Posts Tagged ‘hind leg’

When you are riding, one vitally important component is your seat. In this article, I would like to look at the seat and how important it is to make sure you are relaxed and confident, to assist in your perfect seat.

Just close your eyes for a moment and I want you to imagine your perfect seat. What does it look like to you? I want you to picture yourself as if you are looking at yourself. So how do you look? Are you still, poised and elegant? What are you ankles doing? Your thighs? Your stomach? Then I want you to step into your body and feel how it feels to have a perfect seat. How it feels to move with your horse in motion and go with the movement. What do you hear, what do you see and what do you feel?

Ok so “how????” I can hear you screaming at me!

Well, good question, but let’s first look at why?

To me seat is the single most important tool when riding a horse. When I am working with a client seat is at the fore front of my mind all the time. Lets say I have a client coming to me saying “my horse doesn’t keep his head still or stay to the contact,” I could talk about driving to the bit and engaging behind and riding the hind leg and I do… but I am also thinking are the hands still enough for the horse to comfortably and easily go into the bridle and stay steady on the contact. Still hands are vital for a horses head to be still. The hands can only be still if the seat is sufficiently developed to keep the balance, and not rely on the hands for balance.

The seat is also the core to effective dressage riding. You know when you watch the top riders and you are staring really hard… and you still can’t see them doing anything!!! And the horse is dancing underneath them. Well that’s riding with seat. Where you can go with the horse and influence the horse with your body. It’s almost like your thoughts become his and your back becomes his back.

So there are three keys to a perfect seat:

1. Balance – you must have balance first. You must be able to sit in the center of the saddle and not have to rely on anything to grip or get tight to stay in the centre of the movement.
2. Relaxation - to have a supple back that can swing with the horse you must be relaxed and not tight. The biggest mistakes trainers make is when they say shoulders back, or heels down, the rider if they are very eager will force their heels down or shoulders back using all the muscles they have to achieve this. This results in tight tired muscles and is not the point of a supple seat – the rider will never have the ability to go with the horse. Muscles must always be supple. Now that doesn’t mean soft and not engaged as the muscles do need to work. But with relaxation! I know it’s a paradox! Aren’t most things in riding?!?!?! When I am assisting clients with this I ask them to think of holding a glass of water, now hold it too tight with all the muscle strength you have in your hand and the glass will break, completely relax your hand and the glass will drop and break. There is a muscle tension in the middle ground that is enough to hold the glass. It’s the same for riding. Enough tension to keep you in the movement but not too much that you will become tight, rigid and blocked.
3. Going with the horse’s movement – you must be able to go with the horse and not be left behind. It’s about being the leader, always knowing what will happen next and being ready for it. This means you must have a braced back and an engaged core.

Once you have developed your perfect seat you can then use your seat to influence the horse, slow and quicken it only with seat and turn and perform lateral movements with your seat in conjunction with your legs and reins.

So remember relaxation is so important. It’s a must. If you are worried about falling, you will be gripping and be tight and your seat can’t go with the horse. If you are not balanced you will grip to stay on and your seat can’t go with the horse.

So work on your balance in the saddle, make sure you stay relaxed and supple with positive muscle tension and then allow your body to go with the horse. This is where riding in your mind can help. You can only do so many hours in the saddle practicing but you can do many more hours in your head. The best thing is in your head you never make a mistake and your unconscious mind can’t tell the difference between real and imagined, so all those neural connections are strengthened even if your not on the horse!

To your success,

Natasha

Natasha Althoff-Kelley
http://yourridingsuccess.com
Visit my website for your free 7 Keys to Your Riding Success – providing you with more advice and videos to assist you in your riding journey

Author: Natasha Althoff-Kelley
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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If you have a horse that kicks, either occasionally, periodically, or habitually, it is wise to find out the reasons behind this behavior. Sometimes there are practical reasons a horse will lash out. He may be protecting himself or trying to relieve pain. In other situations kicking is a bad habit that must be addressed before some one gets hurt.

To figure out what your horse is trying to tell you with this potentially dangerous behavior you need to observe his body language and what are the circumstances leading up to a kick. Horses are usually trying to communicate one of six messages when they deliver a kick.

