edge of the table. We must instead learn how to engage the energy in the spinning mass in a manner that uses the top's spinning energy to change itself. Too much or too little engagement of our touch results in a change we do not intend, and often a change that will require us to start over.
All of the above is the same with riding, particularly in the use of our reins. Rein contact with our horse is a primary communication link that can indeed "send the top off the edge". I recommend the first thing we do to improve any part of our riding that has become heavy handed is to pay more attention to our horse. Forum participants might remember the young rider who bought Beau a while ago. When she came to ride him, he constantly tossed his head as a result of her fixed hands that cause the bit to slam his mouth in each stride. I tried to explain the connection between her hands and his head tossing, but she was completely unable to accept the information. Instead she demanded that I tell her about my experience with this flaw of his head tossing, something I never experienced with him. In other words, we must be open to the horse telling us we are heavy handed. That is a good place to begin to improve.
On the other hand, I have known horsemen (term inclusive of women) who could hunt three times a week for 3 to 5 hours at a time and never deviate from the softest, most precise communication with their horse. These are master riders, and no matter where we are in the progression of our riding, this should be our goal.
I use an image of communication with a horse that involves a spinning top.
To move a spinning top in a desired direction requires great care and subtlety. If we touch the top in order to change its direction, our touch must be deliberate and gentle. If we begin too abruptly, we risk a touch that will send the top off the edge of the table. We must instead learn how to engage the energy in the spinning mass in a manner that uses the top's spinning energy to change itself. Too much or too little engagement of our touch results in a change we do not intend, and often a change that will require us to start over.
All of the above is the same with riding, particularly in the use of our reins. Rein contact with our horse is a primary communication link that can indeed "send the top off the edge". I recommend the first thing we do to improve any part of our riding that has become heavy handed is to pay more attention to our horse. Forum participants might remember the young rider who bought Beau a while ago. When she came to ride him, he constantly tossed his head as a result of her fixed hands that cause the bit to slam his mouth in each stride. I tried to explain the connection between her hands and his head tossing, but she was completely unable to accept the information. Instead she demanded that I tell her about my experience with this flaw of his head tossing, something I never experienced with him. In other words, we must be open to the horse telling us we are heavy handed. That is a good place to begin to improve.