Training Tips
The Seat
I too was taught to drive with my seat, but never really knew what that
meant to I just sort of stiffened my back and tried to push my butt
around the saddle. Sure made the horses stiffer, too.
I recently taught a clinic and someone said they had been told to sit in
the saddle like they were trying to sit right through the horse to tolt.
Ouch!! Sure that horse is happy to give you his back and have a free
tolt :)
I try to be in my own balance when I ride and be as much part of the
horse as possible, influence him, but don't hinder his movements. Easily
said and may mean nothing to you.
Centered Riding has some really neat exercises that show how you can use
your seat to influence, but not stiffen or tighten the horse. As you are
riding along, and this works best with your horse led and your eyes
closed, feel how your seatbones are moving in the saddle. They should
slide back and forth with each step the horse takes. Feel if it's the
same on the right as it is on the left and just ride once or twice
around feeling your seatbones. Then take the slide of those seatbones,
say they are sliding 1 inch with each step , and make the movement
less, allowing them to slide only 1/2 inch. Generally what happens is
that the horse slows down as you slow the movement of your seatbones and
you can bring a horse to a stop from that. The same goes if you maske
that movement bigger, most horses will speed up and increase their
stride. That to me is "pushing" with your seat, but I am not doing it in
a way that makes the horse uncomfortable and resistant or resentful.
In his video TOLT Diddi shows how he often releases the horse's back for
a stride or two but just slightly rising out of the saddle. I have seen
him do it in competitions and just daily riding. It allows the horse to
stay free in his back, so important for the tolt.
In TTEAM we also have an exercise from the ground with a rider on where
the horse's back is raised. This allows the rider to get the feeling
when the horse's back is up and when he is bracing.
Hope this helps.
Oh one more thing. I agree with your instructor about tensing up not
being a good thing. Try the following exercise as you are reading this.
Hang one arm off the chair and shake it, letting your hand a wrist flop.
Now tighten you baby finger and shake your arm again. What happened? Are
you still breathing? As we tighten one joint, it effects all the joints
in the rest of our body. The same goes for horses and it is a good
argument for not makeing the nosebands so tight. (But don't get me
started on that one).
Nose Bands
The noseband came in place when the military was teaching amateur riders
to jump. As they pulled on the rein when horses were going over the
jump, the horse would open his mouth wide and could actually dislocate
his jaw.
A cavesson helped the horse by allowing him to come against
something when the rider pulled on the reins. This is with the noseband
done up losely 2 fingers between the bridge of the nose and the
noseband!
Try it yourself by opening your mouth wide, feeling the
pressure on your jaw, then cupping your hands where the noseband would
go and opening your mouth again. Much more comfortable.
With Icelandics we usually use a noseband to help stabilize the bit.
Especially with the Icelandic headstalls without browbands and
throatlatches, if a horse turns quickly or an inexperienced rider pulls
too hard on one rein, the whole bridle can slide through the mouth.
But the noseband needs to be loose enough! I have on far too many
occasions seen horses where I was barely strong enough to undo the
noseband. Ouch!
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Email: rhood@junction.net
