What Does It Look And Feel Like When My Dressage Horse Is On The Bit?
So many riders are confused by how a dressage horse should look and feel when he’s honestly on the bit. So what follows are specific ways for you to tell if he’s on the bit by what you see and what you feel.
When a dressage horse is on the bit, this is what he’ll look like:
His entire outline from back to front looks round.
His hind legs step actively underneath his body, his back is up and swinging, his neck is long and low enough to be in line with the “power train” of his hindquarters, his poll is the highest point, and his nose is about 5 degrees in front of the vertical
From the saddle his neck is widest at the base (just in front of the withers) and becomes progressively narrower as you get closer to his ears.
From the side, his neck looks longish and relatively low rather than up in the air and short.
When your dressage horse is on the bit, here’s what he’ll feel like:
He’s one unit rather than a jumble of “disconnected parts”.
He’s more comfortable to sit on because his back is relaxed.
In trot and canter, he feels like a beach ball bouncing along.
His back (behind the saddle) is up and swinging rather than dropped and tense.
The energy is self-perpetuating. The power comes from behind, over the back and gets recycled back to the hind legs. If the horse is truly connected and isn’t crooked with the shoulder falling out and the haunches falling in, the energy is self-perpetuating. If the horse, let’s say, is popping out one shoulder and the energy is going diagonally across his body, then you have to come with your driving aids and recreate the energy because it’s not self-perpetuating.
Anything is possible within the next step. For example, he can immediately go from trot to canter. Or he can immediately go from working canter into a canter lengthening. Or he can do a canter depart in the next step.
If you’re not sure if your dressage horse is truly on the bit, ask for a transition. If it’s easy to do within the next step, then you know that your horse is on the bit.
Author: Jane Savoie
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Duty tariff