The Power of Intent: 'Love Energy'

All the most extraordinary riders and trainers have one important thing in common. They convey 'love' to the horses. I don't mean they 'love' horses or that they show kindness but that they actually project loving thoughts directly to the horse. This special 'something' sets them apart as having an unobtainable gift when it is actually possible for us all to have with our 'intent'. Yes, there are talented people but the best of the talented convey 'love energy' and you can too!
In the book "HEAL THYSELF", Dr. Pieter DeWet says that DNA actually contains the script for healing. Switch on the script by affecting the DNA through 'love energy' and the body moves away from a sickened state of imbalance toward a wholesome state of balance. I believe this can happen in our interactions with the horse. And I will go so far as to say, I experience this first hand with them on a regular basis and have seen how 'love energy' can change and restore them in minutes....even seconds. Lasting change needs time and patience but it begins and continues to be nourished through a singular spark of 'love energy'. If you think this is easy, think again! It happens ONLY when this intent flows out of self-less humility and absolute genuineness. Any imitation will not do.
Remember: a horse knows the difference between the intent of a person who accidentally bumps into him with a pitchfork and one who strikes him with it. He recognizes this with absolute clarity. His DNA knows it! And so with 'love energy'. Fake it and the DNA knows the truth and will respond well always to truth. When a horse has been mentally(and emotionally) damaged the cellular change from the impact of 'love energy' is there but you may not recognize it! In time, however, it will be inevitable that the positive changes will reveal themselves.
In "HEAL THYSELF" Dr. DeWet mentions "THE DIVINE MATRIX" by Gregg Braden who describes experiments done with DNA in a laboratory where researchers holding vials of DNA were able to affect the coiling of the DNA strand simply by their thoughts!!!
Similarly, Leonard Laskow MD in his "HEALING WITH LOVE" talks about experiments done with bacteria where the bacteria exhibited protective effects from the destructive power of anti-biotics when the researchers projected love and acceptance onto the bacteria! This sounds crazy but it is powerful information for us as riders and trainers.
If we can envision that horses are like beautiful sculptures hidden deep within huge boulders and that our sculpting reveals what is already there, we can transfer this idea to the effects of our projection of genuine 'love energy'. 'Love energy' guarantees that we will not chip away at the boulder and damage the horse inside it. 'Love energy' emanating from perfectly aligned intent(aligned with God himself)will always do good---will always bring about harmony---will always heal and restore. What this implies is that we must strive to focus the mind properly so it can direct proper intent through the conduits, both seen and unseen, of the body. Intent matters!

Thigh Position & Influence

As I have mentioned in earlier posts, the saddle can limit us in training particularly if it hinders the thigh. This can only be realized when a fuller expression of the thigh is experienced! Most people focus on the efforts of the calf and heel and do no much consider the importance of the thigh. In dressage we are told it is most correct to ride with well let down thighs. This one description, I believe, has done damage to our understanding of how to ride and train with minimal hand and leg aids.
The thigh bone is the longest bone of the body and is surrounded by the strongest muscle we possess. In healthy and moderately fit individuals it is able to rotate inward or outward, can swing forward and back, and move sideways out from under the torso or tuck in toward the other thigh. Essentially it can move in many directions because of the way it connects into the hip. The pelvis houses the powerhouse of energy(or dan tien) and can send important messaging out through the thigh. When not on a horse, all day long without our even knowing, we use our powerful thighs to stabilize ourselves in motion and against forces we do not think about. So why when we are in the saddle would we not continue to use the thigh?
Let's start by looking at the effect of a simple rotation of the thigh. An 'open' thigh, where the underside of the leg is slightly more in contact and the knee points slightly outward, opens the front of our lower abdomen(dan tien area) and allows a release of energy forward and invites more energy from the hind quarters to move up and forward. Unaware of this we could inadvertently create more forward motion than the horse can manage without compromising balance. With awareness, however, we can open the thigh this way(especially one at a time)to invite the corresponding hind leg forward as needed.
A 'closed' thigh, where the front side of the leg rolls more inward(releasing some of the underside contact) and the knee points slightly more toward the horse, closes some of the release of energy from the pelvis and has the effect of 'retarding' the hind quarters slightly. This is very useful when we want to have a slowing effect of forces in one direction without resorting to the use of the hand. So we can actually help control forward motion through the turning of the thigh---inward to slow the horse---outward to advance the horse and individually to likewise affect the same-sided hindquarter. There are many occasions when I see a rider push harder with the calf and to get a mechanical advantage they turn the knee outward. I have to wonder.....might that push not be so necessary?! Perhaps the touch of the calf can be greatly reduced if we just use our intent through the open thigh. Horses do go much better when they feel less pressure against their ribcage!
The next position to consider is the 'pushing' thigh that moves against the saddle. This has a lateral effect away from the push. The opposite to this would be the 'drawing' thigh. I seldom see this used except by very good riders. The thigh is lightened and taken slightly sideways away from the saddle and has the effect of leading the horse's shoulder on the same side into the direction the thigh moves toward. Very useful on the outside in shoulder-in and on the inside in half-pass.
The thigh can also be positioned more horizontally or vertically. A horizontal position affects lift of the shoulder and can create a raising of the shoulder and forearm on the same side while a more vertical thigh affects a 'retard' on the shoulder. The passage can improve in lift in front by the horizontal usage of the thigh. In canter an inside more horizontal thigh can help indicate more lift up of the foreleg. Add an opening of the same thigh and now the inside hind leg will jump up into this lively canter stride.
These thigh variations affect the rider in subtle ways as well which suit the messaging of intent. An outward turned open thigh narrows the lower back on that side and sinks us down closer to the horse to stimulate him better. An inward turned closed thigh widens that side of the lower back and helps us draw the horse up more underneath us.
In conclusion: we can affect the vertical and horizontal forces, bridging the hindquarters to the shoulders to bring about yin and yang posture variations in the horse by simple and subtle changes within the thigh itself. At first the changes you might experiment with will be slightly awkward feeling but as you progress, try to find ways through the mind to execute them with minimal effort and with less gross movement.Then feel the difference this makes in the fluidity of your horse's motion and how it improves elasticity and athletic scope as you move toward ultimate collection.

Hand Posture & Influence

Recently, equine researcher and equestrian Christine Sander(of a.i.s. study horsemanship), shared with me the following conclusion from her current research on the use of the hand in riding:
"While a horse is long and low the rider's hands are flat. Pinkies
and reins point away from the neck. When the horse elevates the rider's
hands turn and become upright. The impact of his ring fingers and
that of the reins are now directed towards the horse's neck....There is
a natural correlation between the horse's elevation(or the lack
thereof) and the orientation of the rider's hand."
When I first read this, I was awestruck. How could I have missed this? Remaining open to the possibilities of the down-turned flat hand was important though and proved to present new understanding in how to directly influence the lumbar region of the horse!
As with all things there is an opposite(good or bad, it exists). SOMETIMES we close ourselves off to 'beneficial' opposites and in the case of the down-turned flat hand I had done just that as I had been instructed that it was a bad thing in riding. Even though I do this with the two-reined double bridle without thinking, it was frowned upon with a snaffle. I am assuming it is because in this hand posture, the bones of the forearm cross and energy flow is cut short. In Tai Chi I learned exercises that show how the arm of an upright(thumb up) hand is stronger through this flow and how that of the down-turned hand is weaker. A closer look at Christine's conclusion was warranted and indeed brought forth a confirmation of the following conclusions on a variety of horses: In the low postured horse(stretching forward, out and down), the upright(thumb up) hand 'drains' my own energy and affects the horse by dropping his forehand more, whereas the down-turned hand does not 'drain' me and helps the horse stretch better because it seems the horse's chest and shoulders do not to advance out but more the head and neck do! The horse seems to retain his balance much better this way!
It is important to note that the wrist does not bend but turns(from a swivel at the elbow) much like turning a key in a lock. There should be no pulling on the reins either---simply a turn of the hand-wrist unit and a gentle opening of the fingers.
After much thought, this made sense. The horse could move out(yang) with more spring because I was not overpowering him with more energy from behind than he could manage. Instead, that energy gets 'recycled' better through the body, creating more buoyancy in the stretching horse(vertical energy without vertical horse!)
The down-turned hand opens the rider's upper back and closes slightly and 'contains' his chest! Mirror for the horse!!? The upright hand closes the rider's back slightly and opens and lifts his chest. This latter effect in the rider is what we would like to see in the upright collected(yin) horse!
Having a model now for low(yang)reaching and high(yin)collected postures in the horse, I began to look at how this information might help the horse in mid-posture(the place where so much of the training exercises take place). The results were amazing! In the mid-postured horse the rider can adjust his hand postures individually as needed and the effect is that the horse can approach collection(yin) much more 'safely' by retaining more of the benefits of the looseness of the low-postured(yang)work! (Once again, emphasis on NO pulling and merely a turn(like a key in a lock) of the hand-wrist unit. It is also important that the mind of the rider be in control of intent.) A turned-down (flat) hand on the right(e.g.) will have the effect of greater lumbar vibration and looseness(on the right) which can enable a blocked hind-quarter on that side to free up and send the energy of the leg forward and under more readily. This is an important discovery for helping a horse to create more even strides. A left(e.g.) upright hand with right down-turned hand can help control an over-reaching left hind leg and enable the right hind to step up and under easier.
Try this in lateral work on the inside(or even outside) and learn other benefits of smoother striding and greater reach. Try it on circles and turns and see how the yin and yang postures of each hand can help regulate energy flow better and hopefully prevent a lot of the blockages that disturb balance. Perhaps you do this already without knowing but now awareness of it can open you to a new tool in your understanding and development of feel.

