The Trot: Influencing it's Energy(Part 1 Posting)

When I begin riders at the trot I have found that the easiest way to help them feel the placement of the body is to ask them to hold on to a neck strap which is nothing more than a stirrup leather I secure around the horse's neck. The rider holds on to the strap at approximately the withers, leaning into it in the rising phase with the idea of coming forward and setting 'something' down with the hips into the place they are leaning on. Almost without exception the rider catches on to the posting(or rising) trot within minutes, the horse remains at ease and the awkwardness of this first experience is minimized.
When he displays more confidence and steadiness, I then ask the rider to simply lean into the neck strap and eventually hold the hands still in that place. The most difficult part to achieve is the correct use of the large quadricep muscles of the thighs to hoist the torso up out of the saddle and forward. During this time it is also important for the feet to remain light in the stirrups so that the correct part of the leg is used to bring the body forward. The knee remains relatively still at a fixed point and the thigh hinges off the knee.
If the rider begins this way he soon learns just how easily his horse will respond to a forward aid from a mere touch of the leg. A soft flexing in a relaxed ankle produces a slight bulge in the calf which the horse can feel and respond to. Believing it is this simple is one part of getting the rider to appreciate his horse as a sensitive creature and to develop patience while he learns to communicate in a way he can be understood without resorting to force.
As the hand learns to remain still in its place because the torso is moving forward out of the saddle and back as a result of adequate tone of the thighs, the hand 'appreciates' that this 'something' that the hips deposit into the withers is related to the 'something' that seems to stream forth from the arm to hand into the same spot! This 'something' I call 'energy' sparks over from the hip bones to the elbows and thus the rider's entire body participates in a continual regular pattern of carrying forward the thrust the horse generates as his hind legs push into the ground. The rider in this pattern connects the back end to the front end via the horse's spine and related musculature. It is a neatly orchestrated activity which the horse can accomplish completely on his own but which can be radically disturbed by the additional weight of a rider. The act of sitting in the correct place over thoracic vertebrae T-12 and T-13 and using the mechanics of posting trot in a way that works in harmony with this orchestration instead of in a way that fights it is what brings to light another process. This process, which even though it cannot be seen, is at work simultaneously together with the mechanics that are visible. And this process is what I call 'energetics'. It involves the recognition of a simultaneous flow and the entrance of the rider into the flow and gradually away from the reliance on the mechanics!
Interestingly, young riders can catch onto this very early when they are introduced to it at an innocent and pure stage in their learning. All they need is guidance to feel the flow and to recognize how their own body either interferes with it or embraces and engages with it in a creative fashion. Of course in this limited article I have not begun to touch upon the problems that might be innate in the horse in terms of blockage of this flow. At this stage in my articles I simply wish to enlighten the rider of his responsibility to seek this important thing and to work toward the very real possibility that at some point later on in his personal development as a rider he will be able to influence the horse more distinctly and precisely and can bring forth healing to a horse, leading him out of bondage to his own self.
Allow me to sum up posting trot and integrate energetics into this picture. The rider instigates trot with a touch of the leg, focusing the mind on the image of sending energy the horse throws up from under the saddle forward and down into the withers(the hopper). The strong quadricep muscles of the thighs hoist the torso up out of the saddle and the rider imagines tossing a small concentrated ball of energy from deep inside his lower abdomen(the 'oven'!!! or dan tien) forward onto the withers(the hopper). It is a specific concentrated projection onto a specific spot.
The knees will be soft but still and lower leg will hang gently down with feet light in the stirrups. Buttock muscles will firm up as the rider aims the toss into the targeted spot. Hands low(near the withers) remain quiet and still with elbows close to the hips to receive a spark from the hip bones to take down the soft arms through the hands and into the reins. The elbow is 'retained' by the rider but the lower arm and wrist are 'offered' to the horse. The effect is a push from the hips straight into the reins. Rider looks straight between the horse's ears and 'talks' to the poll with an 'ether-like' connection of brain to brain.
There is no backward traction on the reins. The rider lowers the body back into the saddle very gently employing thigh muscles and lower back. The more precisely the integration of the body sends the energy into the 'hopper' without disturbing the regular beat offered by the horse, the more the horse will round himself, mount his back, and collect his body into a graceful form.
Working with energy flow in the posting trot very soon demonstrates to the rider that forward motion is much more than the push from the hind legs of the horse. It is really more a product of the well designed coordination of muscle and nerve impulses that cause the spine to transmit energy forward. How the rider sits and communicates through his seat further demonstrates that motion results from more than what we say to the horse's legs---it's what we say to the spine that matters most!
Speaking from experience, I have seen many riders who have struggled desperately to get and keep their horses moving. When they come to the realization of the futility of working hard with the legs to try to influence the step of the horse's hind legs and of the faulty approach of their seat, riding takes a leap to a new plateau! Discovering the flow that comes from the horse and how to work with that flow opens doors to a much higher level of sophistication in the riding.