Riding Lessons

(This blog was originally posted on June 15, 2011)

Photo courtesy of Sara Fogan

When it comes to riding and working with horses, my education is on-going. Following are several things I have learned:

 

·         Know your geometry. When it comes to horses and riding, everything has a shape—even a straight line. Galahad and I are working on trotting a perfectly round 20-meter circle. (Let’s face it: the perfectly round circle is a lifelong goal for most equestrians!) This is more difficult than it looks: Both of us have a more comfortable “side” that we like to work on, and I tend to lean to the inside while he likes to bulge to the outside. Therefore, I keep tracing a mental image of that round circle in my mind as we trot the pattern on the ground…all while I am using my seat, leg and hand aids to keep the horse “straight”!

 

·         Ride with your eyes. This is one of horseman Chris Cox’s mantras, and his advice really been comes in handy as I practice those circles. If I don’t look where I’m going, I can’t expect my horse to know where I want us to be. But even more important is, when I sit straight and tall in the saddle, looking straight ahead where I want to ride my body is in better balance, which helps my horse to maintain his balance as he trots forward.

 

·         Ride the next stride. In other words, “the show must go on.” Every time you work with a horse, you need to have a plan. Where are you going to ride? What are you going to work on? The horse is looking to you to be his “leader,” so you must be worth following. It is easy and natural to become distracted by what is happening or has just happened during a ride. Whether your horse spooks or your circle is starting to look like a potato or the ride is going perfectly, keep riding forward. Rather than become distracted or obsess about what has just happened, file a mental note in your mind about how you dealt with the issue and ride on.

 

·         Stay in balance. Riders are often reminded that if they look down at the ground when they ride, they will be “picking the spot to land.” That may be true, but if you are feeling dizzy or off-balance when you ride, this will also affect the horse you are on. Riders at the Spanish Riding School, in Vienna, do not ride with stirrups when they ask their horses to perform the “airs above the ground” because he needs to find his balance on the horse without interfering with the animal’s balance. On several occasions, I have felt Galahad shift his balance beneath me. Even though I didn’t feel off-balance, something didn’t feel right or comfortable to him so he adjusted his body to accommodate whatever was going on with me. This experience is actually very humbling and reinforced how much the rider’s balance can affect the ease, comfort and even safety the horse can move with someone on his back.

 

 

 

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

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