Learning from the Caprilli Seat

Federico Caprilli(1868-1907), an Italian Cavalry Officer whose great legacy is the Caprilli seat, gave us all some very significant information about riding which I am not sure has been fully appreciated. The seat, with its shortened stirrup and forward inclined rider with free-following arm, was employed for jumping obstacles, riding between fences and across country and up and down hills and over ditches. The philosophy behind the seat was to allow the horse to move naturally, unencumbered and make independent decisions in his negotiation.
Federico Caprilli observed the horse without a rider under these conditions and decided his theory was best for the horse. Previously a 'full seat' was used with the misconception that it was necessary to help the horse land hind feet first so as not to burden the more fragile front legs. His observations proved horses did not use themselves this way, refuting the idea behind the full-seated rider and lead the way to more fully cooperative horses.
Having learned the Caprilli seat myself, I will say that, done properly, it requires real fitness from the rider who balances himself over his knee and thigh, follows the horse in good equilibrium and does not use the horse's neck for balance but allows it to be completely free through a straight line connection from elbow to bit along the sides of the horse's neck. These days we see riders leaning on the neck. This is not the true Caprilli seat and riding this way robs riders of an appreciation of what real following feels like! It is hard work! It requires strong core muscles and strong well toned thighs. But it is very rewarding when the horse responds at his best.
There is more to be learned from Caprilli than meets the eye though. Firstly, we learn that observation is essential. Observation helps us put our approach into the perspective of the horse, helps us take healthy steps to break away from old habits and unfruitful styles and challenge what we hear and see so that we might come up with something better!! Secondly, we see that Caprilli adopted his style to naturally accommodate the horse's neck and bascule with complete freedom. He recognized tremendous horizontal forces in the forward moving horse that the rider needs to be able to absorb and follow. In proper balance, the rider could remain in a beneficial equilibrium that would make it possible for the horse to carry him easier. Thirdly, I believe Caprilli recognized that the moving horse was balanced mainly over the forehand, that different shaped horses had different needs in the use of the neck and that a standard seat was needed that would allow any shaped horse the full use of his own neck in his negotiations. This was only possible when a rider could center himself forward with a free yielding arm that could follow the mouth forward and supple hips which open and close with flexibility. The shortened stirrup helped to form natural shock absorbers and assisted with lever action in the thigh.
Caprilli knew that only with a stable yet supple seat would a rider be able to let go in the rein. When he demonstrated over and over again how his horses were improving in their performances and in their cooperativeness, he was showing us how the horizontal component of the thigh(in the forward seat) could act as a bridge to connect the rear and front ends of the horse. Did Caprilli recognize an energetic connection born out of correct mechanics?!
I bring up this entire subject about Caprilli to make a point about the dressage seat that previously left me feeling dissatisfied and searching for a missing puzzle piece. Caprilli didn't like the full and deeper seat, collection, and force. But why(apart from the obvious)? It is my belief that he preferred the forward distribution of weight. One must remember that Caprilli was familiar with larger, longer horses and not so much the shorter coupled Baroque style horses more suited to dressage. Had he lived longer and thought more about the school movements with these larger 'style' horses might he have come up with an adaptation of his own theories on forward seat?
In tai chi, as one moves from posture to posture there is a constant shifting of position from one leg to the other so that motion itself never puts the person out of balance. I will often hear my instructor say, "you need to shift60(or 70)% of your weight onto the foremost leg." I think about this a lot and how it applies to riding. To constantly maintain ones balance while shifting postures takes some fitness.....we NEED to know how to balance over our thighs. So many of us do not use our thigh muscles and put too much stress on our back or other parts of the body. Once we can learn to feel life flowing down into our thighs we learn how reliable these large muscles are for helping to stabilize us. So what does this say about the dressage seat?
Recently I had the good fortune to audit a Manolo Mendez clinic. Manolo places a strong emphasis on freedom in the horse's body and especially the neck. When I saw Manolo ride I recognized Caprilli immediately! Manolo could cleverly move from a forward inclined torso to a more upright one as the horse needed and was prepared for because he was properly balanced over his thigh which always had a horizontal component in action. Before mounting he would always measure his stirrup by the 'ruler' of his arm length. He rode in dressage saddles with 'dressage length' stirrup yet he could move elegantly and effortlessly in and out of forward seat, one minute reaching to stroke his horse's neck with full freedom and the next minute he was more upright and the horse was moving effortlessly in shoulder-in!!! Sometimes he was leaning forward, stroking the horse's ears, his neck, his chest---but always he held his own balance, allowing the horse complete freedom through his back and neck. It was amazing to watch the horses unraveling their tensions. It was also rewarding to realize that what I found so problematic about the dressage seat was that Caprilli had been lumped into a 'jumping' category and we had lost what he could offer our dressage seat! The full seat, namely with a vertical leg that does not relieve the back through greater weight distribution in the thigh and does not bridge the rear and front ends of the horse through a horizontal component will pose problems in the development of these large athletes and lead us into greater discord with them. Manolo's seat was a perfect example of how to sit without hindering the horse!
It is time for us all to re-evaluate our seat, especially those of us in dressage saddles. Even in dressage the thigh must carry a substantial distribution of our weight and be positioned to allow the forward motion of the horse to flow horizontally through it. Yes, we must use our thighs to carry some of our weight! This is not easy and it is time we learn how and get FIT! Try taking the stirrups up a hole or two, get forward, and go for a trek in the woods.....feel the horse let go in his body. What is this saying to us? I think it says that we are not helping our horse's body but hindering it in a poor 'full seat'!
If we are not carrying ourselves, and are expecting the horse to carry us, if we are relying on our saddles to balance us and keep us stable, if we are using the reins for our own stability or restricting the neck for vanity's sake or manipulating the reins ignorantly then we are doomed in our efforts to create beautiful dance.
The seat under our buttocks must be softer and lighter to glide with motion. Even if we understand nothing else, note that the canter is a jump.....a bascule! Are we helping this bascule? We cannot grasp these concepts in saddles that lock us into place. Making the seat lighter through better use of the huge core within us as well as the large thigh muscles we have been blessed with will allow us to communicate more sensitively and provide more freedom under the saddle for the horse to respond cooperatively. Taking a few moments to reflect on what Caprilli has taught us might be our new beginning.

Balance, Cooperation & the Four Corners of the Horse

When I think about poor balance I think about 4 things...ill-health, blockage of energy flow, misalignment and misunderstanding. Horses do the best they know how in order to maintain good balance in their circumstances. They want to eat but not fall down so they figure out how to contort themselves so they can do both! Similarly, they are willing to carry us but don't want to be in pain or to fall down so--again--they figure out how to contort themselves to manage it all. Dealing with ill-health and injury is a subject in itself. So assuming we have a healthy horse that is not lame, it is useful to consider how the four corners of the horse can work together harmoniously to achieve a common goal---improved balance.
Without our interference horses do a very good job of managing their whole body to deal with all aspects of life without falling down or getting left behind. Enter a hander and/or rider and now things start changing...and very often from our being overly controlling.
One of my students recently mentioned hearing dressage rider Steffen Peters talk about his thoughts on how the FEI might do better by changing the word "submission" in its guidelines to "cooperation". What a brilliant idea! Think about it. Just changing that one word could, if we are willing and inclined, change the way we think about training horses. The word "submission" is so harsh and final whereas the word "cooperation" is so liberating and forgiving. The latter allows us to give the horse the opportunity to decide to go along with what we have in mind.
I would like here to briefly describe how I envision improved balance to come about. It is through helping the horse to become increasingly aware of the four corners of his body when we are working with him---first on the ground and then in the saddle. We stop and touch him with our hands, our stick or whip and help him locate the spaces around his body and how they relate to our space. We move him forward, backward and sideways, touching legs(and various parts of the body) to enliven them and help give sense of where to direct the power generated in each limb.
Under saddle, the first thing we do is find calm. We try not to snatch up the reins and confine the horse. Of course, under no circumstances would we invite danger to ourselves by not using prudence. But what I dislike seeing is how the first thing riders so often do is tighten up the reins and close in on the horse with the legs. This latter way is the direct route toward blockages. And then poor balance and then an uncooperative horse.
Start with calm and just as you did in the ground work, touch with one leg or one rein and see the reaction, reward and either re-establish a quiet halt or quietly move on to the next moment of calm, preferably into a halt or slow walk. Make the horse aware of himself---aware of his four corners---taking possession of himself. We should not hold the horse up or fight with him. Gently speaking with one leg or rein or just the stick(stiff whip) to bring this awareness to him gives the horse an amazing feeling of freedom---it reminds him he is a whole horse! And, most importantly, without force it brings the horse into progressively greater cooperation.
A touch on the side------step over
A release-------step into
A touch behind----step forward
A touch in front-----step back or refrain
When we think of the whip only in terms of punishment...even if we only carry this thought in our mind...that it is there to threaten the horse if he doesn't comply, we have missed the point and communicate all the makings of a blockage. (Even harsh commanding legs or a rigid rein against the butter soft tissues of the mouth can shut a horse down.) But if we think of the whip as an extension of a finger or an arm.....reaching out to touch the horse and show him where his body is in space as he carries us, helping him adjust himself(his posture) better.....caressing him and guiding him....then we build trust, cooperation and set ourselves solidly on the road of ever improving balance.
Think like this: the whip, leg and hand are FIRSTLY our tools of finesse and LASTLY our tools of tact.