A horse may kick because they feel threatened. Kicking is a weapon horses will use to defend themselves. Being an instinctive response this may be seen in the most pleasant and easygoing horses. This type of kick can be recognized by what precedes it. A horse that is scared will try to move away from the perceived danger. If that does not work he will try pinning his ears or raising his hind leg as a warning. If these fail then he will deliver the kick.

Sometimes a horse will kick in response to pain. A horse with a sore back might “cow kick” when a saddle is placed on his back. If a horse kicks at his belly he may be telling you he has gut pain. Usually a horse that kicks in pain does not threaten or posture before kicking. He just kicks when it hurts. When the pain is relieved the kicking typically stops instantly.

Horses will sometimes kick out because they feel good. They are being playful. This kicking is not intended to be harmful but accidents can happen. If you happen to be turning out a rambunctious horse do so cautiously for your safety and the safety of other horses. This is not something that necessarily needs or can be corrected. Just use common sense.

When a horse kicks when you are riding he is probably reacting to another horse or even another animal that is too close to his hind quarters. Horses can be strict when it comes to their personal space. They can find it offensive if another horse comes too close to their hind end. Mild warning kicks normally precede the “tailgating kick”. This type of kick under saddle should not go uncorrected even if it seems justified. Kicks can be powerful enough to break the bones of who ever might receive the impact of the kick. Instantly correct your horse to let him know this is not acceptable behavior.

Kicks delivered due to frustration of the horse can be pretty easy to discern. If you are found to be slow, in his opinion, at delivering your horse’s grain ration you may recognize this type of kick. These kicks are usually accompanied by body language that you cannot miss. The horse will not seem frightened just impatient. Pinned ears, flipping the head, rearing slightly, and lunging forward are the preceding body language normally associated with this type of kick.

Feeding this horse first may be a workable solution. You may choose to simply ignore this type of kicking providing the horse is not hurting himself or others. Some people have tried hobbles to help eliminate this behavior. Hobbles only work if they are on. A horse may stop when the hobbles are on and start up again when they are removed.

The kick to take most seriously is the horse that kicks to say “I’m in charge”. This horse, somewhere in his life, has learned bullying is an acceptable way to deal with people. There are bigger training issues with the horse that tries to achieve dominance over his human handler. Before they kick they will threaten and posture with pinned ears and show a “mean face”. Usually they turn their rump toward you and raise their hoof before the kick.

These bossy kickers do not try to escape the situation. Often other aggressive behaviors will be displayed by these horses such as showing no respect for the space of others. These horses have gotten away with this behavior in the past. A bossy kicker will act this way because it works for them. Reforming this type of a kicker can be very difficult. It very well could require a professional trainer to reestablish ground rules and the chain of command when it comes to personal space.

When a horse kicks it is a call for an investigation to find out why. A kick can be an effective form of communication. It can be a powerful weapon against predators. Kicking does serve the horse very well. However, kicks can inflict injury. It can be one of the most dangerous behaviors a horse can display.

For additional information about practical horse management please go to http://wcf-ltd.com/horse/ to learn more about how to care for your horse.

Author: Fran Mullens
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Shoulder-in is the father of the advanced lateral dressage movements. It does many wonderful things for your horse. Here are just some of them:

1. Shoulder-in is a suppling exercise because it stretches and loosens the muscles and ligaments of the inside shoulder and forearm. During shoulder-in, your horse passes his inside foreleg in front of his outside foreleg. This motion increases his ability to move his forearm gymnastically in other movements.

2. It’s also a straightening exercise because you should always straighten your horse by bringing his forehand in front of his hindquarters. Never try to straighten him by leg yielding his hindquarters out behind his shoulders.

3. Shoulder-in is also a collecting exercise. It increases your horse’s self-carriage because he lowers his inside hip with each step. As a result, his center of gravity shifts back toward his hind legs. His hindquarters carry more weight, and his front end elevates.

What Does Shoulder-In look like?

The horse flexes to the inside, and bends around your inside leg. His forehand comes in 30 degrees off the wall so he’s on three tracks. At this angle his inside hind leg lines up behind his outside foreleg.

Sometimes in competition, the judge likes to see a hoof’s width more than three tracks. But don’t bring the forehand in more than that, or you’ll lose the bend.

What Are the Aids?

