Something to think about whilst you ride
Where are you having to increase pressure in your riding?
Is there a particular request that is feeling like you're not getting the best response from? And you feel you have to increase the pressure to get what you have asked for?
Now take that thought and break it down into what your body needs to be doing for your horse to be able to successfully respond to your request, for example lets take the forward aid from the legs as this is super common...
In order for you horse to respond to a forward leg aid request your body needs to be..
Over your centre point of balance and your horses, if you or your horse is unbalance din any way they cannot successfully respond easily to your request, it would be like asking you to move quicker when you felt like you were about to fall over, you would resist this request
Open in the hips, in order for your horse to respond to your request your hips needs to be free from holding or tension, this is because your horse needs to be able to push from their hind legs, and lift though their back, they need to feel free enough through the muscles of their back to be able to move underneath you, if your hips have any amount of tension in them they will restrict your horses movement, this will then block their ability to respond to your request
Soft hands, in order for your horse to respond to your request you cannot be applying the hand break with your reins, any amount of tension in your hands or arms creates a feeling of woah in your horse, even with a contact the hand needs to be soft to allow for your horse to understand the request
engaged and aligned core, in order for your hips to be mobile and your hands to be soft your brain needs to feel safe, this only ever comes from an engaged core, if the core is not engaged your brain will looks for safety from your hips and shoulders creating the tension that is restricting your horses go response.
Of course if you increase the pressure hard enough you can"override" your horses natural response to the resistance your body is causing but this means you are no longer working with your horse, you have resorted to force, once force is used your horse will carry tension within themselves and the harmony and relaxation is lost.
To be able to allow your horse to respond to your request in a way that's working with you, you must make sure all the above is correct, then you will be able to use less pressure, and get a better response....magic!
Happy Playing
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