Tact and Finesse

Throughout these articles you are learning the tools of mechanical messaging but with the introduction of the invitational or drawing aids you are learning the means of transfer from the mechanical to the energetic.
At this time I wish to begin the study of tact and finesse. Finesse is one of the most interesting concepts in riding. It is the place where delicate precision begins with even the most novice rider who learns that a few extra wiggles on the rein produces something more pleasant in the hand. I really cannot malign this style. It is sensitive and searching. It seeks a calm, undisturbed horse. And although some riders seem to capitalize(albeit disproportionately so)on their skill with finesse, even if their horses are not lively, buoyant or athletic moving, there is something to be said for the tranquility they present.
Enter tact. This is another very interesting concept and one I'll admit the horse has had to teach me because I do not possess it naturally! Tact is about choosing the right thing for the right moment so that you get your point across without ruffling feathers. It involves timing and a bit of savoir faire(or social sureness!).
Webster's dictionary describes finesse as refinement, delicacy and skillful handling(without force). It also describes finesse as it applies to the game of cards. It is "the withholding of one's highest card or trump in the hope that a lower card will take the trick because the only opposing higher card is in the hand of an opponent who has already played." HOW INTERESTING! It also describes 'to finesse' as to evade or trick. Well, we all know we cannot really trick horses(even though we might use finesse to try to trick people). But what we can learn from these definitions is how important it may be to delicately handle the horse through the reins or legs as he is quite noble and really holds the higher card because of his sheer size and power. So finesse, or delicacy, is useful not only for changing the mind, mood and will of the horse to bring him into good standing with you, it is useful for calming rough waters so the horse can feel the direction your intent is taking his energy AND feel good about going with your intent.
Now let us look at what Webster's dictionary says about 'tact'. It is a "keen sense of what to do or say in order to maintain good relations...or avoid offense." It says that "poise may imply...tact...but stresses self-possession and ease in meeting difficult situations." In addition it is "sensitive mental or aesthetic perception."
So tact is about holding back. It is about self-control but at the same time super sensitivity with regard to the individual horse you are riding or training so that you can make your way with him go right yet still be friends.

Leg Aids

Just as with the reins, the legs can give sending or drawing messages. A touch close to the horse's body gives a 'send' message whereas a loosening and slight removal of the leg to the side can lead(or draw) the barrel and hindquarters into that direction.
A sending aid is pretty straightforward while a drawing aid is more complex and very often will need to be taught to the horse or sensitized in him as he will need to detect whether your intent is that he move into this open leg or if the open leg is just trying not to incite him in any way.
Young horses are well aware of how to come into your space. They usually need to be shown how to move away from you. Many trainers only want the horse to understand this 'moving away'. I much prefer that the horse be well versed in the messaging of how to move away AND move toward the leg upon my request. This makes training considerably much easier later on. When, for example, you want the horse to step to the right, you might ask with the left leg but you will need to check some of the forward motion with the reins and seat. Add the concept of a drawing leg on the opposite side and you clarify what it is you want--step over--step toward my open leg.

Rein Aids: The Open Rein

The open rein is done by taking the hand or arm away from the horse's neck sideways. How the fingers are used on this rein determines the effect created. Squeezing the fingers(backward toward the rider) while opening the rein creates a direct effect on the hindquarter on the side of the squeeze, deflecting the hindquarter's energy backward or away to the opposite side. If, however, the fingers open and loosen together with a loose wrist, the effect is quite different. Now, instead, the shoulders are invited into the direction of the open rein. I sometimes call this an 'invitational' rein or a 'drawing' rein---drawing the energy of the horse.
The concepts of sending and drawing can be done with the reins and with the legs.

The Goodness of Today

Often in the past I have made the mistake of missing a singular good thing from a ride. Anyone who has had a lesson with me knows I don't watch the clock. Sometimes a lesson is long and sometimes it is short. What I'm looking to see is that my student solidifies a feel for one good thing of importance. What these same students don't know is that my own riding sessions are briefer by comparison. In my wisdom gained from years of learning from mistakes, I now realize the beauty of taking small steps with horses. But it is more than just small steps....it is about finding one good and important thing to be happy with for today. Years ago I would lose myself in the moment and not give my horse the chance to know early on how satisfied I was with him. The more horses I had to ride the easier it was to learn this important lesson. I did not have time to get so lost in the ride as though it was my only chance to get something right. I often tell my students(especially the ones that look so hungry for more by the end or those who look dissatisfied with themselves) that they need more horses to ride. This will bring riding and training into a better perspective. It is not so much the brevity of the ride as in quickly looking for that 'goodness' of the day! Why do we wait so long to show our horses we are happy with them? These are emotional animals that seek our approval.
You see, living in this moment is right, but by thinking only of this moment we have the tendency to lose perspective about tomorrow. And really what we see in our horse at this moment is a product of what just happened in the last moment....and the moment before that....essentially, what happened yesterday. And so our failure is not recognizing cycles of regression where the ills of this moment never heal because we don't think about tomorrow.
Start today to look at your horse as a function of what happened yesterday. See what he sees----the same 'you' who rode him yesterday. He doesn't bear grudges but you may need to make a truce with him(and yourself!) to only find his 'goodness' for today, forgive and leave behind what did not go right yesterday. ACKNOWLEDGE his 'good' of the day, BE HAPPY with it, really LET HIM KNOW your approval! And then leave him with a piece of peace that will carry into tomorrow. For tomorrow is really all we have. This moment has just passed and yesterday's good already had its chance to carry into today. Knowing that today forms tomorrow should be our most important lesson. In this way horses grow and improve and every tomorrow will present a foundation of all the 'good' of yesterday. Nothing of importance will be lost and everything that matters will be gained.

Perfection: The Enemy of Good

A doctor once told me that when he was in medical school one of his professors told him, "George, always remember: Perfection is the enemy of good!" He told me this when we were working so hard at a clinic to solve a medical issue. The motto of his story was that when we achieve some good, we should be content to leave it alone. Very often our fussing over it in search of perfection actually ruins the good and we head for a setback.
How often do we do things in our riding a few times too many? Or perhaps we don't really have enough time to devote to a quality ride but we get on anyway, trying to reinforce the progress we made the day before and we end up messing up the good with our hurriedness. Or we feel the pressure of a competition coming up so we practice more and harder and things start getting worse! Perfection is really an impossibility! Think about it. Unless we are talking about a perfect world in heaven we really can never achieve perfection. Should we then give up trying? No! What we should do is aim for 'good'-----and then leave good alone. 'Good' IS possible! Let's all seek good and leave the perfection part to God.

