“Focus on riding the back end” what does that actually MEAN?!

[sugarpony]

As per the title really, new dressage instructor tells me to “focus on riding the back end and keeping a consistent jump in the canter”. In theory I think I know what this means, ride him from leg to hand, keep the hind leg coming through underneath to get the jump and activity, focus less on what the head is doing (though if this is wrong let me know!)

But I don’t know what this actually means PRACTICALLY. Do I need to sit deeper? Put my leg on more? Do half halts? All of the above? Or does it depend what my horse is doing?

I’m not sure if this is a gap in my education/knowledge, or if it’s something to do with the way I process information and understand things (I have ADHD, autism and dyspraxia so I don’t necessarily process things “normally”!). I do seem to find that I understand the theory behind how to do things correctly, but struggle with how to put that theory into practice.

I know I probably should ask my instructor but I’m so scared of sounding stupid.

I’ve brought up with her before that whilst I understand the theory, since I’m currently riding at the most advanced level I ever have, on the best educated horse I ever have (who I have brought on myself, so it’s the blind leading the blind a little bit!) I struggle to know exactly what things should feel/look like when you’re sat on top rather than watching from the side, and exactly how to get from how we are working to how we want to be working.

Any thoughts?

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

I don't have an answer for you but do have encouragement to go ahead and ask your instructor for more concrete instruction! I'm sure they would rather you say what you're not getting rather than them wondering why you're not changing anything.

I am trying hard to remember a fairly recent example of doing this in a lesson recently - I think I said something like 'I get the concept/I know this is wrong, but what do I actually need to be doing with my hands/legs/body to make it right?' It might have been to do with bend, or how to half halt (which I can't seem to stick in my brain for some reason). It did help though

 

[teapot]

A lot of it depends on what you're feeling - how's the straightness, is your horse pushing forwards from behind (compared to dragging from the front), and how it steps through in lateral work etc, including suppleness of the rib cage. Forget about the front end (forehand, head, outline etc).

A good way of visualising it is how you'd ride up a hill in canter and that feeling of being pushed up from behind, rather than bowling again on the forehand.

Don't be afraid to ask though, at all. If you can, do you have the opportunity to ride with mirrors?

 

[LadyGascoyne]

I would probably consider what it is about the picture that she’s commenting on, and then work on that.

For me, if that was her comment on my own riding, I’d know it’s because I’m not opening up enough space for the horse to power through from behind and get the lift through the canter. If the canter looks flat and like it’s not coming from behind then it’s usually because I have collapsed in my core - a big fault of mine in riding and just a natural weakness for me - and am blocking the horse’s movement.

I fix this by working on lifting my rib cage and trying to create space for the horse to move through and not collapsing on the horse and shutting down the movement.

I tend to bring my hands a bit higher and my reins relatively short with soft but consistent contact, pick up ribs up, pull my shoulders back and whilst my seat is in a neutral canter position where my weight is slightly behind the seat bones, I imagine an invisible pulling me from forward from my chest. Almost like I’m opening up an energy channel from the hocks all the way through my hands, directed forward ro wherever we are going. Sorry to sound like such a hippy!

I don’t profess to ride beautifully though, and it might be different reasons for you that the horse isn’t looking like it’s driving forward from behind. That’s just my own tendency.

 

[LEC]

Think getting toothpaste out of a toothpaste tube. Now imagine you were riding the toothpaste tube to get a steady flow of toothpaste and you controlled the flow of the toothpaste with your legs. You want the toothpaste to come out smoothly and consistently and not stop start. Too much pressure would see the toothpaste be too thin and too fast, too little pressure would see no toothpaste. If you have the pressure right you can manage the energy with very little interruption (hands in the case of riding) and this is also the riding the horse from behind. As a rider you wouldn’t sit too heavy as would interrupt the toothpaste and wouldn’t sit too light as would also have an impact.

Anyway that’s a lot of talk about toothpaste but hopefully will give you the mental image of what you are after and the influences the rider can place which then mean the canter is impacted.

 

[Palindrome]

I would interpret that as sit back straighter, more leg, and forget about your hands (just a steady contact).