When riding down hills do you...

[metalmare]

... lean forward or back?

I was taught to lean back and everyone I know leans back BUT I read something by Mary Wanless (Ride With Your Mind) who, if I interpreted it correctly, said that you should lean forwards. I thought about this and it makes sense as a four legged animal has a large shift of weight onto the forehand when going downhill (try it - you'll feel a lot of pressure on your hands and not much on your knees). We naturally shift our weight back going downhill being two legged but the horse goes forward.

I put this to the test on my old horse who wore her shoes very quickly and used to slip badly with her hind feet on tarmac hills and it almost reduced her slipping by three-quarters I would say.

What do others think?

 

[Super_Kat]

I lean back ever so slightly, never go down many steep hills anyway.

 

[_April_]

I was always taught to lean back too.

 

[metalmare]

It feels odd when you first do it because you are taking your own weight on your inner thighs rather than your bum. Derbyshire is very hilly and I do think it has helped a lot with the horses I ride slipping.

 

[Dogbetty141]

I was always taught to lean back as the weight is then shifted off the front of the horses body and i thought this made it easier for them and also prevented them from slipping. How does leaning forward stopp them from slipping? Im interested??

 

[metalmare]

To me it feels like you are keeping your weight over the horses centre of balance (as you would do at any other pace, on the flat or over a jump). Also I felt that leaning back put extra weight on her haunches which almost pushed her hind legs down the hill, in a sense. When I first read this I tried riding her down a hill both ways on several occasions and it always happened that when I leant back she lost her back legs and when I leant forwards it was rare.

I'll see if I can find an associated article that can explain it.

 

[metalmare]

I've found the article - it is some way down this page (an analogy with a skier). hope link works...

http://www.horseandrideruk.com/RidingPositions.aspx?ID=79431106-17cb-4f6e-b705-398af69a5cce

 

[Tempi]

i ride like normal, but make sure im in keeping with the horses centre of gravity so as not to unbalance it.

 

[metalmare]

Yeah - that's about what i do I think. When I say lean forward i am not talking about any dramatic shift - I basically stay at a right angle to the ground whereas most people by leaning back form an acute angle (i.e. I don't get any nearer to withers or rump than I do in normal walk, but most people move towards rump).

 

[the watcher]

I am always a bit wary of her teaching when it comes to using the thigh, and having no regard for the lower leg..having been subject to lessons taught by this method when it first became fashionable.

There is a very specific reason why skiers lean forward down hill, it is for control of the front of the skis by using weight, these are semi rigid pieces of fibreglass..to lean back would cause the skis to lift at the front.

Horses are not semi rigid boards, so these principals are not the same..in fact when you are experimenting with crawling down slopes on all fours I would invite you to put a small child on your back for the full effect and ask them to lean back and forwards..you will find that if they lean back it is more comfortable for you (can you tell I have done this?)

What is next according to the MW principals..leaning back when going uphill?

I think a lot of her ideas, and the way she can describe a feeling, are very good, however on the use of legs and shifting of balance, I am in a different camp altogether.

 

[burtie]

You should remain in the centre of gravity, so if sat up normally in the saddle you should remain vertical, so it does mean you will feel like you are leaning back if going down a steep hill in order to remain vertical. If riding in the forward seat (say cantering down hill). Again you remain in the same position but need to move your weight back a bit so not to be tipping the horse forward.

Remember the rule about what would happen if your horse suddenly disappeared from under you and you should land on your feet( and not fall forward or back), the same rule still applies on a slope!

Does that make sense?

 

[metalmare]

That is a good point about going uphill.
It did seem to make such a difference with my horse slipping, though. Do you think I was doing something else that I wasn't aware of? E.g. I had been leaning back too much before so it felt like I was forward when I was in fact upright?

 

[riotgirl]

If it is a steep hill I shift my weight back slighty and loosen the reins a bit so she can pick her own way down - she seems to prefer to have her head down low. The one thing about living in Cheshire though is that there aren't that many hills.

 

[flyingfeet]

I agree about the centre of gravity - I shift my weight back slightly, but not excessively.

Also worth doing because if you lean forward you can be ejected out the front easily.

With regards to slipping / balance, the more work you do on hills the better they get. I teach all mine to canter down reasonably steep hills. Very good for getting their back end working properly (whereas uphill work does the front end!)

 

[the watcher]

Possible you had been overdoing it before, and are now just at the vertical, or slightly ahead of it. Unless I am in a forward seat i tend not to lean back as such, but stay upright and allow more rein..I think it is the same effect but a lightly different mental approach to it.

 

[Bess]

Interesting, about the skiiers part of it, skiiers may appear to be leaning forwards downhill but they actually should have their centre of gravity (and pressure) going directly down into the centre of their feet. There should be a shoulder, hip, heel alignment, very like in riding. There is a mark on skis between the bindings, a little line that shows where the bindings should be centred and this is where pressure should be exerted to make the ski work properly. If a skier leans forward too much the weight comes off their heels and they cannot direct the skis, they just load the front part of the ski too much and it will not turn.

 

[cosmo_sam]

I used to have an old Ginny Leng video that showed how she prepared her eventers. In that, during the hill work, the riders would lean forward not back for the very reason's you're describing.

I'd always been taught to lean back, but now try to do very little, but if anything lean forward slightly

 

[happyhack]

I lean forward, can't say why but I just do!

 

[WishfulThinker]

I just kinda adopt a slight XC position, out of the saddle and try and centre myself to what feels most stable to the horse. I did lean back once going down the equivalent of a derby bank near my parents house and Beau lost his footing and we slid down it, went up and tried again, this time I tried the XC position and he coped a lot better. I dont grip with my thigh, but do try and pivot................doesnt make any sense do i!! lol.

Well as for uphill, slightly forward XC seat with my weigh toff the horses haunches.

 

[metalmare]

I did try to do a lot of walking up and down hills but sadly she could never canter down one because her balance was poor due to a fractured pelvis. I do always give the reins a little to allow the horse to direct their balance. I admit that it doesn't feel as stable in the saddle as sat well onto my bum but I do make quite a large contact with the saddle using the inner thigh and I prepare my lower leg in the same wy as I would if expected a horse to refuse a jump, so that I am ready to brace myself.

 

[gnubee]

The physics of things on slopes lead me to believe that leaning forwards slightly is more helpful to the horse's balance. However, leaning back wont force it faster downhill like skiers, it just unbalances it cos your weight is more over its hindquarters than it ideally should be.

In practice, I feel safer leaning back and the horses dont seem too bothered one way or the other so if it is a steep-ish hill Im probably going to be back a bit.

Im not aware of anyone who suggests leaning back to go uphill--definitely the physics for that doesnt look good.

 

[Patchwork]

I stand up slightly in the stirrups to take my weight off the horse's back - that way I know I am holding my own balance

 

[amandaco2]

i lean back unless we are going faster than walk or if there are low branches.
my mare always walks down hills fine and isnt bothered-im the one trying to slow things down lol