Rein Aids: Direct and Indirect Rein

Simply put, a DIRECT rein action is backward toward the rider while the INDIRECT rein is sideways toward the neck or withers of the horse. Once again, simply put, the DIRECT rein action is for displacing the hindquarters to one side while the INDIRECT rein action is for displacing the shoulders to one side.
To help you grasp these effects, think about a small circle. A right DIRECT rein(eg) will directly effect the right hind leg, slowing it and displacing the hindquarters to the left. So the effect will be slightly circular where the hindquarters move left around the shoulders. A right INDIRECT rein(eg) will affect the right foreleg, displacing the shoulders to the left. The circular effect will take the shoulders around the hindquarters. Combining these effects in clever coordination has all sorts of interesting effects. Even horses with tense mouths and tight necks feel and understand the rudimentary aspects of these two basic rein aids. Put these rein aids to work for you AFTER having properly prepared the horse through good directing and recycling of energy, where the horse becomes better 'connected' between his hindquarters and shoulders and the neck is allowed to be free.....all this done primarily through the seat and MINIMAL hand and leg.....and you will begin to feel greater ease in maneuvering in the arena, on paths and around obstacles.
What a powerful effect rein aids can have! This is why I try not to cloud a student's rein-related understanding too early on in their learning and why I insist the riding emphasis is on 'pushing' energy through the rein rather than retracting on the rein. I like it when students start questioning the aids for certain movements. It tells me they want to start directing energy in more specialized ways. Usually as soon as I give some hints there goes the quality out the window! Those that 'earn' their way to the secrets of rein aids often start working at the lateral movements without much instruction---basically through feel. Spoil the horse early on with crude rein handling and a rein 'aid' has little or no meaning. We are too interested in our image! What will people think if we don't have our horse's head down? The reins are a cheater's way to make the 'picture' look acceptable but the actual effect on the rest of the horse's body is often somewhere in the range of nil to damaging! Just watch horses at liberty! Not much in the way of 'head down' there! So why do we do it? For some, I think, it's about absolute control and submission. For some it is probably to mimic what others are doing. The truth of the matter is that the control is going to be better when it is more about energy governance and less about force. And truth has it that horses come 'round', elevate, balance better and their inner dance capability emerges with the least amount of rein! So a word of caution, the next time you pick up your reins think this: you could be throwing the hindquarters or shoulders off making your horse more contracted and crooked and more on the forehand than you ever imagined. What do you suppose your horse might be thinking?!

Rein Aids: An Introductory Word

Thus far I have deliberately left out a discussion on rein aids for the simple reason that I believe the system of managing the horse needs to be solidly based on the seat. Once the horse can feel the rider 're-fueling' him with his own energy, freeing him from the confines of the hand and vice-like grip of the legs, and once enough channels are open to support and allow better energy flow, then we can begin the business of shaping finer pathways through specific qualitative and quantitative use of the hands.
Rein aiding is not for the execution of a movement so much as it is for helping the horse as he NEEDS it! Some books will give rein aids one way and some another but these are only guides. It is up to the rider to educate himself on what various rein actions do and then for him to feel what is going on in the horse, feel where the hindquarters or shoulders are positioned and how well they are linking to the horse, decide what needs to change, and then determine how much and what kind of rein aid is needed. Riders make the mistake of turning rein aids into a blur without considering the incredible sensitivity in the mouth and neck of the horse. The horse is capable of quite sophisticated understanding of these aids if the rider will take the time to introduce them and to clarify them without losing patience when the horse feels out of balance and then it is back to a blur again. There are 2 reins(and sometimes 4 to coordinate) and each can have different actions in the mouth and on the neck.
In order to clearly carry out the intent of the mind through the hand, the hand cannot in any way be concerned with the rider's stability and balance in the saddle. So before teaching the rider to steer round, curve or mold the horse with the hand, I insist the rider patiently discovers first the power of the seat and learn to direct wayward energy that tends to unbalance into a simple steady hand that has but one job---to allow and send forward. Turning can be accomplished with the seat, as can rounding and connecting the horse back to front.
After establishing this it is then time to introduce rein aids, which cannot be properly appreciated outside the context of the seat or the dynamics of motion. Only when the rider learns to send energy forward and create a steady form with the seat can the horse's head and neck hang free and develop better musculature and fewer contractions from minimized interference from the hand. It is so easy for the horse to build resistances to the hand and ways to escape its proper effect. One example is the 'rubbery' neck that lacks a strong muscular base. Too much turning and bending of the neck does not render it better at accepting the rein aid!! Similarly, for the neck that is tight and resistant, bending more only sets the horse up to require stronger aiding! We know 2 wrongs don't make a right! So I suggest we keep rein aiding to a minimum and for as long as necessary until the action of the seat, through the directing of the horse's energy, establishes a more stable form in the horse and the rider has developed sufficient tone and stability. Then the neck and head of the horse will hang free and be more open to the subtle finesse of the hand.
I am not trying to malign the hand. Instead I am trying to impart the significance of it. Something so VITAL to the dance is how we talk with our hands. When we come to the dance we must shake off the crudeness of our 'handiwork' from the other areas of our lives. Think of your horse like a lover.....the hand, a caress.

Affecting Energy Flow

It is common to assume that if you are trying to move something that you should push it. That is certainly one way---provided you are strong enough! I'm thinking about moving a blockage. So let's say, eg., that there is a blockage in a pipe(or conduit). First we must look to see if there is a problem with the pipe itself that is inhibiting flow. Is the pipe bent, crooked, kinked or does it have a hole in it? Next we might see if we can figure out if something is actually stuck inside the pipe or perhaps there is a buildup of some substance inside the pipe. In these cases it may seem reasonable that to increase flow, one might need to apply greater pressure to either break apart the blockage or to deal with the narrower passageway, respectively. But let's say we cannot find anything wrong and there is still poor flow. What could we try? Yes, more push! But other ideas might be more helpful. We might put a vacuum at one end and draw the flow! We might try sending some of the same substance through from one end to try to meet up with what we want flowing better...touch it...join with it...and by one substance moving we might cause the joined up one to move along too!
There is something else we might try! Perhaps coating the pipe with yet another substance would have the effect of facilitating what we want to get flowing to zip right through!!! What a great idea! Sorry...not mine...I saw a doctor demonstrate how olive oil can improve blood flow through arteries! But if we had a substance that might enhance energy flow this way we might save ourselves and our horses a lot of trouble. I think we do have something. Ever notice what happens when a special person consoles us with a gentle touch when we are all tense with sadness or despair? What is in that touch? I think it's LOVE! I know this sounds strange to say but I think we need to touch our horses with love---through our mind, our heart and our body. Very often it will cause a horse to let out a huge sigh of release! That release just may be the one thing to restore the flow we are looking for! TRY IT!

REMEMBER THIS(I Corinthians 13:4-7): Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.....It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

About Development

Breeders spend much time arranging matches that will produce individuals with the best chances of reaching top potential. But more people are learning that some backyard horses do as well as or even better than some who are well bred. Why might this be? I think the answer is in better energy flow. Inside every horse is a God-breathed free spirit, born to dance and fly. Whether the horse expresses his joy with his pasture friends or you depends upon how well the footsteps he takes pass their effect through the body.
It is not news that horses should be worked with as individuals but what might be news is that a highly experienced trainer is not necessarily the answer for a horse. Training wisdom is what is essential. A famous prayer applies here. Some things we can change, some we cannot, but it is up to us to decide not only what can and cannot be changed but also what avenue to take to affect change.
Affecting change through work with energy flow is one avenue that can prove fruitful and which does not require superior training expertise to understand. One example of misunderstanding about energy blockage is in the concept of the square stance. Trainers strive for straightness and squareness but what we may be missing in all of this is the horse's own perspective on what feels square, even and balanced to him. You may be of the opinion that the horse doesn't know any better what is good and not good for him and so what he feels doesn't matter in the equation. So what am I saying? I am NOT saying that we should adopt the attitude that if he is not straight we should overlook it as long as he is content. NO! This is not my object. What I think so many of us fail to do is really grasp how hard horses will try to BE 'square' and TRAVEL 'straight' because we insist. Like it or not, a living creature has an outward as well as an inward manifestation of posture and the two are not necessarily physiologically in agreement. Is the horse deceiving us? No! On the contrary he is very likely obeying us outwardly while inwardly he may be cramped, loose, twisted and holding himself on the verge of his own breakdown.....all in the name of meeting our demands. How does the energy flow sound in a picture like this? Poor at best. So what do we make of this problem? There is a discrepancy between appearance and energy flow on the inside. We absolutely must educate ourselves to recognize this----to recognize the feel of it.
Interestingly, many judges are oblivious to this discrepancy. So be it. But equally interesting is the FEI's interest in seeing 'happy' horses in the competitive arena. How ironic is this! Happiness!.....How do they define or identify 'happiness'? I personally think that there is a particular quality of a 'happy' horse. It is excellent energy flow. The muscles will look soft, the mouth easy and calm, the tail will swing softly and not swish, the footfalls will be as quiet as silk slippers and the rider will not appear to work hard and his face will reflect the horse's face in depth of union.
The direction we should take in developing a horse then is to fully observe the horse as he moves in his more natural world---how he stands, eats, moves off, plays and relates to the ground beneath his feet and obstacles in his path, how he breathes and how he sleeps. Exercises should include considerations of simple steps and moments of quiet rest in stillness, simple reactions to leg and hand, variations of pace ridden and free, spacial relationships between the rider and horse on the ground, movement at various paces over and around objects, play and socialization, touch and even massage. All these things work together to awaken the horse to greater awareness and use of the whole of his body, especially the inner parts we cannot see....inner skeleton, musculature, horizontal and vertical motion and combination of such, neck and tail balancing effects as well as his visual experience and his inner 'eye' that feels for how he arranges his posture on the inside.
In this way we give the horse a sense that we appreciate how he feels and the chance to perhaps change the way he habitually carries himself if there is a better way for him that permits and fosters improved energy flow.
This is the course that development should take. 30-45 min in an arena drilling and perfecting movements and gaits has drawbacks when we consider the potential blockages which never get released or the chance to be addressed. There is nothing wrong with schooling! But some horses do not need to be schooled!.....they might only need to learn to let go of anxiety and feel freedom. Others may need a specific type of exercise only but not others that turn around and dismantle all the good that the specific exercise helped!
You see dance is about relationship. This can be joyful or drama-filled but the picture is a happy coming together. No matter what goals you have for your horse's development always remember that when you act in your partner's BETTER interest it will ALSO be for your own!