If you’re doing left shoulder-in, the aids are:

1. Put your weight on your left seat bone.
2. Keep your left leg on the girth for bend and to ask for engagement of the inside hind leg.
3. Place your right leg behind the girth to prevent the hindquarters from swinging out.
4. Use your left rein to create a +1 flexion at poll.
5. Keep your right rein steady and supporting to prevent too much bend in the neck.
6. Keep both hands low and equidistant from your body as you move them to the left. Move them to the left enough to place the outside front leg in front of the inside hind leg. Use your inside rein as an opening rein. Bring your outside hand very close to the withers, but never let that hand cross over the withers.

What’s the Sequence of Aids?

Always ask for bend before you ask for angle. The formula for the advanced lateral exercises is: Bend + Sideways = Engagement. (It’s NOT Sideways + Bend=Engagement.)

* Make a 10-meter circle (or ride a corner with a 10-meter arc) to bend your horse.
* You’ll know your horse is bending easily when you can soften the contact on the inside rein, and he stays bent by himself. He’ll also feel like he’s “giving” in his rib cage. (i.e. If you’re circling to the right, his rib cage feels like it’s bulging to the left.)
* Once he’s bending nicely, start a second 10-meter circle.
* Interrupt that circle during the first step, and continue down the long side.
* To interrupt the circle, look straight down the long side, and give a squeeze with your inside leg.
* Bring both hands to the inside to place the forehand 30 degrees away from the wall.
* Make sure you do shoulder-in with the same amount of bend and angle in both directions. Don’t ride on three tracks in one direction and on three and a half tracks in the other.

How Can You Tell If You’re Doing a Good Shoulder-in?

* The quality of the shoulder-in really comes down to BEND.
* You know your horse is bending if his hindquarters are in exactly the same position (i.e.parallel to the wall) in shoulder-in as they are when you’re just riding straight down the track.
* If his hindquarters swing out at an angle to the wall, you’re just doing a leg yield in a shoulder-in position.

Are you sick and tired of complicated and confusing training techniques?
Are you frustrated by negative emotions like fear and lack of confidence?
Would you like to be trained by a Three Time Olympic Coach?
Learn how by going to: http://www.janesavoie.com/ or http://www.dressagementor.com

Author: Jane Savoie
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Learning to feel when your dressage horse is straight is always a challenge.

Probably the best way to learn to feel straightness is to always riding your horse in what’s called First Position. First Position isn’t an exercise–it’s just a straight horse that is bending the joints of his inside hind and carrying weight behind.

If you think of your horse as being on 3 tracks in shoulder-in, think of First Position as being the “thought” of shoulder-in or a very slight shoulder-fore.

If you were riding down the long side straight at a person, that person wouldn’t be able to see the outside hind leg because it would be directly behind the outside front leg. However, she’d see half of a hoof’s width (about 2 and 1/2 inches) of the inside hind hoof stepping to the inside of the inside front leg.

This is a VERY slight displacement of the shoulders toward the inside of the arena so in the beginning you’ll need a mirror or a ground person who can say, “That’s too much angle. That’s not enough angle. That’s just right.”

When you track with the your horse’s hollow side on the inside, you might have to counter-flex (-1) him FIRST before you ask the shoulders to come in. Otherwise, your horse will just bend his neck in, and his shoulders will still be glued to the rail.

Ride around in First Position on long and short sides, circles, corners. Then do some upward and downward transitions maintaining First Position before, during, and after the transitions.

Once you get used to the feel of how much angle your dressage horse has in First Position, you’ll know when he’s straight because any extra displacement of the haunches either in or out will feel weird or wrong to you.

Are you sick and tired of complicated and confusing training techniques?
Are you frustrated by negative emotions like fear and lack of confidence?
Would you like to be trained by a Three Time Olympic Coach?
Learn how by going to: http://www.janesavoie.com/ or http://www.dressagementor.com

Author: Jane Savoie
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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When riding your dressage horse, it’s important to keep your hands in what I call the “work area”.

The “work area” is just in front of the saddle above the horse’s withers. Put your hands in that position and draw an imaginary box around them. That box is your work area.

No matter what rein aids you’re giving, keep your hands in the work area. If you bring your hands closer to your body, you steal power from the hind legs. If you put your outside hand forward, for example, you lose control of the outside shoulder.

