Balancing Act!

[q105]

I have an ex racehorse on a share agreement. We've been establishing ourselves, together, slowly over the last two years. I have had a number of instructors, but actually find the owner gives me much better guidance because she's seen how we have developed, but also she knows how non-standard both the horse and I. I have mostly come away from our weekly school sessions feeling positive.

I also hack out and have completed a couple of fun rides over 80-100cm with no issues.

However, although we are very much improved, to get him in a good solid contact and working consistently, I have to use a lot of leg. In trot, I just simply don't have the balance to keep tapping on every stride. I'm holding him back because of this. And it's frustrating for us both because I CAN ride him, and he tries SO hard. I just can't balance properly.

I'd like any tips or exercises that I can do mounted either schooling or on a hack for creating more consistent balance in me. I've been riding all these years without even realising that my heels aren't always down, my stirrups are too short to wrap around properly, and his now even paced trot is virtually impossible for me to sit through corners!! He's been literally and figuratively carrying me all this time, like a champ.

He is now fit enough and sound enough to cross-country and hunt, but I will just flail about perched above if I can't master this bloody basic issue...

Help! Please!

 

[Auslander]

You shouldn't have to use "a lot of leg" though, so despite his improvement, he isn't being as helpful as you think he is. My elderly dressage horse has two modes - "Donkey" and "Firebreathing Dragon" - and the second, whilst a bit hairy, is far easier to work with. He's naturally idle, so I have regular "Come To Jesus" discussions with him about being sharp off the leg, and not meandering around, going through the motions, with minimal effort.

It's EXTREMELY hard to ride a horse effectively if it's not off the leg - even the most elegant rider is going to struggle to remain elegant and balanced when the horse is making the rider do all the work.

At this stage, I wouldn't be worrying too much about contact/outline. I'd be working on quick reactions to my aids, and ensuring that he goes, and keeps going, without you having to nag him.

 

[q105]

He isn't a dressage horse though. He's an ex racehorse. The requirement for a lot of leg is to engage the back end, which has always been slower to get moving, rather than to pull himself from the front as racehorses are prone to do.

Are there any exercises that I can do to improve my balance on any horse, then?

 

[SpringArising]

It's EXTREMELY hard to ride a horse effectively if it's not off the leg - even the most elegant rider is going to struggle to remain elegant and balanced when the horse is making the rider do all the work.

At this stage, I wouldn't be worrying too much about contact/outline. I'd be working on quick reactions to my aids, and ensuring that he goes, and keeps going, without you having to nag him.

I agree with this. I absolutely can't abide lazy horses. When it feels like the horse is riding you, you've got to change something!

You say you're not very balanced OP so are you sure that you're not physically holding him back? Horses often are much more dopey with certain riders.

ETA because I forgot to add exercises. The basic that you immediately think of would be helpful to you. No stirrup work, rising trot with your hands on your head, working on your sitting trot to strengthen your core, some bareback work, raised trotting poles in half-seat. There's tonnes of exercises out there.

 

[q105]

Thank you SpringArising. Those exercises I will incorporate into our school sessions. I have books and look things up on the internet, but I was assured real experience on this forum would help.

He's not lazy.

 

[Auslander]

He isn't a dressage horse though. He's an ex racehorse.

He's a horse. The basic, correct way of going doesn't change, depending on the job the horse does. Try not to fall into the trap of thinkng that he is an ex racehorse, so he goes in a particular way. After more than a few months re-schooling, it becomes an excuse, when in reality, the horse is now a riding horse, not a racehorse. The horse should be well on the way to being able to work correctly both physically and mentally, and should (TB's are the ultimate athletes) be finding the work very easy.

The requirement for a lot of leg is to engage the back end, which has always been slower to get moving, rather than to pull himself from the front as racehorses are prone to do.

Are there any exercises that I can do to improve my balance on any horse, then?

Your post made it sound as if he wasn't going forward from the leg - hence my initial response. I that's not the case, and he's sharp off your leg, but running onto the forehand, that's a different ballgame. If he is pulling himself along in his forehand, that is because he is either not using his engine, or he is using his engine, but the energy created is being allowed to flow straight out of the front door. Do you know how to ride a half halt? If you have plenty of forward energy - half halts (and plenty of em), will help the horse to go in a more balanced way, which will make it easier for you to ride him in a balanced way.