The Hip Rein

One of the things I aim for in dressage riding is a state of collection that is appropriate for the horse's self-carriage and fair to him at all times. This is so that he is in the easiest position to respond to my signals and shift balance more naturally with minimal loss of forward impetus. An important part of maintaining this collection is through the use of what I call the 'hip rein'. The hip rein is an imaginary rein that runs from the horse's mouth and attaches to the hips of the rider. Both the hip rein and the actual rein(that your hands hold) are operating at all times, whether you know it or not. Each rein has its own tension. The actual rein tension should always be less than(or equal to) the tension of the hip rein. Increase tension on your actual rein and you will need to 'shorten up' your hip rein. Increase your hip rein tension and you will feel lightness in the actual rein! Lightness then is not so much a product of how you handle your actual rein but of how well you connect the horse back to front through the hip rein.
How then does one work with the hip rein if it is imaginary? It is through the feel of the energy flow as the horse responds to the rider with positive feedback! As I have touched upon in other articles, the rider takes and moves the horse's energy, in specific amounts in specific directions(namely forward), and deposits it down into the wither area. This activity is repeated continuously in a rhythmical manner that is agreeable to the horse and the effect is a recycling of effort which refreshes the steps of the horse over and over again without the need for constant input from the rider's legs. This happens by a natural pathway of connection. Equestrian, author, and equine researcher Christine Sander describes this complex connection with elegant simplicity in the following link: http://otherideas.typepad.com/elements_of_equitation/2008/07/2-i-struture-b.html
This connection, which is situated beneath the rider's seat(particularly the upper inner thigh muscle), not only unites the ribcage between ribs 5 and 18(via the overlap of the cranial and caudal end of the dorsal serrate---see Christine Sander) but also allows the rider to stimulate longitudinal bending through the seat's energetic pulse into the lower back muscle(iliocostalis---see Christine Sander).
When the rider inputs what he receives from the back end of the horse into the withers through an energetic 'ether-like' conduit, he successfully connects up the hip rein! So by using what the horse offers(even if there is unevenness) and combining this with his own torso muscle core efforts, the rider starts to shorten up(or tighten up) his hip rein. The rider's efforts are in some proportion to how much lift and roundness(AND evenness!) the horse then responds with. But the horse's positive response then increases what is offered up to the rider to send forth! This is the beginning of dance! The partners(horse and rider) almost become lost in their efforts as dance takes on its own life(and effort).
As the rider feels this lift and roundness come about he needs to sensitize himself to the tiny beginnings of loss of tension on his 'actual reins'. The more the rider nurtures this loss of tension, the more sweet and responsive and appreciative the horse becomes. Now isn't this a nice way to do business with a partner?!

The Canter: Influencing its Energy

To better understand the canter is to have had better connection at the trot. By connection I do not mean with the hand, but with the seat. Time and again I find more riders ask me about flying changes than anything else. To me the changes, for a healthy horse, are easy. The problems are mainly with the rider not finding the connection. It is more than just the horse recognizing the change of aiding or change of balance. It is about horse and rider communicating through energy direction and exchange.
If there is one misunderstanding that shows up worse at any time, it is the 'between leg and hand' concept at the canter. The 'between' is really between the rider's seat and the horse's mouth. The seat(and torso) is the 'clutch' or power regulator and coordinator of the effects of the rider's hand and leg. So if you really want to know 'between leg and hand', stand up and notice what is between your leg and hand.....your SEAT!!! And the seat makes the canter, not leg, not hand.....but seat!
Poor dull school horses hardly recognize seat when they have spent so much time patiently waiting upon beginners with their awkwardness. For a beginner to try his canter aids out on a very highly trained horse, he would quickly discover that something in his own understanding was radically amiss!
The feel of the canter seat is a diagonal glide with a slight roll from outside hind toward the inside fore. It is not a rocking motion or rowing motion as so often observed. There are 3 steps from the horse and one moment of suspension.....4 beats, if you will! If there is no clear moment of suspension the speed and energy of the canter are not right. I call this a precipitous canter which rather runs along. Some horses are prone to this problem at canter. Reworking the problem through the seat(or clutch) can make quite a difference and restore natural beauty to the gait.
Although a horse trotting out of balance can pick up the canter , forcing a horse to choose canter in this way is rather chaotic and stressful. Better to build energy for the task and work at creating order in the leg coordination.
There is no question that true horsepower is at work to get a massive body off the ground for a moment of suspension when 4 feet are in the air. Canter is but a jump through the air! Keeping this in mind, it is important to remember that for canter to result from an aid, the horse must know what he is going to be asked to do with enough warning for his level of fitness and understanding. Therefore, the rider can only expect a good response if there is enough 'readiness' in the horse. The 'readiness' is created in the seat.
Imagine you are in a car climbing a steep hill. If the car is not an automatic, you will need to shift gears(employing the clutch) to create more power to get your car up that hill. Your seat then acts as a clutch to 'ready' the horse to 'climb that hill' and transition into canter.
To help visualize how the seat moves at the canter, imagine that you are sitting on a small rectangle. The rear edge of the rectangle is parallel to the cantle. While the front edge is parallel to the pommel. The sides are parallel to your sides(and the horses). This is a SMALL rectangle but it has 4 corners and 4 edges. The rider's torso balances over this rectangle, compressing down onto it and carefully, with good self-control, shifts the load of the torso above the seat between corners and edges.
So, eg, at the canter, the rider will take the load from the outside rear corner and shift it to the inside front corner of the small rectangle. The more refined the understanding of this is, the more you can appreciate that the motion is so very slight that it is more so a burst of energy flowing in a precise direction from a short burst of power in the form of a physical response to an intent that originates in the rider's mind.
If you had poor muscle coordination through the torso and were put on a horse blindfolded and asked to try to stay upright and centered, you would feel a million tiny twitches from tiny muscle fibers firing off in response to an inner system that 'wills' you to stay upright. With our appreciably better coordination we need to search even deeper to maintain a bolstered torso over a lowered diaphragm, chest wide, shoulders relaxed back and down......all while the torso remains 'calm'. The rider's waist is full now and wiggle-free but supple enough to take the effect of the body situated above it down into the seat where it becomes stable and well organized within the rectangle. In addition to the load carried in the rectangle, is that which is partially carried in the thighs. The tone of the thighs is essential to a light seat that frees the horse and frees the rider's joints. These joints need to be slightly open and movable inside the quiet outer flesh of the rider. Only 'open' joints can send energy through to the horse AND only 'open' joints can receive energetic messages coming up into the cantle from the horse. Coordinating this weight distribution just right makes you a pleasure for the horse to carry, opens the doors of his willingness to cooperate without fear in a relationship with you and helps extinguish inherent difficulties he may have in general.
All good relationships are free! So why clamp the legs on the horse's sides and choke the good nature out of him. Use legs with care. If he pulls in the reins, he may need to be fed more power through the seat or the seat balance and weight distribution may need to be checked. Is the torso bolstered well enough? Perhaps more power is needed to help the horse climb in front! He is throwing plenty of energy up into the cantle....are you open to catch it? are you holding, 'mixing', building, 'cooking' in your 'oven'...your dan tien, low in the abdomen? are you 'open' enough to release it in the right amounts?
If the horse is not using his back well he may rock his head and neck up and down. More leg won't correct this, but more bolstering of the rider's torso helps resist and redirect the forces that induce this rocking motion.
Just as in trot, the energy coming up into the cantle is fed into the rider where it is 'reworked' and then directed forward and down into the 'hopper' near the withers. Become aware of the place where you are directing the energy. It is specific.
By the rider keeping his body over itself and minimizing the driving aids whilst holding and compressing the power coming up from beneath the cantle over softly open movable leg and hip joints, the clutch does the job of building the horse's OWN power before that power is then employed.
The feeling is of the hips of the rider riding up to the mouth of the horse in a regular rhythmical glide. It is a glide because the rider uses his flexible joints to fold and keep his body still relative to the horse. As the horse rolls in the canter wave, the rider glides on the wave. The rider adds to this the image of suspending his head from a cloud and then he can really begin to appreciate how this glide operates in harmony with the horse.
I am of the opinion that horses wish to move in balance but they also like to conserve energy....it is consistent with their sense of self-preservation. If the rider gives the horse the chance to move in balance beneath him then ease(and conservation!) is in the realm of possibility!

