Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Angie, the best indicator of how straight you are sitting in the saddle
is your horse.   

Try this : find a large, flat area (I use the local polo field but any
big field will do).  Pick a point about 200 meters away.  Take your feet
out of the stirrup and ride for that point.  Your horse should move
STRAIGHT towards it (terrain permitting) and not veer off in one way or
another.  If he does, instead of applying leg or hand aids to shift him,
use your weight and see what happens.  Generally, a horse will try to
move back underneath you.  So, if you are leaning right, a horse is apt
to move right, in order to get underneath you again as he's more
comfortable when you're sitting straight.  

Don't confuse weight aids with seat bones.  Totally different concept as
seat bones can be "driving" aids (DQ's don't yell at me, I know they're
not really but they work differently than the weight aids I'm talking
about).

If you can do this for 200 meters then try it for 400.  When you can do
it straight on for 400 meters THEN start asking for it in rising, and
then sitting trot, and finally canter.

Remember, though, that a canter isn't a "straight" movement, like walk
and trot, because the horse should be bent round the leg.  But that's a
different discussion for an evening when I haven't been up since five
and in court all day.

Tracey





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