If you raise or lower your hands, you break the straight line from the bit through your hand to your elbow. When you break that straight line, and there’s an angle where the rein meets your hand, the action of the rein stops there. That is, the action of the rein can’t travel through your arm and down your back so it can affect your horse’s back. It also can’t travel through the horse’s body and affect the hind leg on the same side.

Generally, many dressage riders tend to pull back by drawing their hands toward their bodies and behind their horse’s withers. If you tend to do that, here’s a simple tip to remind you to keep your hands FORWARD in the work area. Imagine there’s a basketball in front of your stomach. Keep your hands in front of the basketball. No matter how hard you try, you can’t draw your hands closer to your body because the basketball is in the way!

Are you sick and tired of complicated and confusing training techniques?
Are you frustrated by negative emotions like fear and lack of confidence?
Would you like to be trained by a Three Time Olympic Coach?
Learn how by going to: http://www.janesavoie.com/ or http://www.dressagementor.com

Author: Jane Savoie
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Practice makes perfect. That statement is very true for Dressage. Of course, if you only practice by yourself, you may not get any better, but a good coach can help you improve your riding skills. If you have ever had to re-train a horse, you know it. The same counts for re-training a student, or even yourself. Bad habits are habits too, and changing habits has never been easy. Still, it is do-able.

When I started taking dressage lessons, the first lesson was almost all talk. Not much riding. It surprised me, but later on I really appreciated it and was able to go back to what I learned during my rides without my instructor.

Today we are explaining the basis of it all: Rhythm.

Rhythm is the result of a defined beat pattern of the hoof fall. A relaxed horse can step into a natural rhythm in all four of the natural gaits:

1. Walk – this should be and clear regular 4-beat gait.

2. Trot – a clear and regular 2-beat gait.

3. Canter – a clear and regular 3-beat gait.

The walk is 4-beat gait; when either one of the horse’s front legs leaves the ground, it is followed next by an opposite hind leg that reaches forward underneath the belly, creating a diagonal balance point. So the horse doesn’t step on the heels of his own front feet with the rear hooves, he moves each foreleg forward out of the way before a hind hoof on the same side of his body hits the ground.

The trot is a 2-beat gait; in Dressage we need the legs to move in diagonal pairs and hit the ground at the exact same time. When posting we move with the inside hind leg, sitting when it is on the ground and rising when it comes off, to help the horse balance itself.

The canter is a 3-beat gait. On a circle to the right his left hind leg pushes him forward onto his left front/right hind diagonal pair of legs which he’ll use for momentary balance before rolling onto his right front, or leading, leg; thus creating a 3-beat gait. There should be a clear moment of suspension.

To teach a horse rhythm you will ride the majority of your lessons in the trot. The trot is the easiest to control since you only work with a 2-beat rhythm. You also will not have to follow his head and neck, as in the trot, it is relatively still. It is easy to feel, easy to count, and easy to feel if it gets too quick. Once you and your horse have mastered the rhythm in the trot, you will notice that the rhythm in the canter is much easier to maintain.

There is good rhythm and bad rhythm. Good rhythm is when the horse’s canter is a true 3-beat, bad or incorrect rhythm is when it becomes a lazy 4-beat. Rhythm faults in the walk are when it comes close to 2-beat (lateral gait – like gaited horses), and in the trot when it resembles a lame, hopping horse.

I the next couple of days, we will discuss the next level of the training scale: Relaxation with Elasticity & Suppleness.

And now I would like to give you our Free eBook: “What to Do In Time of Emergency – A Guide & Workbook for Families with Horses”.

All I ask is that you sign up for our weekly newsletter with lots of good information for the Dressage and Horse Enthusiast. Just go here to our blog at http://www.PerformingHorse.com.

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Now Go Out And Ride

From Monique Myers @ http://www.performinghorse.com/AboutMe.html

Author: Monique Myers
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Lots of people are confused by the difference between the dressage terms shoulder-in, shoulder-fore, and first position. They all have a place as far as straightening your dressage horse. That’s because we always straighten the horse by bringing the forehand in front of the hindquarters. Never straighten the horse by pushing his hindquarters over behind his shoulders.

Let’s talk first talk about the dressage term first position. To make your dressage horse straight, always ride him in first position.

