Training Tips
By
Gail DeStefano
Riding with "Feeling?"
When I was in college, I had to take a course on "probability" Probability is the branch of mathematics that studies the possible outcomes of given events together with the outcomes' relative likelihoods and distributions.
I took this course and with hard work I ended up with A's. I am not a math person, and I went through this whole course never knowing what the heck I was doing and why I was doing all these strange math problems. (I still don't know!) Yet, I got those A's. Now, what does this have to do with learning to ride, you ask? Plenty!
I have had students doing what I ask and doing it correctly and not knowing why they are doing it. (Whatever "it" may be) Even after I have explained what I want them to do and why they have to do it, they still do not understand. In other words, they are not ready to understand the "why or how". In time, they do understand the "why" but, they may not be able to do the "how" on their own. Let me give you the prime example of what I am talking about.
What is riding on the correct diagonal? What does that mean? When you post (another word to be discussed at a later time) to the trot, you rise and fall once each per stride. You rise as the horse moves one pair of legs, and you sit gently with the movement of the other pair.
The pairs of legs moving are diagonally across the horse's body; that is left front goes forward along with the right hind leg and the same on the left side of the horse only opposite.
When your horse walks, he takes one leg at a time and lifts it off the ground, placing it further ahead of where it was. This makes for four beats, since he has four legs. In the trot, he raises 2 legs at the same time and places them further ahead. Since each pair comes up together and comes down together. This makes for 2 beats. In the trot the legs that are moving together are at a diagonal line to each other. (Hence the word: Clip clop)
One of the first things I like to teach new students is how to post to the trot. Not only for the safety of my students but, for the comfort of the horse. The biggest problem I find is, teaching the student to not just feel when they should come up out of the saddle but, to see it while they are on the horse.
This brings me back to my math class. Some students can post but, do not see or feel when. They just happen to get it correct through sheer luck. They can watch the horses shoulder all lesson, and think they have it but, when asked if they are posting on the correct diagonal, they answer wrong. If this happens, then the student is not ready to absorb the information. I use different exercises to help them understand what to feel and look for when posting. I put them on the lunge line and have them close their eyes, just sitting and feeling the movement of the horses trot. I ask them to place their hands on the top of the horses shoulder and feel the rhythm of the horses shoulder as it moves up on one side and down on the other. Posting games, such as post 4 times sit trot 2 times etc. helps gain some rhythm of the movement of the horse. Keep in mind that learning to ride correctly is a lifelong experience. You may not understand something one day and the next day while riding something may click and everything seems to come together. Those are the light bulb moments that a teacher lives for. It is so hard to try and teach a "feeling" or a "connection". It is something that cannot be shown or explained but, must be felt. The sweetest words an instructor could hear are when a student says, "I got it, I got it, I felt the "connection." It may have only lasted a second or two but, it was there and it is a start to something that is real. Your goal then, is to work towards keeping that "feeling" every time you place your leg over a horse. Remember to let your body and mind relax and listen to what you hear with your "feelings." Soon, you will not only be hearing your "feelings" but, one day you will be hearing what you horse is saying to you.