I can give you exercises to help your balance til the cows come home, but they aren't going to help much until the horse is more able to carry himself in balance, which will then make it easier for you to balance. If you are relatively fit, having regular lessons, and are aware of your shortcomings, you're half way there. Might be an idea to have a couple of schoolmaster lessons, just to help you feel how it should feel - that'll make it easier to work with the horse you have.

 

[q105]

He raced 44 times from 2yrs old. He doesn't find any schooling easy but he does enjoy it. TBs generally have a good work ethic. But I'm not here to justify how I treat my horse, we are all entitled to do things our own way right? I was asking for advice on balancing exercises because I'm having some help with the rest.

Thank you for your recommendations. I am not a natural horsewoman and understanding some of the language and knowing how to explain myself is something I don't find easy.

 

[Auslander]

He raced 44 times from 2yrs old. He doesn't find any schooling easy but he does enjoy it. TBs generally have a good work ethic. But I'm not here to justify how I treat my horse, we are all entitled to do things our own way right? I was asking for advice on balancing exercises because I'm having some help with the rest.

Thank you for your recommendations. I am not a natural horsewoman and understanding some of the language and knowing how to explain myself is something I don't find easy.

If that was aimed at me - I didnt intend for you to take it the wrong way, and didn't question the way you treat your horse (not quite sure where you got that from!). I'm simply answering your question with a a few ideas that may help improve the horses way of going, thus making it easier for you to ride him. Until the horse is well balanced, and you aren't having to use your legs every stride, it isn't going to be possible to balance yourself consistently. All the exercises in the world arent' going to help at this point. Having the horse going sweetly WILL.
It doesn't matter how many times he raced (although that's an impressive record!). That was then. This is now. Think of him as an athletic performance horse, not an ex-racehorse - sometimes visualising what you wnat to feel is a really good way to achieve it in reality.

Good luck with him.

 

[Shay]

Without in any way taking anything from auslander's response which is spot on. Whilst you are working on getting him so you do not have to tap with every stride (dreadful habit to get into - you'll make him dead to the leg.) you could also work on standing in your stirrups.

Standing in the stirrups - ideally at trot but you may have to work up to that - is great for balance and for creating a really stable lower leg. You might need to start on the lunge. Oh - and have a neck strap so you don't catch his mouth if you have to grab for balance.

Other than that anything that works on core strength will help.

 

[Apercrumbie]

Shay's suggestion of standing in the stirrups is excellent - it's harder than it seems, particularly at trot!

I wonder if you are subconsciously using your hands to balance? A lunge lesson might be a good way of rooting out a few bad habits. You could do a lot of work without stirrups, and perhaps crucially, some work without reins. You'd be amazed at how strange it feels, but it's a good exercise to do every now and then to make sure your balance is in no way connected to your hands/arms. Good for core strength too!

 

[_GG_]

Hi q105, welcome to the forum.

I have to say that Auslanders advice has been spot on, in all ways. The type of horse is irrelevant in every way. He's not racing anymore so living with your mindset in his past will hinder his and your ability to ride him as he is...a riding horse. He's clearly learned to go, stop and turn as per English riding, so his past is not a part of his future now. I will conceed that the past should not be forgotten about, it can predispose a horse to certain actions/reactions/evasions and behaviours, but whilst it is good to take those into consideration, it is not good to use those as an excuse for the way a horse is going now. I'm not saying you are using it as an excuse, just to be careful that you don't as horses are not like us, so anthropomorphising them in this sense will only ever halt both our progress and theirs. I speak from experience, I've trained plenty of ex racers myself, have one now and lost one 2 years ago. It's not about what the horse has done in the past effecting how they can do things now. It's about understanding how what they've done in the past can lay a foundation for something (like an ex racer being on the forehand) and figuring out how to train them to prevent that happening. In the early days, that means short and sweet sessions, not fatiguing the muscles as they learn to work through the back and establish self carriage. As they improve, it becomes about strengthening the horse further and lightening everything.

So, the past is irrelevant to the horses ability to improve but can be used to help steer the way we train them going forward.