Relaxation and Tension

Anyone who has ever ridden the passage knows that the horse that is performing this incredible gravity defying feat is anything but relaxed! His body is employed in a special tension that seems to help him remain suspended as if from a cloud.
Similarly, any ballet dancer who has performed leaps into the air knows that he is anything but relaxed when doing so. Then why is it that we use this word 'relaxation' so often in riding? More than one of my riding masters of the past have told me to stop trying to relax....that's something you do when you are home in bed!
So then why do we still keep hearing people shout "relax" and talk about relaxing the horse as well? I think the answer is in the poverty of description. What I think people are seeking is calm and ease....not to be confused with 'easy'!!!
Someone who is calm and at ease might be so relaxed that both he and his horse are nearly asleep. If that same person were to switch on some body tone and change himself into a state of readiness or poise, the possibilities for the horse would also change. Poise carries a special quality of tension. Why people confuse relaxation with poise is because they have not understood what specific quality of relaxation they were after and what specific quality of tension they should steer away from.
I see it like this: the rider must have the complete ability to control the energy flowing through his own body. We are not well designed to be in a state of relaxation all day long but we are designed for outstanding energy flow. So what is the point we must focus our attention on? It is the opening up of cramped joints, loosening of fascia around muscle and organs and the quieting of the mind to remain on task to direct the body and the complete surrender of the body to the direction of the mind.
When the mind of the rider is separated from its task the body begins to develop many little minds that operate on their own. I recently heard Bettina Drummond jokingly tell riders to talk to their bodies...."bad hand! Stop doing that! You bad bad hand!!" The humor of her comments was so refreshingly realistic to exactly what one must do with oneself daily to bring wayward parts of one's own body into submission to the mind. Without awareness of what we are doing, without the humility to realize we need constant self-supervision and without the will to recapture ourselves we are forever going to romance that 'relaxation' is the panacea for our problems!
If we have a tight elbow, we need to find out why it is tight! It might be the improper placement too close to the body that is causing this. Or it might be that the elbow is held too far from the body. It might be a muscle in the wrist that is blocking the elbow. It might be your clothing is too snug or one tiny sinew in the elbow joint that you have not accessed and commanded to let go. You may have inflammation in the elbow from an injury or the elbow may simply be tired from overwork! Whatever it is, you must fix it!
So the state we are after is free access to all our parts and the ability to learn how to coordinate parts without losing access to any of them. Tension can be created in this state to great benefit!
Interestingly, this is exactly what we want for the horse! We do not want him to be like a sack of flour. We want him to carry himself with poise and form....to be in control of himself and yet....willing and able to work with us and respond to our requests. The horse is by nature enormously strong. Continuously trying to either strengthen or relax him is not the objective. What we are after, however, is the ability to organize his strength in a way that preserves and fosters calmness and ease. So opening and accessing the appropriate parts of both horse and rider bodies to render energy flow complete is the real relaxation and the real tension we should seek.

The Trot: Influencing it's Energy(Part 2 Sitting)

In some ways the posting trot is similar to sitting trot and in just as many ways they are quite different. One thing is clear, however, and that is the sitting trot is probably one of the hardest things a rider will need to learn to master. To sit the trot well is all a question of how able you are to take charge of your body when all forces are working against you.
To fully develop horses you will absolutely need to be able to sit the trot for the mechanics of the posting trot limit the rider's subtlety of influence. To begin, it is helpful to have read the article on posting trot if for nothing else but to gain additional perspective on how to feel for the energy and work with it. It is also helpful to have mastered the posting trot to gain its value in developing better tone in the thigh muscles and the torso.
When you learn something, generally it is unhelpful to learn what it is you DON'T wish to do. But in this case I feel justified in doing just that! What the sitting trot is NOT is a sort of hula or shimmy or belly dance in the saddle. What I have found is that the more upholstered a saddle is with its fancy knee and thigh rolls and depth of seat, the more likely it is that the rider will try to master one of two ways of sitting, neither of which are right in my opinion. One is this wiggle I mention above and the other is the 'wedged' seat where the knee and thigh are held in a vice-like hold to clamp the rider's seat down against the saddle. This latter method is possibly the worst mistake of all. It produces a visual picture of stillness but it completely blocks energy flow to the horse. What ends up happening is the rider then kicks or squeezes on the horse to generate what he THINKS is missing....forward motion! What is actually stymied is energy flow! Until saddle makers finally figure out that riders can only make their horses happier when there is full energy flow, we will continue to see a flood of these type saddles in the market. I recommend to all my students that they remove knee and thigh rolls from their saddles. Most are skeptical at first but when they follow through they are eternally grateful for what 'sitting ability' they recover by having done so!
The hard part, however, is that without help from the saddle, the rider will need to use himself in a very special way that requires thought and effort and maintenance. The best way to understand how to sit the trot is to start out with the intention of influencing the horse. If you begin with only the intention of following the horse you are more likely to miss the secrets of success! So let us start by thinking of a basketball player dribbling a ball. The hand of the player remains virtually 'attached' to the ball as it bounces up and down. The back of the horse does not actually bounce----it rather undulates rhythmically in a wavelike motion. But the forces that travel upward from the ground as each of the horse's hind feet touch down send a sensation to the rider as though the horse is a bouncing ball. Now imagine the ball is travelling forward as it is bouncing. The hand of the basketball player needs to move, shift and mould accordingly to stay with the ball and influence how powerfully it bounces.
Essentially, the rider imagines that he is sitting on a big round ball and he is bouncing it without falling off the ball. What allows the rider to bounce this ball? If his feet touch the ground he can use the touch down of his feet to spring off the ground, bounce the ball and then advance the ball forward. Once the ball is in motion, now he can employ the folds in his seat----groin, hip, waist, knee----and cause them to act as springs or levers, opening and closing to activate momentum in the bounce and the advance(forward or sideways) of the bounce.
Practically speaking then, in the saddle the rider uses the angles of his legs and the gentle curves in his torso to absorb the shock of the concussion of the bounce as well as to influence the intensity of the bounce. In order to minimize the amount of motion in the rider's body so that this motion does not get out of control and/or irritate or hinder the horse in his job to deal with the wobbling weight on his back, the rider learns to bolster his body through an intricate orchestration of isometric holds and releases. It is these holds and releases that are the basis for energy management. Breath control exercises, especially as they help you learn to lower the diaphragm and use expansion of the chest to still the torso, are very helpful.
Just as in the posting trot, the rider needs to focus on directing energy the horse sends up into his buttocks and lower back forward and through into a distinct spot on the withers(the hopper). So, without actually hoisting the body up out of the saddle as in the rising trot, the rider uses the angle between his thigh and hip as a sort of pin to 'attach' to the saddle, receive the horse's energy, process it in his 'oven'(or dan tien as in Tai Chi) and then open the angle to release and send the energy forward to the withers....dropping it down the hopper. Very quickly, as the wave of motion continues, the attachment 'pin' closes to catch the next installment of energy from the horse. This 'pin' cannot be held too tightly or the flow will be blocked. The tension on the 'pin' is very carefully regulated by the rider to assist him with stillness and to catch and hold the energy and to then release it.
In addition, the hip bones will spark energy into the elbows and send it forward in a 'push-like' action down the lower arm and into the rein. And in another way energy travels fluidly down the thigh into the knee and the knees spark to the horse's shoulders to move ahead. There should be an even tone in the thigh between hip and knee and even touch against the horse. The very upper inner thigh acts by pulsing energy inward and forward. The ankle should have a looseness as should the toes which touch the stirrup gently. The action upon the stirrup, not by actual pressure on it but by the springing action off it, can enable upward lift of the horse(something to be described later). The heel of the rider feels back for the energy of the horse's hind feet bringing power up from the ground-----sort of a reverse gravity pull! So the springing open and closed of the rider's ankle as he touches lightly upon the stirrup feeds energy up into the rider's calf which naturally becomes hard and soft....hard and soft....in a pulse-like action of its own. This pulse is so remarkable. It does not need to be deliberately generated by the rider. Simply allowing the springing action on the stirrup enables the calf to do this. The horse is so sensitive that he can feel this pulse through the stiffest hardest leather boot. As all these sparks and pulses harmonize with the beat of the trot motion the horse becomes pumped with energy which he is just bubbling over with desire to release in beautiful soft forward and upward motion. The hallmark of good trot motion is the gentle articulation of the horse's joints. This can best be facilitated through the movement of free flowing energy(or chi) through the rider which he releases to the horse who then sends more back which the rider takes in.....the cycle of repetition is aligned to the beat. The harmonious taking, mixing, and releasing is the exchange that makes the trot come alive and aids the rider in his ability to sit effectively.
One more word, the subject of which I will take up in another article, is that the sitting trot will truly make sense to the body and form real neuro-connections that turn sitting into something that feels more comfortable and natural when the rider starts to grasp the concept of 'follow through'. If an effort to sit the trot feels particularly difficult, I am certain it is the result of held back energy which you were not aware you were stifling. Think like this: when you throw a ball, you must let go of the ball! Let go....and catch another....throw it....and let go. Do this in a pattern of regularity and watch amazing things begin to happen!

