Imagery and analogies

[stangs]

I'm sure we've all been told the usual "imagine you've got a string pulling you up by the head", "imagine you're holding baby birds in your hands", etc to improve our riding, but do people find that these actually help in improving feel or that they're too vague and don't address the issue? What analogies have worked best for you?

I was once taught to think of my pelvis as a goldfish bowl to stop me from tipping forward: most useless piece of advice I ever received. Just reminding myself where my seat bones are worked better. But thinking of there being stones in my weaker leg does seem to be helping with the asymmetry.

 

[milliepops]

"Sliding your shoulder blades down into imaginary pockets on your back" really helped me to be able to relax my shoulders down without forcing them or tightening weirdly. It also makes your elbows close naturally to your sides... which has a knock on effect of making it easier to keep thumbs on top!

 

[Four Seasons]

Dressage Today on Facebook usually have good analogies/imagery. Some of them are rubbish, but some are very useful.

 

[rabatsa]

That your boobs are headlights and you do not want full beam/dip/full beam/dip as you canter.

 

[SEL]

Punched in the stomach works to stop me hollowing my back. Probably because I can actually push myself in the stomach so the feeling stays.

 

[scats]

I don’t find imagery helpful unfortunately. I just can’t make that connection. The Ride with your Mind Mary Wanless stuff interests me, but I cant use it as I have zero way to make my brain compute with her analogies.
I’m far better watching or reading, and replicating.

 

[LeneHorse]

That your boobs are headlights and you do not want full beam/dip/full beam/dip as you canter.

This one doesn't work for me as I am flat chested ?

 

[Rowreach]

It really depends who you're coaching, and the better coaches will figure out what works for each person. For some it helps them instantly visualise what they're doing/should be doing, and for others it just confuses them.

And some people simply can't feel what's happening, so they need a little help with that. For example, telling someone to sit taller may still result in them being tipped forward, but telling them to lean back will have them sitting up straight. Rider feels one thing, coach sees another.

There's a definite knack in coaching to unscramble what is going on in a person's head in order to use the right words/tools/analogies to help them improve.Watching a good coach managing this in a group situation is fascinating!

 

[Wizpop]

Agreeing very much with Rowreach. It does take time to find the imagery that works for each individual person. A good coach will have a number of different analogies/ visualisations to try to help the rider achieve. If you’re a person that feels it doesn’t work for you, it could well be that you haven’t yet found the right analogy to trigger the connection.
The birds in the hand thing doesn’t work for me at all- in fact it’s a distraction!!

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

Shoulders of a queen, hips of a wh0re was my favourite

 

[Horseysheepy]

An old riding school phrase from the 80's I remember was Polishing the saddle with your bottom! Not sure how helpful it was though!

 

[sbloom]

I was once taught to think of my pelvis as a goldfish bowl to stop me from tipping forward: most useless piece of advice I ever received.

Agree 100%, utterly useless - if you knew how to stop the fish bowl tipping over then you'd have kept your pelvis upright, if you don't have a feel for an upright neutral pelvis then telling you it's a fishbowl ain't gonna help!

I had a customer the other day and we had "pistons for seatbones" to stop her over using her seat, and allow the horse to lift each seatbone in turn from the hind legs, and "accordion" for expanding the side of her ribcage that was collapsed, without causing her to rotate or over lift the shoulder on that side.

For hands I preferred Erik Herbermann - thumbs broadly on top but then rotate the hand outwards, fingers straight at the "end" joints, and be able to see your fingernails.

 

[Wishfilly]

I think sometimes it's useful, but as others have said, it very much depends on the person.

I've read (possibly on here) someone describe the feeling down the reins like holding the hand of a child who isn't trying to get away- i.e. a consistent firm pressure but not squeezing. That's definitely helped me.

But equally I find it quite useful for someone to describe what my body (e.g. seat bones etc) should be doing, without analogies.

 

[Tarragon]

I really need to know WHY I am doing something for it to make sense and stick. I really don't like a set of instructions, like the aid to canter being inside leg on the girth, outside leg behind the girth etc. etc. as without the understanding that goes with it, they don't work (well for me anyway!)
I do like analogies, but only if they aid understanding, not just an instruction on its own.

 

[Birker2020]

That your boobs are headlights and you do not want full beam/dip/full beam/dip as you canter.

Ha ha I love this one!

 

[vhf]

I find that I often need one for a while to try and break a habit (or create a new one) but it becomes a sort of short-hand and I need to know the why first. What works varies from horse to horse depending on the feel. When I used to teach the art was in knowing when to use analogies and with whom.

e.g. Presently 'shopping trolley' works with stopping me constantly slowing with my hands so we can get a proper rhythm rather than an argument. It actually means, "imagine you are holding a shopping trolley with your hands on the handlebar and her nose at the end of the trolley. Pulling backwards will achieve nothing but sore shins, pushing evenly will keep a straight line and require very little pressure. Increase the push slightly with outside hand to move in a different direction, don't pull with the inside. Body and legs slow the trolley, not your hands". (BtW no poor trainer came up with that, it's just me self-analysing and thinking up a way to visualise what will fix it).

 

[Regandal]

Pictures and analogies don’t work for me, I need to read it or see someone do it. I obviously lack imagination ?

 

[oldie48]

That your boobs are headlights and you do not want full beam/dip/full beam/dip as you canter.

TBH I find a decent sports bra helps me avoid this.
I used to have trainers tell me to sit straight as if I deliberately sat crooked. When I had a trainer ask if she could move my body around a bit, It really helped as she put me straight, and then asked me how I felt. I told her I felt crooked but it did help me change my muscle memory of what straight should feel like. However, the thing that has really helped me is being able to assess my own body asymmetry off the horse so that I can use it when I am riding. I think I am much better if I can feel something rather than imagine it.

 

[Rowreach]

My very first riding instructor, who was pretty old even then, used to tell us to "leave our breeches in the saddle and rise up and down inside them" to stop us from being a bit too enthusiastic in rising trot. Remember she was of an age where very baggy breeches were the norm - it probably doesn't make much sense if all you have known is riding tights.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

That your boobs are headlights and you do not want full beam/dip/full beam/dip as you canter.

Don't dip, dazzle!!!