Being In Synch With Your Pony

I’ve written about balance many times, but I continue to keep getting a lot of questions about this subject. I am always pleased to assist , so here I go again.

In the context of the rider, balance is derived from the saddle and the rider’s seat. As far as I can see, most folks seem to have issues understanding balance purely because they consider themselves to be too smart for the saddle. They forget the saddle as it exists has evolved over centuries of designing, redesigning, tinkering and refining. Over the centuries, it has been made to evolve to a structure now that permits the rider to neatly mesh with his horse’s motion.

The saddle has its own particular function, so let it satisfy that function. You do yourself a large disfavor, and your horse a far bigger one, by sitting in the saddle in any way apart from how you were meant to. When positioned correctly, you synch your centre of balance with that of the pony neatly, so the horse does not feel additional stress or discomfort.

When you are on the saddle, your shoulders should be upright and back. Your ankle hip and shoulder should be in a straight line. The stirrups are not for bracing yourself, they are for expediting lateral balance; this implies you have just the balls of the feet within the stirrups.

Good riders are never tense or controlling; they achieve perfect balance by staying loosely relaxed. When you get uptight, your state communicates itself to the pony, which also loses its cool. It’s best, of course, that you don’t start this cycle.

Stay relaxed with the head up, eyes forward and mind projecting ahead. Avoid looking at the back of your horse’s head or at his withers. This kind of behaviour makes them very nervous. What you actually should be doing is to radiate stability and confidence by looking miles ahead through your horse’s ears. Just this simple act will help to keep your horse confident and trusting in you. When you’re projecting positivism, you are telling your horse that there’s no need to be afraid of anything in the environment. You have scanned it and done with it, and now you are looking out into the distance ahead.

Be loose and elastic of wrist, elbow and shoulder. You should open yourself to constant learning, and as you learn and maximise feel and contact, you are also learning how to flex with your horse’s neck movement backwards and forwards in synchronicity with the body’s movement.

The horse’s ears should serve as your forward line of sight. By looking out over that angle, you project control and confidence; you are telling the pony there is nothing to be scared of. There is another benefit to looking out over the ears: you can judge where the horse himself is looking. This makes you more alert to whatever your pony might be looking at, and that will tell you what your horse’s possible reaction might be. The pony uses his ears to telegraph his impression of the threat potential of whatever he is looking at. Keep a close watch on your horse’s head movements, follow his line of sight, pick up on whatever he’s looking at and prepare for all contingencies. When you learn how to forecast your horse’s reactions accurately, you get the advantage in warding off any negative response. Although I’m repeating myself, I will emphasise this: your easiest way to handle recalcitrant horses is the standard of your emotions.

By watching out for these signals, you gain the poise and approach that will help you grasp the entire picture quickly.

Horses are Heather Tomspassion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers visit HorseHorses