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.

Slowing Down!

This is one of those life lessons that we learn from horses.....to improve balance, slow down! This week a new student asked me why it was that her horse seems to pick up the canter when all she is asking for is trot. I thought about this for a moment and then asked to see her trot. One likely answer would have been that she was probably unknowingly giving a canter aid to her horse. Some horses will pick up the canter more easily(especially in one direction) if they have a particular diagonal pair of legs that is chronically farther apart than the opposite pair. But in this particular case the answer was about speed! Her trot was unfortunately too fast for her horse and he was moving on out of balance to the point where he felt more comfortable picking up the canter. My advice was to slow the trot down and there was no other incident during the lesson. She did make one comment though, "I only kept up the pace because I thought we needed impulsion." I simply stated that impulsion had little to do with speed and left it at that.
Another student asked a question at the end of a lesson where her horse worked mostly at the walk on a square using a variety of lateral exercises to bring him into a better physical attitude. He was walking oh so grand, articulating his hind leg joints as he learned to manage his very large body within the given parameters. Her question was, "how does one know if the walk is too slow?" My immediate answer was, "if you can immediately ask the horse to move on and he does, then you know you did the right thing." But I realized later that the answer I gave wasn't really an answer to the question she asked! I had to think some more about this question and came up with an idea of what her real querry was about.
Working slowly is somehow a concept that seems contrary to the norm for dressage riding where there is lots of activity and grand motion. I am not against grandiosity. What I am against, however, is the compulsion to work with mph, particularly with large horses, where there is little chance for improvement in balance. Working with the energy the horse offers, building it within and directing it carefully, growing the horse upward, instilling self-carriage.....all these things make for brilliance when we later add mph. Mph does not bring about self-carriage or balance.
So I suppose the last question above was really a wondering about whether or not her horse was somehow short changed by not moving forward with greater abandon. To that idea I would suggest that by the slowing of the horse and the putting him to task laterally with elevated head and neck, the result would be a greater setting on the haunches which would improve his balance and provide the necessary self-carriage which would enhance forward motion by giving the horse's body a sense of integrity or collection as he advances ground. Any heaviness of hand, lowering of the head and neck, irregularity of the steps.....these would be examples of ill effects of working slowly.
Eventually, I will have the opportunity to explain to the first student how the speed really had little to do with the fact that the horse was attempting to canter. It was rather the horse's poor balance at trot that was causing the problem. Speed is the ENEMY of IMPULSION! Slow work 'with purpose' gives birth to impulsion.

The Walk: Influencing Its Energy

Without trying to make for too much confusion, I'll try to explain what the rider can feel from the saddle and how to adjust his energetic influence to the horse's walk energy. Just take some walk steps of your own on a straight line. Allow your body to clearly shift weight from one leg to the other. What you should notice is that as you stand on one leg(let us say it is the left one)and swing the other(the right) forward, the hip above the one you are standing on shifts or swings slightly to the left while the hip of your right leg drops, falls in slightly and then rises as you put down the right leg only to then feel the left foot leave the ground and the left hip drops and falls in while the right one shifts or swings to the right. So your hips gently sway from side to side....always out toward the leg you are standing on. This is basically what is happening from the horse's hind legs. At a walk you feel this dropping out of one side of the barrel and a slight bulge or swing out of the other side. The dropping side is consistent with the lifting of the hind leg off the ground on that same side. On the bulging side, the hind leg behind the barrel is ON the ground and soon to push off it.
Working on the premise that we really have the best influence over a leg when it is airborne, try to imagine that on this dropping or hollowing out side that the horse is sending energy forward to his forehand. The feeling under the rider's seat is a slight drop and in and swing up and forward toward the withers. So the walk feels as though the energy is sent up toward the withers at the end of each step. This is the same pattern that the rider needs to follow to activate the combined energy from his horse and his own body's influence.
Shoulders of the rider relaxed back and down, with elbows hanging relaxedly down at the hips, the hip of the rider sparks this combined activated energy over to the elbow on the same side which conducts the message forward down the arm and through the rein to the bit. This action happens on one side at a time. So the hand effectively sends energy to the bit only as the hip tells it. The timing is accurate and smooth and is resolved at the moment the seat on that side rises to the top of the wave and has an additional influence into the withers. The motion feels like a beautiful swan gliding along on a still lake.
Initially, practicing the walk in this way may feel awkward for a few steps but then the effect is beautiful and brings the horse into an influence more from its hind legs. The walk innately is more like a crawl forward, like a pulling of the horse along by his front legs with hind legs following. Moving the hands and arms in a rowing fashion keeps the horse striding too far out in front of himself, falling away from balance and away from the influence of his own front end lifting mechanism. Keeping the hands in unison with the seat motion brings the horse into a collection of his parts quite easily. It negates the need for excessive and awkward hand aids and excessive leg aiding which only disturb the walk and morph it into another form.
Try keeping your arms steady with your hips and feel this flow. It may resolve many issues you have with unsteadiness from the horse, jigging or jogging, can help you create variations in the walk(collected, medium and extended), and help you start to identify any irregularities from the horse that will need targeted exercise.

Moving Energy

The manipulation of energy is at the heart of good riding and exceptional dance with the horse. But before you can understand how to move energy you need to realize the power of 'intent'. 'Intent' is a key concept in the martial arts, of which Tai Chi is a gentler form. Although the latter is not likely to directly affect your riding, it can indirectly help train the mind to focus on 'intent'. Before the power of intent can be realized, the substance of the intent must be well considered.
Have you ever met someone who seems to put their mind to something and stay hellbent on doing it? This is the nature of intent. Every fiber of your being is awakened and on task and nothing is allowed to get in the way. It is not based on force but holds its secret in steadiness on quiet, clear, controlled thought. It is a humble fervency of purpose which is directed on a course.
One of the interesting lessons we learn from Tai Chi is that a poignant assault is only one asset in fighting--there are many other ways to deal with an opponent. These might involve drawing and extinguishing(or neutralizing) energy, deflecting energy, or re-directing energy. Like martial arts, similarly in riding, although we do not view the horse as our opponent, we experience energies of another living being and try to work with or match those energies. In Tai Chi there is no fighting, but the postures and the motions that take us from one posture to another explore a full range of human physical movement. This range of motion is mainly to experience the parameters within which our individual bodies should operate to maximize our personal balance and effectiveness of energy exchange. Examples are: the placement of the arms and feet. Arms too far away from the body in certain positions, channel our energy in the wrong direction, destabilizing us.....disturbing the clarity of intent. Feet not pointed in a certain direction would also send energy where it was not intended to go. Thus it is not exactly that the posture of the rider needs to be this or that, but that the posture needs to be directed by intent and congruent with the shape of that intent. I see so many dressage riders that sit like a doll! This has nothing to do with dressage riding! The seat has a purpose....the seat is alive and waiting with poise to follow the orders given from the mind regarding its intent. The 'alive' seat must be calm and open to whatever the mind tells it to do.
So body positioning has much to do with 'intent'. A rider holding one or both shoulders up is not in control of his 'intent'. Hands held too high or hands turned down, wrists curled, elbows too far from the hips----all these details are important examples of how 'intent' might be shaped incorrectly.
A very basic example of moving energy is to take a thought in the mind that says "move my horse forward". So the first thing we do is touch with the legs or tap with the whip. But if we are also holding back with the rein we are cancelling our intent! How might we gain a horse's confidence in rein connection while asking him to move forward without cancelling intent? There are many options. I will give you an example. A horse that feels rigid in the jaw is holding himself in a resistance. All aspects of health must be considered before assessing this problem intelligently. But by sitting quietly and focusing ONLY(a SINGULAR INTENT!) on asking the horse to savor the bit one rein at a time with gentle vibration with soft pliable fingers, the energy of this intent helps the horse to understand the role of the hand in the sense of friendship with it. Most people get no response or the wrong response because they are completely unaware of the tension they have in other parts of their body while they do this! That tension is not only confusing the horse but is undermining energy flow. So one can appreciate the great need for supreme self-control.
Now change the 'intent', relax both hands and touch with leg. A non-response or wrong response? You are either using too much leg(moving too much energy) or you held the leg on too long and tensed the ribcage of the horse or you asked with the leg while holding body tension somewhere else that says, "don't go forward!" These other energies are very real! You are affecting them ALL the time! Essentially, everyone who is alive is moving energy! We only THINK we are not doing this and are making the concept of 'moving energy' seem hard to learn because we are not in control of ourselves! We are so very much concerned about controlling the world around us that we have lost sense of the 'out of control' world within us!
Last night during a lesson, while a new student was walking her horse, I asked that she step in time with his footfalls. I complicated the exercise by asking her to match the footfalls of her leg nearest the horse with the horse's foreleg nearest to her. Her comment later was how much lighter and easier her horse felt! That comment tells me that the singular isolation of her intent to match those specific footfalls was actually a relief to her horse. He could feel her mind less worried about him overall, essentially trusting the rest of him, thinking only about the feet. The matching of the footfalls had an additional effect of combining efforts(or energies) as if producing one footfall.....a horse/rider step AS ONE!
This very simple example points to the reality of moving energy and the need to focus the mind on an intent so clearly that the energy of the intent directs the body precisely, thus eliminating clutter, opening pathways in the joints....both horse and rider....for energy to flow freely and easily. The steps then become easy, balance is adjusted, gravity is worked WITH and not AGAINST.
When the student turned to face her horse he halted as though the thought came from himself and he sat back in a self-carriage that was as easy and lightweight as a bird landing.
We struggle daily with unknown, unfamiliar energies. Take the time to walk and work with your horse quietly and through clear intent, discover how to unravel struggle gently through this kind of understanding. It is not that horses resist us, they resist the discomfort of their own bodies and they resist the energies in ourselves that we fail to take charge of.

