Welcome to Trainer Tuesday! Each week we ask trainers a question and gather their answers for you. These trainers have a range of experience, backgrounds, and focus points of their programs, so the answers have as much variation as you would expect and also probably much more similarity.
This week’s question posed is: How would you help a rider who unconsciously drives their horse forward with their seat or leg?
Here are their answers:
“All horses are unique and different in regards to how their natural way of going is. Some horses are “hot” meaning they’re high-energy and fractious, while other horses are cold and dull. The majority fall between those two types. The same goes for riders; some riders are naturally soft and passive and generally do well with good feeling horses. Other riders are more aggressive when it comes to using their seat and legs. With some colder type horses, the rider who likes to dig in and use a lot of leg and seat will take to that type of horse, better than they would a good feeling hotter horse.
If you tend to override with too much leg and seat, and your ride is suffering because of that, do some exercises on the flat of opening and shortening your horse’s stride. If your horse overreacts to your leg and seat, tone it down. Sink softly into the saddle when collecting, and use a bit less leg. When lengthening, just try and allow your horse to open its stride. Use only as much leg or seat you need to get a reaction. Once you get the reaction you’re looking for, soften and see if your horse will maintain that stride length. You may feel comfortable carrying a stick or using a spur. If you feel your horse responds to a stick or spur, you may be less likely to be too aggressive with your seat and leg.
You can do those exercises over cavalettis as well. Set up a line and add and subtract strides, trying to get the correct strides by not overusing your seat and leg. You will naturally learn how much is too much and how much is not enough. Like any problem that needs to be overcome, steady, patient repetition and practice should solve most problems.” -Lyman T. Whitehead
Read more from Lyman and listen to him on the Plaidcast here.
“First of all, I’d try to separate the aids, as often, these two work together. Ask the rider to ride in a proper half seat (leg long, hip angle somewhat closed) over poles at a proper distance for the horse or pony. Canter the line in the added stride and then while staying still, practice taking out the stride with just their leg. You can do this endlessly until the rider feels when and how to use their leg. Then do the exercise in a sitting canter; again insist on the body staying still and just using the leg.
Poles and low jumps will also help the rider relax and feel the horse jump smoothly. Often over riding comes from anxiety and feeling that one needs to make the horse get to the jump instead of allowing the horse to get to the jump. Any exercise to encourage relaxation and staying still is helpful.” -Robin Greenwood
Read more from Robin and listen to her on the Plaidcast here.
“With a rider who has a bit of an “electric seat” I would make sure first and foremost that they are mounted on an appropriate horse, maybe a horse who is a bit slower and cold, or less sensitive in order to teach the rider to use their aids appropriately and safely.
I have found that doing lunge line work with riders who unintentionally drive their horse forward with their seat or leg is super effective. On a safe and reliable horse, I have the riders drop their stirrups on the lunge line and tie the reins up so that they still have access to the reins if needed, but they are safely out of the way for the horse to step on them. Since I am helping to control the horse on the lunge line, the rider can begin to use their seat and their leg, and hand independently by doing different balance exercises at the walk, trot, and eventually at the canter. Through these exercises the riders learn how their aids directly affect the horse’s response through their movement and balance.” –Alexandra Arute-Kacheris
Read more Trainer Tuesday responses from Alexandra here.
“Riders who pressure horses unconsciously and cause tension with their seat and leg have had poor training (or none at all) at the beginning. They discourage quiet horses and irritate sensitive ones. To help them, we teach the actual arrangement and function of this base-of-support, plus the system of the natural aids that goes through it — especially as spelled out by the original cavalry instructions that all the best hunter/jumper riding comes from. Then the proper sensations are transmitted to the horses. The quiet ones wake up and the tense ones settle.” -Basic Military Riding
Click here to learn more about Basic Military Riding