First position teaches him “baby engagement” (bending of the joints) of his inside hind leg. If you don’t ride your dressage horse in first position (especially when his hollow side is on the inside), he’ll open the joints of his inside hind leg and place his hindquarters to the inside. As a result, he won’t carry as much weight on his inside hind leg, and it won’t get stronger.

Also, if you don’t make it a habit to ride in first position at the walk and trot, the first time you’ll really see and feel that your horse is crooked is during the canter. Your horse will put his hindquarters to the inside because you haven’t taught him the mechanics of bending the joints of his hind legs.

To differentiate between these three dressage terms, think of them in this way:

Shoulder-in is a straightening exercise. Bring your horse’s shoulders to the inside at a 30-degree angle to the track. At 30 degrees, his outside foreleg is in the same track as his inside hind leg.
Shoulder-fore is also a straightening exercise. Displace your horse’s shoulders to the inside at a 15-degree angle to the track so that each leg is traveling on it’s own track.
Think of first position as “the thought of” a shoulder-in. Use a very subtle version of shoulder-in aids to get first position. First position is not an exercise like shoulder-in and shoulder-fore. It’s simply the way you want to ride your straight horse.

Because first position is so subtle, ask a ground person to help you learn this feeling. To do this, ride toward someone who is standing at the end of the long side. If you’re in first position, she won’t be able to see your horse’s outside hind foot. That’s because it’s hidden behind the outside front leg. But she should be able to see half of a hoof’s width of the inside hind leg stepping to the inside of the inside foreleg.

When you’re first learning to ride your dressage horse in first position, you’ll probably override the angle and do shoulder-in or shoulder-fore. So it’s helpful to have a ground person or mirror so you can develop a feel for the subtlety of this position. Once you can identify this feeling, your horse will feel odd and unbalanced to you when he’s crooked.

Author: Jane Savoie
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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The systematic way to train a dressage horse to do a walk pirouette is to start with turn on the haunches.

A turn on the haunches is a 180-degree turn done at the walk. Your horse bends in the direction of the turn. His forehand moves around his haunches until he’s facing the opposite direction. His outside hind foot and his forefeet move around his inside hind foot, which forms a pivot.

Your horse must maintain the regular rhythm of his walk. His pivot leg gets picked up and put down each time, slightly ahead of where it was before.
Turn on the haunches engages the hindquarters and encourages bending of the joints of the hind legs. The end result is that your horse’s body feels more packaged.
Turn on the haunches is an introductory movement for the walk pirouette. It differs from a pirouette because it’s done from a shortened medium walk while a pirouette is done from a collected walk. Also in the turn on the haunches, your horse’s hind feet make a small circle, (about the size of a dinner plate). In a walk pirouette, your horse’s inside hind leg should be picked up and put down almost on the same spot.

The aids to train your dressage horse to do a turn on the haunches to the left are:

Seat:
Put your weight on your left (inside) seat bone.

Left leg (inside leg):
Place your left leg on the girth to promote bending and engagement of your horse’s inside hind leg.

Right leg (outside leg):
Place your right leg behind the girth to help bend your horse around your inside leg and to prevent his hindquarters from swinging out.

Left rein:
Turn your wrist to ask for +1 flexion.

Right rein:
Use your right rein as a siderein to limit the amount of bend you get in the neck.

Both hands:
Move both hands in the direction of the turn to move the forehand around the hindquarters. Keep your hands side-by-side and equidistant from your body. Think of your left rein as an opening rein and bring your right rein closer to your horse’s neck. Imagine that your hands are like the second hand on a clock sweeping around the face of the clock.

The sequence of aids are:

1. Prepare for the turn by using a “stilled seat” to shorten your dressage horse’s medium walk.

2. Bend your horse to the inside.

3. Set him up for the turn by riding in a slight shoulder-fore position.

4. Bring both hands in the direction you want his body to turn to guide his forehand around his hindquarters.

Since the two most important ingredients to train a dressage horse to do a correct turn on the haunches are rhythm and bend, preserve these qualities by introducing it on a circle.

Do haunches-in on a 10-meter circle.
As long as your horse keeps his rhythm, bend, and desire to go forward, decrease the size of the circle while you’re still in haunches-in gradually.
Make the circle only as small as you can while keeping the rhythm, bend, and forward desire.

Author: Jane Savoie
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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