The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread

[Superdoot]

Yeah, me too. I've got to open the shop tomorrow. Talk to ya'll then.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Nite.

[Superdoot]

Nite.:)

[CindyDawg]

This is a young girl that is long legged that helps me out a lot. She doesn't even use the stirrup. Just steps over him:')from the mounting block. Makes it look so easy. Probably old stuff to you but I watched her get on a horse barebacked the other day while standing on the edge of a pick up bed.

[CindyDawg]

Buenos noches :')

[AnAmericanMother]

OK, let me see if I can explain the concept of "energy". (This really isn't "touchy feely" - it's an attempt to explain collection and extension and the power that drives it.)

A horse's "motor" is in the back - his impulsion, the energy that drives him forward, comes from his hind end. If he is placed in a position where his weight is rocked back, his spine is arched upward, and his hindquarters are well under him, he is in the best possible position to produce that energy because his body is properly aligned. Just as (if you are a dancer), you rise slightly on your toes and lift your head, shoulders and solar plexus before you step out.

Now, you have your horse with his forehand lifted, his spine arched upward, his hindquarters tucked under, and he's ready to step forward. As his hind legs push him forward, the way his spine is aligned will direct the momentum from his hind legs - THAT's what I'm calling "energy" - the horse's momentum that takes him where he wants to go.

With your legs and your hands, you DIRECT that energy - the "push" moves the horse straight forward, to one side or the other, or around a curve. Your leg aids generate the "push" and then direct it. When you place the horse on a bend and move him forward in a bend, your legs are doing two things at once: you're giving him the aid to move forward - to "push" - and at the same time your legs shape his spine to determine the direction the "push" is going to go.

Now for the part that's hard for Western riders because you don't ride "on contact": by riding a horse with a "feel" of his mouth (and you can't do this in a Western curb - you have to use a snaffle or a combination bit like a Pelham or a double bridle) you can contain or hold back the "push" or energy for some period of time. Your legs generate the energy in the horse's hindquarters, he pushes forward, but your hands by holding contact (maybe slightly firmer as you push) tell him "don't go freely forward." All that energy has to go somewhere, so it goes UP - the horse arches his back and neck and lifts his forehand.

Now, if you pull too hard or push too hard, the whole edifice will collapse - the contact can't be static, it has to go somewhere. (That's why a horse will rear if you pull too hard on the reins while pushing. You're telling him GO! but DON'T GO FORWARD! So he goes UP.) You have to allow the horse to move forward on the bit, dispelling some of the energy in forward motion, while the rest of the energy is still going into the lift of his forehand.

What I'm talking about with the energy on the bend is that the outside rein doesn't allow the horse to dispell the energy by going STRAIGHT - the rein directs him to "go" on the curve. In other words, you "close the door" on the outside so he can't go straight, but you "open the door" to the inside curve and the horse goes in that direction.

This is a very pretty bend in a collected canter. You can see that the rider's outside leg is back, the left hand is set lower than the right hand, which is lifted to "close the door" on the outside. The horse is in the second beat of the canter (two diagonal legs on the ground). Note how the LH leg is placed well forward, showing that the hindquarters are collected (even though the single hind leg is trailing at the moment). The withers are higher than the quarters - the horse is nicely collected and lifted in front. Ideally the front of the horse's face should be exactly perpendicular to the ground - and this horse is pretty darned close. If the nose goes back too far, there's too much hand pressure and the horse is seeking to evade the bit by breaking at the poll. This horse is accepting the bit nicely, and he's happy (look at his ears!)

This pic is from the Dublin Horse Show - the cream of the crop.

[Superdoot]

Morning sunshine.:)

Running late already this morning, the bed wouldn't let go. I'm off to make the citizens of tulsa more beautiful. Have a good ride today, hope you don't get wet. Talk at ya later.:)

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

What a sweetie you are:)

I'm setting in the garden getting my bible study ready for this afternoon. At the rate I'm going I may not ride till I get home this aftenoon.

Looks like it could rain. I came in to look at the radar, and saw your post.

Hope your day is good too.

Becky

[ecurbh]

You gone too? :')

No, I'm around, but I've been working on a project, so I haven't been freeping much.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

The trick that this girl accomplished by standing in the pick up was getting the horse to stand still close enough to it. The pick up put her high enough to make mounting easy, unless the horse was a monster.

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Thanks for the post:), I can't study it close right now, too many other things happening right now, but I promise to look at it in depth for sure by this evening, and get back with you.

I'm asking all this, because after seeing the pictures Mack took yesterday of me and Rusty going around the barrel, it looked to me he was leaning to far in, and I need for him to keep his body more straight up and down, I was wondering if that was what you were talking about and if so how to correct it.

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

LOL....like your tag line:)

Becky

[MissTargets]

Here is the picture I was trying to post before.

Alison & Tubby

[MissTargets]

Sorry, it did not come out here at work. They must have a block (like they do most things). I will repost when I get home.

[CindyDawg]

It did for awhile :') I saw it but now just an x. She's adorable.

[CindyDawg]

No. It still shows on the thread, just not under my comments.

[CindyDawg]

Yeah, I have it stored too, for later (much later:'). Actually, I can relate a little. At first I used to have one foot on the gas and one on the brake and couldn't figure why my horse wouldn't go forward but just kept throwing his head up and backing.

[CindyDawg]

Yeah, I know. She just makes it look so effortless:') She's the one that helped me work my saddle problems out and teaching me how to make my horse stand still during mounting.

[CindyDawg]

Just checking to see if you have been doing any more cantering :')

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Actually, I can relate a little.

LOL...you're doing better then me. I'm one of those people who have to DO it to see/understand it.

I think I have been dropping the outside rein and raising the inside, on the turns. If I'm reading this right, that is backwards???. I was under the impression that you used the reins to control the shoulders, and since I didn't want the horse drifting out on the turn I figured lowering the rein, was closing the door.

Doot usually understand this stuff better then me and explains it to her poor ole mom:) Doot read post #806.

Becky