Onto the balance thing. If this horse is on the forehand, it is not balanced, period. There's not really a middle ground here. Lots of horses can appear balanced when on the forehand, but that balance is rarely ever from the horse itself, so if it appears, it is usually not true. When a horse in unbalanced, it takes a very strong rider with a very independent seat to be able to remain balanced on it. If you don't have a genuinely good core strength, it will be extremely difficult to balance properly on most horses. If you old a horse back and don't allow it to lift and swing fully through the back, it can be easier to sit for those with a weak core as it can be difficult for an unbalanced rider to cope with the more extravagant movement that comes with self carriage and a more active hind and shoulder. Many of us have, myself included, had times where we're not as fit and strong through the core as we should be and stifle the movement of the horses...not consciously, but through the inevitable tension in our bodies as we struggle to hold our position and balance. It's not bad, it's quite natural in fact and all riders will feel that at some point. It's why there's a saying, "I couldn't ride one side of that horse". If the vast majority of us got on a horse like Valegro, Big Star or Chilli Morning, we'd struggle to cope with the energy in their movement. It's just about training ourselves to be stronger through the core and learn to cope with that and stay balanced with that more expressive movement. This expression is nothing to do with the discipline by the way...so I'm not talking about dressage, I'm simply talking about horses that can move properly being more expressive than those who haven't learned that yet. When a rider who isn't used to that movement is on a horse that tries to give that movement, it can throw the rider off balance, blocking the fluidity of the horses movement, stifling it and returning it to the less correct way of going, which is more comfortable for many.

If your horse is on the forehand, any energy you generate through his hind end will be lost out the front. This in turn will mean that you need to apply your leg again to keep the energy in production. You apply your leg, the energy is created, it pushes you out of balance so gets lost through the front, so you need to put the leg on again straight away to create more energy again. It's you doing 80% of the work and the horse doing 20%. Those percentages should be the other way around.

It may seem unnatural, but actually, taking frequent half halts (as frequent as going into EVERY corner and probably 2-3 down the long sides, will help to maintain the initial energy that you created. You will feel more weight in the reins probably and that's a good thing. That's connection. You need to create a circle of that energy. You apply the leg, the hind end creates the energy which travels up and over the back, creating a bigger motion for you to have to absorb and then going down through the neck and poll to the bit, where it is essentially sent back under the horse, through its core to the hind end again where the cycle repeats. There's no loss of energy. There's no need to reapply your leg therefore to create more energy unless you want to ask for more.

Do a google search for Mari Windsor Pilates and pilates for horse riders. Mari Windsor videos or more general but absolutely amazing. They will all however, help you enormously with your core strength. As your core becomes stronger, use it when you ride. Engage your abdominals, not in a tense way, but in a supportive way. Supporting your lower back, your trunk, your chest and shoulders, allowing you to absorb the movement of the horse without losing balance or having to block it.

The really tricky part is being able to contain the energy you create at the same time as allowing the horse to move forwards freely. That's why we use half halts and don't just pull back on the horse.

As a very simple warm up for you to practice. As soon as you get on, go right back to basics. Little squeeze to ask for a walk but allowing that forward movement with your hands. If the little squeeze doesn't work, squeeze harder and if that doesn't work, be dynamic and use a voice aid, stick or hard squeeze to demand a more dynamic response to your leg. The MOST IMPORTANT part of this is that when the horse moves forward, you allow it to with your hand and you don't pull back at all. You only add a leg aid when the horse actually backs off and starts to slow down. Do the same with your downwards transitions. Half halt, ask for the downwards transition and as soon as you get it, relax everything to reward the horse.
Inevitably, the horse will occasionally give too much in a forwards transition, like trotting instead of walking or cantering instead of trotting and to begin with, it's very important to allow that movement forward for 5-6 strides before you bring the horse back. You have to remember that it might have overdone it, but it did do what was asked, so allow it, reward it and worry about refining it when everything else is under control.

Last thing I'll say is to try not to overthink anything.

If you have any video of you riding or pictures, it'll give us a much better picture of how to give some more specific advice, as constructive criticism, not judgement, but that's obviously up to you.

Best of luck and remember please, when people are taking the time to answer your question, they may not say what you like to hear, but very often, that's the stuff we need to listen to. Nobody improves by people only saying what's easy and in agreement. We all need to be challenged and keep our minds open to new ways of doing things.

 

[PapaFrita]

However, although we are very much improved, to get him in a good solid contact and working consistently, I have to use a lot of leg. In trot, I just simply don't have the balance to keep tapping on every stride. I'm holding him back because of this. And it's frustrating for us both because I CAN ride him, and he tries SO hard. I just can't balance properly.

I'd say you can't balance BECAUSE you're having to use your leg on every stride.... which you shouldn't have to do, btw. Excellent advice from Auslander, _GG_ and others.