HORSES 101

You are on the horse!

So you are finally on your horse, a dream come true Let's get that dream happening by having a ride….but, whoa! First you need to think about your seated position on the horse. To ride with any degree of safety for you and comfort for your horse, you need to be in lateral and vertical alignment with your horse.

Vertical alignment means you are sitting over his center of balance, just behind his heart girth area, with your heels, hips, shoulders, and ears, all stacked above one another. (Remember how important it was to get that saddle in the right position?) Any part of your body that is not in this vertical alignment gives false communication to your horse and puts you in greater danger of going off your horse, especially forward. If your head and shoulders are leaning forward you are telling your horse either to go faster, or to use his front feet to balance you instead of using his hindquarters to carry your weight. If your legs and feet are out in front of you, you are putting too much of your weight onto his lower back. This can be a major cause of sway back in your horse. If your toes are pointing downward in the stirrups with your heels upward, you are shifting all your weight forward in the saddle, not sitting deep in the seat, thus making it easier to be "ejected".

Lateral alignment means you are carrying your weight evenly on each side of the horse. You may feel like you are balanced, but because most people favor one side of their body over the other, it is very unlikely that you are. If you are unbalanced, you make it very difficult for the horse to carry you. Any advanced, precise riding (dressage, gaming, jumping, even cantering) will be very difficult with the unbalanced rider. It will be difficult for the horse to carry you and himself with any degree of balance, greatly compromising safety.

So this is where your riding instructor enters the picture! It is absolutely impossible for you to know if you are on your horse in a vertical or lateral balanced position. If you have ever done any riding without lessons previously, it will almost be a given you will be out of balance. A friend with a video camera, taping you from the side as you sit and move, then from the back of the horse will tell you what you look like. It takes a trained and experienced eye to accurately know what to look for. My suggestion at this point would be to buy the video Visible Rider, by Susan Harris. Yes, buy it, and watch it at least 20 times until balanced riding looks normal to you. Then look at yourself on video riding over and over to see how you compare. It is very hard to teach yourself to be a balanced rider. That is why serious riders take lessons, forever. So be kind to yourself and your horse and become a balanced rider.

Next month we will discuss how your body communicates with your horse once you are balanced.

By Darleen Finnigan, CHA & ARIA certified, teaching at Saddle Soar Ranch, Inc, for over 10 years, specializing in teaching beginner adults and children. Darleen is also the Northwest dealer for Ortho-flex saddles. For more information, 253 927-6899, or www. Saddlesoarranch.com