Today I rode Ben over at the Martin's arena. It was a beautiful day in the low 50s and is starting to feel like spring which I'm super excited about! I don't want to get too excited though, in fear that the temps will start to drop. Ben did well over in their outdoor arena today although a couple of times when it got a bit breezy it made Ben really excited and he started to "spring" around. At one point when I was rounding the corner on the northend of the arena he jumped from the corner to the quarter line and twisted his body in such a way that I almost fell off. In all of his little quirks and spooks, this was the first time that I actually felt like I could have fallen off, but I was super glad I didn't. In the process, both of my feet came out of my stirrups and my body weight shifted to the right. I had to try really hard to keep my balance and shift it back to the center of the saddle and just hung on tight with my thighs and sat as deep as I could in the saddle. I was successful in staying aboard and throughout the rest of the ride I started thinking about how important balance is in riding.
In order for the horse to be able to carry himself properly the rider has to be perfectly balanced as well. One's natural crookedness, one-sidedness or weakness will cause their horse to not travel straight or properly balanced. Especially during transitions, you've got to align your center of gravity with the horse in order to achieve the upward on downward transition that you desire. The more I tune in to my body and how I'm using it while I am riding, I can see that Ben is greatly improving the use of his body. Because my core muscles are developing and being used properly he is able to use his body properly as well. His muscle tone has changed since I bought him and his back and hind end are being used more and his lateral flexion has greatly increased. So like all things in life, I guess BALANCE IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS!
Here are a few links to articles in Dressage Today that I found helpful on this subject.
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