The Halt and Half-halt

Describing halt and half-halt is difficult without a horse and rider in front of me, the reason being that each is so very individual that their energies have to be considered from moment to moment. To say "do this with the left hand or this with the leg" is almost impossible without a context. But there are certain details I can describe in general. Put these details together with a good image and let the body feel its way into that image. I believe that the body has intuitive knowledge of how to do things if the mind prepares it with an image! I often say, "think it and do it, do it and become it." Traditional ways of learning make good riding so hard to achieve and so often throw riders into frustration and chaos in the saddle. I try to think like this: to learn to swim, get in the water and make friends with it. That said, I would like to give you some images that will help you understand what to envision when you come to a halt and then it's up to you to get on the horse and make friends with him!
Imagine you are sitting on the back of a bird.....flying. You're sending energy from deep within your pelvis---your power chamber---the stove where you cook and stir. You're asking the bird to go left, then right, down and up and you see a spot on the water where you'd like to land. You think of that spot, you send the bird closer to it and then, in just the right amount, you start slowing the bird by drawing back on your energy flow, the bird's engine speeds up but its flight slows down. The wings stretch out and right near the landing spot you really draw back on the energy and reverse the engine. The wings start back flapping, the bird's nose reaches forward and a little down, neck arched and up and the base of the neck rises. The chest billows out and the ribcage fans out and lifts. The feet come under and touch down and the entire body touches down into neutral, the neck rises and the head comes up as the body, puffed, gently falls into place in perfect equilibrium over the feet.
Now think a similar image on your horse. The balance of the halt you do will be dependent upon the quality of balance just before and going into it. The image you must have of the halt, however, has little to do with stopping. I'd rather think of halt as a pause where the engine stays running. Thinking 'stop' conjures the thought 'stop dead'. This kind of stop has no potential energy...the engine is either turned off or is slowed so much that it has to be turned back on or revved up considerably to move out of the halt(Yang). So imagine the halt to have tremendous motion, full of energy but all of this is taken inward(Yin). That inward result is a pause that APPEARS motionless. Herein lays the problem with halt.....we interpret it as stop because that is what the eye sees. The heart and mind must have another view....bubbling whirling motion and energy in equilibrium over a spot of pausing.
This is the image before the halt. First the rider chooses where to halt and visualizes it happening just there. Doing this warns the horse and the rider's body to prepare. The rider sits square and central in the saddle, energy streaming from the power chamber(the dan tien) toward the withers, energy sparking from the hips through the close gap to the elbows and flowing freely and powerfully through the lower arms, wrist and fingers down the reins to the bit. Another (imaginary) rein connects the hips to the bit as well. Thighs are brimming with energy flowing powerfully from the hips toward the knees and knees relay the message to the horse to move shoulders forward. The horse is in good self-carriage with upright neck, head hanging freely with nose slightly ahead of the vertical. The horse's neck is arched into a telescope like a stallion's as he catches a glimpse of something in the distance.
Just before going into the halt the imaginary rein connecting hip to bit needs a momentary burst of energy through it which will cause the actual rein the rider is holding to feel less taut! The direction of this burst goes a little ahead of the withers. Immediately following this(and all this happens in an instant), the rider starts to withdraw(or drain) energy.....not the hand......and this energy goes back up the arms to the hips back into the power chamber. The knees reach more forward while the groin draws back elongating the thigh into a vibrant tension while the thigh rotates slightly back and down as though attempting to kneel. The thigh at this moment takes slightly more of the rider's weight into it so the seat bones rise and with their energy draw the horse's back upward. The image now is rather like a genie going back into her bottle.
The horse's withers are rising, back is rising, chest is rising, neck is rising but his head and nose are lowering closer to the vertical(or even behind if it falls loosely this way of its own accord). The rider draws this rising energy up off the neck.....drawing the horse's neck up toward the rider's own shoulders, drawing that energy down through his shoulders, down the torso to the power chamber. Some of this energy passes through the shoulders back to the loins and hips of the horse, sending them closer into one another and back and down.....horse gently sitting. The rider's head is suspended from the sky but shoulders are down, chest is full with breastbone down. The rider's own upright,yet seated, carriage is signaling for the horse to mirror him. The hands follow(or even encourage with upturned fingernails and soft raising of the rein) this upward lift of the neck and head. The feeling in the hand is as if coming from under the rein and lifting upward(not backward)with open soft giving wrists. There is no traction.....the horse is stepping under as the energy is drawing back so the rein is merely giving 'direction' to the uplift and is not actually 'doing' the uplift!
This drawing back of energy is the reversing of the engine. The energy passing back and through the rider's shoulders to the horse keeps the engine running. The kneeling tells the forelegs to come under, the groin draws the forehand up and back over the front feet and the hind feet which are coming under into place.
The rider feels inside himself like he is drawing in a deep breath.....a full inhale where his diaphragm drops low as though compressing his inner organs and spreading them out. Chest billows, shoulders drop back,lower back expands, sides of torso expand, belly expands, upper arms hang down and soft. As the energy draws back into the genie bottle with minimal interruption from the hand and no squeezing of the draped calf to disturb the horse's fanning ribcage, the rider's body enters a state of complete Yin where time seems to stop like an eerie silence before a storm. The energy inside is spinning and whirling but as though going down into a black hole. The inhale is released very very slowly and carefully like air slowly leaving a balloon lest a sensitive horse go back into visible motion.
The rider's mind at this time must prepare what he is wanting to do next but keep it a little bit of a secret from the horse until he has the image well organized and clear and then he tells his horse and reverses the engine once more from the moment of the lower leg signal. Some horses barely even need this signal if they are well tuned.
So if the halt is a pause then the half-halt is a partial pause. In the half-halt , however, the rider never fully disengages the horse's feet from visible forward motion. The half-halt, if the horse moves in good balance, is hardly even needed. I like the concept of partial pause because the rider can appreciate that partial can imply anything from HALF of a pause to an infinitesimally small pause....more a tiny hold of energy to rebuild the fire in the power chamber. The moment following this results in a 'restoration' of vertical lift and a reorganization of the horse's body over his feet which balances him to better have a neutral from which to go next! A half-halt done from this imagery helps the rider feel when that neutral place is gone and needs restoring. It is like going back to the position where ease remains. If you were planning to follow this half-halt with a more challenging positioning, a more difficult move or posture for the horse that would require an increase in his effort, the feeling would be as though perfecting this neutral balance to its best, its most pure, form so that the next thing that is done is done easily! The image going into the half-halt should not be that you are going to do something more difficult and you are preparing for this mighty effort and are gathering up your reins and putting on your legs for this task ahead. That image is what kills the purpose of the half-halt! It is what makes for ever increasing dis-ease in the ride. The image should be as if preparing for greater ease.....preparing for the REMOVAL of the aids!
In the half-halt, the main areas of energy drawback activity are in the groin and through the arms. The lower back stays long and keeps the back of the seat down and connects the seat bones down toward the horse. The hand may come under the rein(fingernails up) on one or both sides or not at all. This partial pause is so short it is imperceptible and is always followed by a carefully chosen amount of projected energy. Projecting too much would necessitate yet another partial pause! Projecting too little would not supply the motion to follow with enough energy to sustain vertical lift.